County runners advance to regional

Monday, October 12, 2015
Sectional champion Emma Wilson of GHS led the entire race at South Putnam Saturday. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

A beautiful day at South Putnam yielded a successful cross country sectional meet for Putnam Country runners as several athletes will be moving on to the Ben Davis Regional.

Emma Wilson continued her accomplished freshman season winning the blue ribbon and leading her Tiger Cub team to a third-place finish and a regional berth.

"I feel pretty good, it was a hard course," Wilson said. "There were lots of hills. It's a pretty good course but I'm looking forward to Ben Davis more. It's flat and easier."

GHS' Clayton Wilson, Cameron Lewis and Braden Pershing make the third turn at the IHSAA South Putnam sectional along with Eagle Kieffer Vittetow. GHS, Vittetow and Eagles Logan Vandermark and Michael Crossman will be running for the boys in the Ben Davis Regional, along with Clover Nick Blundell. (Banner Graphic/jay lockett)

The South Puntam girl's team will also be moving on as they were lead by Maddy McHugh, Alysha Nichols and Julianna DeLano finishing at 19th, 20th and 21st.

Cloverdale finished seventh but will be advancing Chelsie Edwards who finished 17th and Victoria Szalay, finishing 24th also will be racing at Ben Davis.

The Greencastle boys finished fourth and will be racing this weekend and the Tiger Cubs were led by Clayton Wilson who finished 18th.

NPHS' Alanna Nuņez strides on the last leg of the South Putnam cross country sectional. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

South Puntam who finished sixth will be advancing Kieffer Vittetow who finished best of any County runner at 11th. Micheal Crossman finished 23rd and will also be racing for the Eagles at regional.

The Clovers finished ninth have advanced Nick Blundell who finished 26th.

North Putnam had incomplete scores in both races but Cougar coach Kevin Lutes was pleased with three runners and their improved times.

Cloverdale's Chelsie Edwards and Tori Szalay will be racing at the Ben Davis Regional Saturday. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

"I'm beyond proud of how our Cougar runners competed today in sectionals," Lutes said. "All three of our athletes improved their times on this course from the County meet almost two weeks ago. Caleb Duncan finished 39th overall and made almost an eight second improvement from County, 19:12. He's such a natural runner and extremely competitive, so he was disappointed that he didn't get his best season time. He's still so young, and once he gets everything put together, he's going to be a major threat."

Lutes also was pleased at the performance of his Lady Cougars and the grit they showed on the tough Eagle course.

"Our two ladies ran their gutsiest races of all season, especially in the last 800," Lutes said. "Alanna Nuņez had a surge on the back half of the course where she surged past three girls. It was the most aggressive she's raced since I've known her. She finished about 17 seconds faster this time, and was 44th (25:13).

Cloverdale's Chelsie Edwards and Tori Szalay will be racing at the Ben Davis Regional Saturday. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

"Sydney Sims destroyed her previous time by roughly a minute and a half. She fought tooth and nail with another girl through the last half mile to hold her off at the end. She was 53rd (28:03). Our kids showed a lot of heart today, and it's been rewarding to work with them all season."

In addition to Wilson's top finish, Arianna Pershing and Sydney Lewis cracked the top-15 with fifth and13th finishes respectively.

"There were some really competitive girls out here," Pershing said. "It's always fun to have competition because that can give you something to work off of. It's kind of like a big game of tag. Whoever can get in front can be victorious."

CHSNick Blundell makes the third turn followed by Putnam County runners. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

"I was really pleased with both boys and girls teams advancing to the Regionals next Saturday at Ben Davis," GHS coach Garry Anderson said. "There were several nice times by each of our teams. Our younger girls keep making good strides and passing runners placing better and better each meet.

"The South Putnam course has been extended to meet the 5k distance plus the course is just a tough course to get good times on."

The Cloverdale runners that made it out are also optimistic about the opportunity to race with finer completion.

"Today was a really good race for me," Blundell said. "It was perfect weather. I did really good compared to how I usually do on this course. Regional is going to be a lot tougher but it'll be more flat so I can expect a better time."

Blundell's fellow Clover, Edwards said she isn't sure what to anticipate at Ben Davis but is looking forward to giving it her all.

"I feel good with being a freshman and making the top-20," said the freshman. "I don't know (what to expect at regional). I'm just going to try my best and push my hardest."

Edwards' teammate Szalay, who CHS coach Andy Tyler said has been a role model for Edwards took advantage of the good weather which hasn't been great in recent meets at South Putnam.

"I'm feeling good. I PR'd here," Szalay said. "I've ben running here for three years. So that's pretty great. I qualified last year and I'd really like to not choke like I did last year."

Tyler said that the South Putnam course could be the hardest course to run all year and he was pleased with how his Clovers handled the track.

"We had a couple of people PR today," Tyler said. "I know Trinity (Rairdon) PR'd that's good. I'm just proud that we got people out on both sides. We haven't had a boy out since Joe Rumley. That's been years ago. So I'm proud that Nick made it out."

Even the Eagles, who practice on the course daily, say the course is not an easy run and will be looking for faster times at the Regional.

"We know our course is more challenging and physically demanding," Eagle coach Brandon Welti said. "At Ben Davis it favors the faster athletes, where our course favors the stronger athletes. It definitely going to be a different approach."

Welti said the team will work at a faster pace this week to prepare for the type of competition they'll face Saturday and the Eagles have gained confidence running on the course all year, seeing their improvement.

IHSAA South Putnam Cross Country Sectional Results

At South Putnam

Boys Results

Teams (Top 5 advance)

1 Avon 30

2 Brownsburg 80

3 Decatur Central 84

4 Greencastle 124

5 Danville 125

6 South Putnam 158

7 Plainfield 165

8 Cascade 181

9 Cloverdale 236

10 Bathesda Christian -

11 North Putnam -

12 Tri-West

Boys Individual Resutls

11 Kieffer Vittetow JR 00:17:22.51 South Putnam

18 Clayton Wilson JR 00:17:59 Greencastle

21 Cameron Lewis JR 00:18:10 Greencastle

15 Michael Crossman SO 00:18:15 South Putnam

24 Braden Pershing JR 00:18:28 Greencastle

25 Logan Vandermark JR 00:18:31 South Putnam

26 Nick Blundell SR 00:18:32 Cloverdale

28 Preston Headley SO 00:18:35 Greencastle

33 Ben Gellman SO 00:18:48 Greencastle

39 Caleb Duncan SO 00:19:12 North Putnam

44 Chad Stevens JR 00:19:26 Cloverdale

46 Ethen Tuggle FR 00:19:27 Greencastle

49 Dru Bottorff SO 00:19:31 South Putnam

53 Austin Rumley FR 00:20:05 South Putnam

54 Eric Hinkle FR 00:20:09 South Putnam

55 Nolan Maners JR 00:20:15 Cloverdale

58 Rylan Hall FR 00:20:31 Cloverdale

64 Ryan Heavener JR 00:21:08 Cloverdale

66 Adair Bock 00:21:30 South Putnam

70 Abel Bates SO 00:23:04 Cloverdale

Girls Results

Teams (Top 5 advance)

1 Plainfield 38

2 Avon 42

3 Greecastle 66

4 Brownsburg 104

5. South Putnam 199

6 Cascade 156

7 Cloverdale 176

8 Decatur Central 191

9 Bethesda Christian -

10 Danville -

11 North Putnam -

12 Tri-West

Girls' Individual Results

1 Emma Wilson FR 00:18:57.766 Greencastle

5 Arianna Pershing SO 00:21:06 Greencastle

13 Sydney Lewis FR 00:21:57 Greencastle

17 Chelsie Edwards FR 00:22:28 Cloverdale

19 Maddie Mchugh SO 00:21:31 South Putnam

20 Ally Nichols SO 00:22:45 South Putnam

23 Katerina King SR 00:22:59 Greencastle

24 Tori Szalay JR 00:23:00 Cloverdale

26 Seelye Stoffregen FR 00:23:04 Greencastle

28 Samara Young FR 00:23:11 South Putnam

38 Clare Plomondon SR 00:23:56 Cloverdale

39 Rachel Jones SO 00:23:58 South Putnam

44 Alanna Nunez SO 00:25:13 North Putnam

45 Alex Fanning SO 00:25:25 South Putnam

48 Mika Mozawa FR 00:26:09 Greencastle

52 Addi Blaydes SO 00:27:46 South Putnam

53 Sydney Sims SO 00:28:03 North Putnam

60 Trinity Rairdon 00: 32:00 Cloverdale

61 Darlene Whitaker 00:35:56 Cloverdale

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