Vittetow, McHugh have strong outings for SP

Greencastle's Wilson second in state preview

AVON -- The host Orioles placed six runners in the top 10 of the boys' race on Saturday to completely dominate the Avon Invitational, one more than necessary for team scoring.

Other members of the top 10 came from similarly huge schools such as Franklin Central and Ben Davis.

The overall winner, though, hailed from none of those athletics factories.

South Putnam senior Kieffer Vittetow emerged as the winner with a personal record and course record time of 16:18.2, just 1.1 seconds faster than the runnerup.

"He looked really relaxed the entire time, which was great to see when he was with a pack of about five or six other runners," SP coach Brandon Welti said. "By the last 200 meters, he switched to another gear and held on to the win by one second.

"For him to run that smoothly, that relaxed, and that comfortably this early in the year, it scares me to think about what he's capable of accomplishing."

Welti thought the trio of Logan Vandermark, Austin Rumley and Michael Crossman did very well to finish in the mid-20s.

"The trio packed up and picked people off as a group," Welti said. "Over the last 400 meters or so, Logan really opened it up and started rolling.

"It was great seeing him so strong at the end of the race, and I'm really glad to see all three of them cruising so well."

Welti noted that Eric Hinkle, Karl Egold and Dru Bottorff all ran PRs.

"This team has a lot of potential," he said. " I'm looking forward to seeing what they can accomplish when October rolls around."

Welti noted the Eagle girls had some "really good" individual performances, which all included season best times.

"Maddie McHugh ran a strong race, fighting to remain in the top 15 the entire time," Welti said. "She finished well and was just a few seconds off of her personal best. To be running like that this early in the season was nice to see and pretty impressive."

Samara Young ran third for the Eagles and had a strong race as well, Welti noted.

"She started pretty conservatively, maybe too conservatively, but did a great job of steadily moving up the final 2K of the race," he said. "I like the strategy, and I hope we'll continue to see racing improvement from her as the season progresses."

Girls' race

Team scores -- Franklin Central 24, Avon 37, Herron 115, Cascade 121, Roncalli 126, Ben Davis 134, South Putnam 134.

Top 10 runners -- 1. Taylor Nicholson (A) 18:44.7, 2. Shayla Traas (FC) 19:13.2, 3. Jada Reedus (FC) 19:47. 7, 4. Savannah Roy (A) 19:53.3, 5. Kathryn Matthies (FC) 19:54.8, 6. Kaylor Hoover (FC) 20:05.3, 7. Kate Bernicke (A) 20:17.0, 8. Sydney Welch (FC) 20:46.4, 9. Morgan Watkins (H) 20:49.3, 10. Rachel Bowling (H) 21:00.1.

South Putnam runners -- 15. Maddie McHugh 21:37.5, 19. Ally Nichols 22:14.3, 28. Samara Young 22.59.6, 36. Rachel Jones 24:20.3, 43. Addi Blaydes 25:18.4.

Boys' race

Team scores -- Avon 25, Franklin Central 53, Ben Davis 101, South Putnam 111, Brownsburg 118, Cascade 175, Herron 206, Tri-West 234

Top 10 runners -- 1. Kieffer Vittetow (SP) 16:18.2, 2. Rhys Grealish (Avon) 16:19.3, 3. Jacob Woodrow (Avon) 16:2.9, 4. Nyc Sigmon (Avon) 16:28.1, 5. Mitchell Parrish (FC) 16:30.4, 6. Jesse Vargas (BD) 16:49, 7. Keith Abramson (Avon) 16:50.0, 8. Trey Perry (FC) 16:50.2, 9. Eli Goddard (Avon) 16:55.4, 10. Jazz Briggs (Avon) 16:59.1.

Other South Putnam runners -- 22. Logan Vandermark 17:49.5, 25. Austin Rumley 17:56.6, 26. Michael Crossman 17:57.0, 37. Eric Hinkle 19:04.8, 28. Karl Egold 19:06.7, 39. Dru Bottorff 19:19.3.

Next meet -- South Putnam will run in the Clay City Invitational on Thursday.

In other cross country:

* Emma Wilson finishes second -- At Seelyville, Greencastle competed in the Terre Haute Savings Bank State Preview meet on Saturday.

Greencastle sophomore Emma Wilson paced the Tiger Cubs by finishing second in the girls' varsity race.

The other runners in the top five were all from Carmel. Predictably, the Greyhounds won the team title with 29 points while Fishers was second with 115. Greencastle placed 21th among the 24 teams with 326 points.

In the boys' race, Greencastle placed 21st among 29 teams. Clayton Wilson was the top Tiger Cub runner, placing 54th in 17:11.

"It was nice to race in a large field. Everyone had fun and took away a lot of positives," Greencastle co-head coach Craig Jordan said. "They've got good momentum and they're excited to lace up again next weekend at the Ben Davis Invitational."

Co-head coach Mark Jedele agreed.

"The weather finally broke and our athletes took full advantage of it," he said. "This has always been a great meet that lets runners really test their legs. Coach Jordan and I were very pleased by our runner's performances."

Girls' race

Team scores -- Carmel 29, Fishers 115, Westfield 147, Crown Point 186, Terre Haute North 187, Brownsburg 203, Center Grove 239, Evansville Memorial 256, Plainfield 294, Barr-Reeve 317, Indianapolis Cathedral 326, Greencastle 326, Terre Haute South 383, Evansville Mater Dei 387, Jasper 407, Christian Academy 424, Mooresville 464, Perry Meridian 465, Shakamak 512, Indianapolis Park Tudor 538, Evansville Reitz 545, Northview 586, Decatur Central 631, Castle 665

Top 10 runners -- 1. Christina Geisler (Carmel) 18:17, 2. Emma Wilson (Gc) 18;24, 3. Phoebe Bates (Carmel) 18:39, 4. Rachel Anderson (Carmel) 18:44, 5. Maddie Dalton (Carmel) 18:53, 6. Presley Warren (EvMem) 19:09, 7. Miya Wai (Fishers) 19:10, 8. Devon Zeck (THN) 19:10, 9. 10. Gabby Dillick (Westfield) 19:19.

Other Greencastle runners -- 42. Shelby Kallem 20:35, 53. Sydney Kallem 20:50, 106. Mika Mozawa 22:52, 123. Seelye Stoffregen 23:47, 124. Arianna Pershing 23:52, 133. Katie Haynes 24:30. Abigail King ran eighth on the team and had a time of 29:34.

Boys' race

Team scores -- Carmel 54, Fishers 80, Westfield 157, Valparaiso 175, Terre Haute South 190, Tell City 202, Zionsville 267, Center Grove 305, Crown Point 312, Indianapolis Pike 316, Danville 368, Barr-Reeve 371, Christian Academy 373, Indianapolis Cathedral 380, Jasper 423, Evansville Central 424, Castle 434, Terre Haute North 451, Evansville Mater Dei 452, Plainfield 488, Greencastle 526, Decatur Central 605, Evansville Reitz 647, Evansville Memorial 659, Indianapolis Park Tudor 705, Bedford North Lawrence 716, Mooresville 729, Northview 816, Shakamak 834

Top 10 runners -- 1. Cole Hocker (Cath) 15:54, 2. Aaron Bennett (Westfield) 16:00, 3. Josh Roth (Fishers) 16:06, 4. Sam Kuhn (Fishers) 16:09, 5. William J. Harris III (Carmel) 16:11, 6. Daniel Gerber (Danville) 16:14, 7. Colin Murphy (Carmel) 16:17, 8. Collin Huber (Valpo) 16:18, 9. Thomas Gastineau (Carmel) 16:20, 10. Caleb Futter (Chr. Acad.) 16:22.

Greencastle runners -- 54. Clayton Wilson 17:11, 88. Cameron Lewis 17:47, 113. Braden Peshing 18:16, 116. Ben Gellman 18:23, 155. Preston Headley 19:13, 157. Jacob Crawley 19:16, 163. Justin Berish 19:25. Tylan Jones ran eighth on the team with a time of 20:37.

Next meet -- Greencastle will run on Saturday in the Ben Davis Invitational.

* Stevens, Edwards pace Clovers -- At Columbus, Cloverdale competed in the Columbus North Invitational on Saturday.

Chad Stevens and Chelsie Edwards each set a personal record to lead their respective teams.

Stevens was 23rd in the boys' race with a time of 18:09.1.

"Chad had a great run," Clover coach Andy Tyler said. "He was close to breaking 18:00, and he set a great tone for our team.

"When Chad is on his game, the rest of the team responds," he added. "Everyone ran their best times of the year."

Edwards placed 10th in the girls' race.

"She is coming on strong," Tyler said. "It was great to see Tori Szalay be able to finally compete this season.

"The injury bug had really gotten ahold of her, but she's a tough kid and has fought through it."

Girls' race

Cloverdale runners -- 10. Chelsie Edwards 21:47.9, 94. Tori Szalay 28:57.7, 100. Ashleigh Nepote 30:09.7.

Boys' race

Team scores -- Oldenburg Academy 79, Culver Academies 91, Heritage Christian 138, Edgewood 142, Providence 167, Eastern Greene 170, South Dearborn 175, Southwestern (Shelby) 197, Cloverdale 218, Lighthouse Christian 229, Indian Creek 232, Bloomfield 245, Monrovia 316, Triton Central 355, Bloomington Bobcats 382, Owen Valley 426

Cloverdale runners -- 23. Chad Stevens 18:09.1, 45. Eddie Mannan 19:03.9, 47. Nolan Maners 19:12.9, 51. Rylan Hall 19:29.3, 55. Ryan Heavener 19:41.6, 84. Elliot Williamson 21:00.9, 101. Abel Bates 22:26.6.

Next meet -- Cloverdale will compete at West Vigo on Tuesday.

In collegiate cross country:

* Monnett wins season opener -- At Normal, Ill., DePauw senior Claudia Monnett of Cloverdale opened the season with a win in 11:30.0 over the two-mile course as the Tigers won the Illinois Titan opener at Illinois Wesleyan.

Paced by four of the top seven finishers, DePauw totaled just 25 points and easily won the Illinois Titan Opener. DePauw returns to action on Sept. 16 at the Indiana Intercollegiates in Bloomington.

* Delano earns All-Invitational nod -- At Shelbyville, three Hanover athletes earned All-Invitational honors to lead the Panthers' women's team at the Sodexho Grizzly Invitational.

Freshman Julianna Delano of South Putnam placed 13th in 26:21 to earn All-Invitational honors in her first race at the collegiate six-kilometer distance.

The harriers finished third in the invitational, and will return to action at home Saturday in the Madison Kiwanis Invitational.

In middle school action:

* Clovers second -- Cloverdale placed second among both boys and girls in a triangular meet last week with Monrovia and Martinsville.

Brady Koosman led the Clover boys' team by placing second in a time of 11:12.

Abigail Nees led the Clover girls by placing third in 12:41.

Boys' meet

Team scores -- Martinsville 33, Cloverdale 35, Monrovia 55

Cloverdale runners -- 2. Koosman 11:12, 4. Nees 11:54, 5. Maldonado 12:01, 11. Kelley 12:48, 13. Hall 13:06, 14. Kauffman 13:11, 16. Hilton 13:29, 21. Watts 14:19, 24. Monnett 14:25, 25. Lee 14:26, 27. Maners 15:15, 29. Ramsey 15:38, 36. Laing 19:15, 38. Collins 21:54.

Girls' meet

Team scores -- Monrovia 20, Cloverdale 36, Martinsville incomplete.

Cloverdale runners -- 3. Nees 12:41, 7. Szerbik 13:59, 8. Monnett 14:01, 10. Wade 14:31, 13. Johnson 15:48, 14. Couch 16:03, 22. Mann 17:38

Golf

* Greencastle 204, Owen Valley 213 -- At Rolling Meadows, Greencastle again posted its lowest score of the season on Thursday by defeating Owen Valley 204-213.

"We had a very good week," Coach Robert Hedge said. "We again shot the lowest score of the season. Macey [Masten] continues to play extremely well, shooting a personal best of 40."

Alex Weliever of the Tiger Cubs added a 49, the third-best score of the match, while Lindsey Bridgewater shot a 55, Gabby Selvia had a 60 and Rose White had a 63.

"Rose had a good night as well, also shooting her personal best," Hedge said. "I really think that Alex, Lindsey, and Gabby are ready to put up some lower scores. That will really help the team."

Hedge likes the momentum his team is building toward the end of the season.

"We are starting to play some really good golf," he said. "Getting ready for county and sectional, we need to get under 200."

Volleyball

* Clovers fall to OV -- Owen Valley defeated Cloverdale's seventh-grade team 25-16, 25-11 last week.

Katelyn Smith led the team with five serves. The Lady Clovers' next game will be tonight at Greencastle.

* North Clay tops Eagles -- The South Putnam eighth-grade team fell to North Clay Thursday night in three games, 25-21, 13-25, and 11-15.

Saydee Proctor -- 7 points, 3 kills, 1 block

Karley Maynor -- 6 points, 1 dig

Chloe Custis -- 5 points, 2 kills, 1 dig

Drew Steffy -- 5 points, 1 dig

Grace Burdge -- 2 points, 2 digs

Brionna Egold -- 1 point, 1 kill, 2 digs

Bree Mahoney-Sutherland -- 1 kill

Gracie Nees -- 3 digs

Ava McHugh -- 1 kill

Macie Bumgardner -- 1 dig

Eva Hubbard -- 2 digs

Next match -- The Eagles (2-2) will play at Greencastle on Thursday

Soccer

* Greencastle (boys) 6, Northview 0 -- On Thursday, the Tiger Cubs recorded a shutout over the Knights.

"This was the best game of the season for the boys, not just when it comes to the score but the overall play on the pitch," Greencastle coach J.D. Sims said. "We dominated the possession and moved the ball around wonderfully.

"We controlled the flow of the game really well."

Sims thought Evan Crowe played well, but the team effort is what led to the victory.

"He really found his place in the middle of the field and put in his best performance yet dictating most of our play," Sims said. "It was hard for me to pick 'man of the match' because everyone performed so well."

Other players who Sims felt played well were Ben Parsons and Dylan Kendall.

"Both gave their best showings of the season," Sims said. "Simon Foss found himself in all the right positions to net two goals. All the players off the bench were great."