South Putnam runners overtaken by Warriors

Thursday, September 6, 2012
South Putnam runners Berendt Freeman (18:30) and Julianna Delano (23:35) paced their teams during Wednesday's matchup with Danville.

By CAINE GARDNER

Sports Editor

The South Putnam cross country teams welcomed the Danville Warriors Wednesday, with the Eagles coming up short in each event. The girls lost to the Warriors 23-33, while the boys fell 18-43.

South Putnam head coach Brandon Welti said Wednesday went much like he anticipated.

"We did kind of what we expected. We had a couple people sitting out, just playing it safe with illness and injury," Welti said. He also said the team kind of used it as a tempo day.

Julianna Delano led the Eagles with a third place finish in a time of 23:35. Jessica Jones led a pack of five Eagle runners, which took sixth through 10th place on the day. Jones was sixth with a time of 25:06, with Hannah Jones and Michaela Scales tying for seventh place with matching times of 25:10.

Eagle Ariel Higgins was ninth with a time of 25:12 and Angel Nield was 10th with a time of 25:15. Alex Lesko was 16th for South Putnam with a time of 33:38 and Madi King was 17th in a time of 41:07.

Welti liked the fact he had a group race so strong during their race. Now it's just a matter of getting the times down.

"The pack was all within about eight second of each other," Welti said. "The pack is really strong. It's great seeing them together; we just have to get them up a little further. Take another minute or two would be nice, but it's a solid and we have some season left to work on that."

In the boys' race, Berendt Freeman led the way with a third place finish in a time of 18:30. Matt Lund and Matt Allen tied for the eighth spot, both posting times of 20:11.

As in the girls' event, the boys were able to team up and take 11th through 15th. Lane Franklin finished 11th in a time of 20:38, with Colton Bunten finishing 12th in a time of 20:47 and Tyler Nield was 13th in a time of 20:55.

Cody Evens finished 14th in a time of 21:14 and Jake Schroer was 15th in a time of 21:34. Chase Albers ended the night in 20th position with a time of 31:58.

The runners competed on a day that saw drastic changes in weather, but Welti felt his team performed well.

"Honestly I thought today would get rained out based on what I saw with the weather," he said. "Then when we came outside, we felt pretty cool like 'OK, this might turn out to be a good day after all.' Then the sun came out and got pretty warm.

"I don't think they let the weather bother them at all and compared to what we had yesterday at practice, this weather was nice. We'll take this."

Wednesday began a stretch of four meets in seven days for the Eagles. Welti said that schedule wears on a team both mentally and physically. He said it takes a solid summer workout or the legs won't be there when the fourth meet rolls around.

"They're going to feel this later on, which is why we took today a little easier. They to be a little smarter. We'll just us it as a workout," Welti said.

South Putnam will travel to Clay City tonight at 5 p.m.

At South Putnam

Girls' Results

Danville 23, South Putnam 33

Individual Times

(South Putnam only)

3. Delano 23:35, 6. J. Jones 25:06, 7. H. Jones 25:10, 7. Scales 25:10, 9. Higgins 25:12, 10. Nield 25:15, 16. Lesko 33:38, 17. King 41:07

Boys' Results

Danville 18, South Putnam 43

Individual Times

(South Putnam only)

3. Freeman 18:30, 8. Lund 20:11, 8. Allen 20:11, 11. Franklin 20:38, 12. Bunten 20:47, 13. Nield 20:55, 14. Evens 21:14, 15. Schroer 21:34, 20. Albers 31:48