Fall sports previews: Cross country, soccer, tennis

Saturday, August 26, 2017

Here is a look at each Putnam County school’s team in cross country, tennis and soccer.

Girls’ cross country

Cloverdale – The Clovers have seven runners this year, with junior Ashleigh Nepote the only runner not being a sophomore or freshman.

The sophomore Clover runners are Macie Couch, Grace Leonard, Arianna McCracken, Megan Miller and Abigail Bernard, while Lily Monnett is the team’s lone freshman.

Greencastle – Junior Emma Wilson is a two-time state finalist, finishing eighth both times, and is rated the No. 2 runner in the state this year by Indiana Runner.

She won sectional, conference, county and regional cross country titles last year and placed seventh in the semistate. Wilson also won state titles last spring in the 1,600 and 3,200 meter runs.

Returner Sydney Kallem was an all-county performer last year. Emma Huber is the only other runner on the roster.

North Putnam – Freshmen Grace Elmore and Anna Haste have led the Cougars so far this season, with Sydney Sims, Taylor Hensley and Gabby Carney also cutting their times to provide support and give the Cougars enough runners to be in the team competition at meets.

South Putnam – Coach Brandon Welti considers his team a strong group, despite the loss of senior Maddie McHugh to a torn ACL.

“That was a pretty big loss to our team,” Welti said. “She’s a great leader in her work ethic and commitment to the sport. However, she’s still been around and encouraging the team, and I think Maddie’s presence serves as a good reminder to both teams that they need to take advantage of an enjoy their opportunity to run and compete while they still have the ability.”

As for the competing squad, Welti has a strong top three in senior Ally Nichols, junior Chelsie Edwards and sophomore Lexi Vanihel.

Nichols was a sectional champion in track in the 800, while Edwards has had success in both cross country and track and Vanihel — who played volleyball last fall — also had a great spring in track.

“Those three are battling really well together in all of our workouts, and I can’t wait to watch them race together,” Welti said. “No. 4-9 on our team seems to be changing from workout to workout. We have a good mix of all ages competing for those final spots in the top seven, and I honestly think we could have a different top seven at each race.”

The Eagles have only run one meet thus far.

“We have only raced at Zionsville, where we had mixed results,” he said. “This will be a really strong group by the end of the season. I know that they also have some big goals, and now it’s a matter of being disciplined day after day to accomplish those goals. This could potentially be the strongest girls’ team we’ve had in recent years.”

Girls’ soccer

Greencastle – The 2-1 Tiger Cubs return several players from last year, and have some promising newcomers ready to step up.

Junior goalie Claire Gillen made an average of 11.5 saves per game last year, while junior Erin Thomas was the team’s leading scorer with 21 goals. Senior Corinne Buchanan led the team with five assists last year, and also scored three goals.

Sophomore Kaitlin Dibble had two goals and two assists last year, while sophomore Catherine Weeks had two assists.

Freshman Kennedy Trigg has one goal and two assists this year, while Thomas has already recorded six goals this season with one assist and Dibble has one goal and one assist.

North Putnam – First-year coach James Hilton takes over from Chase Hiland, who paced the Cougars to the county championship last year with a regular-season win over Greencastle.

Top 2016 scorer Kaelynn Abner now plays collegiately for the University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky.

The Cougars are 2-2 this season, and have gotten three goals and one assist from senior Abby Spencer, two goals and two assists from sophomore Kylee McCollough and two goals from junior Cheyenne Graham.

Boys’ cross country

Cloverdale – Rylan Hall was 17th in the county meet last year, and coach Andy Tyler likes the leadership he has provided this year.

“We are working hard this year,” he said. “With Rylan Hall leading the team, I know we will continue to improve. I am looking forward to today’s meet at Riverton Parke. We should see our times drop.”

Returner Elliott Williamson was 23rd in the county meet last year, while Andrew Monnett was 25th.

The Clovers have 14 runners in their roster.

Greencastle – None of the three all-county runners for the Tiger Cubs last year (Clayton Wilson, Cameron Lewis and Braden Pershing) is back, but returner Ben Gellman placed eighth in the county meet and missed all-county honors by three seconds.

Preston Headley was 12th in the county meet last year and also returns, as do Tylan Jones (20th in county) and Justin Berish (22nd).

North Putnam – The Cougars have eight runners on their roster, and have been led this year by Kyle Young, Adam Bonebrake and Matt Trotter.

Caleb Duncan broke his personal record time by nearly one minute on Saturday in placing 11th in the Fountain Central Grand Prix.

South Putnam – Coach Brandon Welti said the Eagles have “a lot of potential this year,” despite having to fill in for the huge graduation losses of Kieffer Vittetow (now running for the University of Indianapolis) and Logan Vandermark (now at Franklin) from the county championship team.

The boys team has a lot of potential this year, and is growing in depth as well, Welti said.

“Austin Rumley and Karl Egold are pretty solid 1-2 runners, and then we have a strong pack in positions 3-6 that changes from day to day,” Welti said. “Our deeper position runners have quite a few guys that could definitely mix into our top seven, so our varsity squad could be different for every meet.

Welti “really likes” what he has going on with the guys’ team.

“They are committed to doing the small things to continually get better, and they aren’t letting the loss of Kieffer Vittetow or Logan Vandermark prevent them from chasing after some big goals,” he said. “The guys were able to experience a lot of success last season, and the seniors are especially anxious to get back to where we were last year.

“Our speed is good, but we haven’t yet put in the training for maintaining that effort for longer periods of time,” Welti added. “Based on team history, we know that commitment to the little things and trust in our training will result in the times and places we want at the end of the season.”

Boys’ soccer

Greencastle – The Tiger Cubs were ranked No. 18 in the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association pre-season poll, coming off an excellent year last season in which they were runnerup in the Western Indiana Conference.

Coach J.D. Sims is looking for his squad to keep improving from last year.

“We are one of the few teams that we play this year that did not lose a majority of our seniors,” he said. “We lost two last year and have a total of eight seniors this year. The beauty of this team is our depth. My whole starting lineup this year are key players. I also have a strong bench who can come on and help the team.”

Among the team leaders, Sims said, is senior Evan Crowe — termed a “goal-scoring machine” by his coach.

Simon Foss, the team captain, is a leader and a strong central midfielder, Sims said.

“Leo ‘The Janitor’ Weeks leads the backline and cleans up for our keeper Brody Watson, who I would argue may be the best keeper amongst our competition,” coach Sims said. “The best part is I could give praise to every single starter I have been playing this year.”

The Tiger Cubs are 3-0-1 so far, what Sims considers a “decent” start.

“We beat Monrovia by eight goals. Then we tied Covington 2-2, a game would should have put away. We managed a victory against Crawfordsville 2-1, another game we could have scored more goals.”

Sims thinks his team is capable of playing even better.

“We did not play to our caliber of soccer in those matches,” he said. “I try to push the boys to play a certain style — composed of strong passing, controlled possession, combined with high pressure — that leads to combination play, not just kick ball.”

Sims thought his team played much more to its potential on Thursday in a 2-0 win over Danville.

“It was a slow start but we moved the ball around the field extremely well,” he said. “Evan Crowe received a long ball out wide where he showed his blistering speed down the sideline. He had a one-on-one with the keep that he was able to put in.”

Sims thought his team found its stride in the second half.

“We put more pressure on the ball, controlled the tempo, kept the ball in their half of the field, and maintained possession,” he said. “Evan Crowe made an excellent run through the middle which resulted in a foul in the box. Simon Foss stepped up and scored the penalty for us.”

Sims noted Danville had a big chance toward the end of the game, but Brett Sosebee made a strategic foul that saw him sent off with a yellow.

“That slowed Danville’s momentum taking away an opportunity that could have flipped the game,” he said. “Everyone had a strong performance,and there is no better feeling than seeing your players grin ear to ear.

“They were not ginning because they knew they won,” Sims added. “They were grinning because they knew they deserved to win, and because they found that caliber of play we had been striving for over the past few games.”

North Putnam – The Cougars return three seniors from last year in Caleb Duncan, Alex Krominaker and Tyler Thompson, along with seven underclassmen.

“This makes for a team with limited experience,” first-year coach Curt Krominaker said. “We lost six players from last year’s team, and have five newcomers. Even though we have a smaller roster than most schools, we hope to have a strong team.”

Krominaker noted that some players will be joining the team later than the others due to injury and vacations, and he will not have a full roster until the fifth match of the season.

“We are looking to be competitive this season, and realize it will take a while for the team to get used to working together,” he said. “We are trying a different formation to get the best out of each player this season. We spent the first few weeks of practices working on finding the best positions for each player.”

Krominaker said the goalie position is set with the return of junior Aidan Millican, as well as senior top scorer Alex Krominaker.

“Most of the other players are taking up a new spot on the field than they had last year,” coach Krominaker said. “Freshman Dane Spencer has a bright future in our midfield, and partnered with Grant Jarboe they make a strong duo.”

Krominaker also said the forward and wing positions have the potential to score more goals with Thompson, Duncan, Brendan Chandler and Elliott Sabens manning those spots.

“We have been working on increasing our goal production this year, and we registered more than twice as many shot attempts in the first two games. Our goal is to improve on one aspect of our game each time out.

“We have a great group of guys in the program that need some more experience to be a winning unit.”

Boys’ tennis

Greencastle – The Tiger Cubs suffered a lot of losses to graduation from last fall’s sectional championship team, including No. 1 singles player Jed Fajt – who now plays at Hanover.

Sean Ramey has moved into Fajt’s position, up from No. 2 singles. No. 3 singles performer Yuji Mozawa also graduated.

Besides Ramey, the rest of the lineup is new this season. Trent Ross and Luca Magni have been playing singles for the Tiger Cubs, while Anthony Conley, Nate Hensley, Henry Carter and Micah Hammond have been competing in doubles.

South Putnam – Coach Johnny Briones has a lot of returners from last year’s team, and the Eagles are off to a good start this season.

They lost a 3-2 match to Greencastle, then won the West Vigo Invitational. South Putnam dropped a 4-1 decision to West Vigo earlier this week, but bounced back the next day by defeating Northview 4-1.

Juniors Thomas Fanning and Ty VanSickle are back at No. 1 and 2 singles, respectively. Junior Garrett Heavin has manned the No. 3 singles spot this year, with seniors Jared Seidler and Noah Emmrich manning the No. 1 doubles spot and junior Austin Arnold and sophomore Tanner Pistelli.

Briones is excited about this season and beyond, with only two seniors among the top seven players this year and a total of 20 players in the program – including six freshmen.

Fall sports rosters

(Grade listed when available

Boys’ cross country

Cloverdale – Rylan Hall 11, Chase Ashcraft 9, Brady Szczerbik 11, Elliott Williamson 11, Evan Williamson 12, Abel Bates 12, Ray Bates 9, Eddie Mannan 12, Andrew Monnett 12, Seth Geiger 10, Michael Holloran 10, Nate Monnett 9, Grant Maners 9, Jason Miller 12

Greencastle – Ben Gellman, Preston Headley, Ian Frank, Donovan Asbell, Justin Berish, Michael King, Tylan Jones, John Brook

North Putnam – Adam Bonebrake, Caleb Duncan, Jacob Farrington, Grant Jarboe, Janus Oestergaard-Dinesen, Matthew Trotter, Steven Weir, Kyle Young

South Putnam – Josh Beikman 10, Adair Bock 12, Dru Bottorff 12, Andrew Carr 11, Michael Crossman 12, Karl Egold 10, Eric Hinkle 11, Frank Jekek, Daniel Johnson 10, Austin Rumley 11, Steven Schnepp 10, Brent Wiggins 9

Boys’ soccer

Greencastle – (Varsity) Ivan Glotzbach 9, Kevin Polster 12, Jakob Foss 10, Jack Romer 12, Simon Foss 12, Matthew Muncie 11, Nate Trissel 12, Ben Parsons 11, Dylan Kendall 11, Ben Wilkerson 10, Evan Crowe 12, Brett Sosebee 12, Sal Martoglio 12, Hector Lezama 10, Jacob Baker 11, Michael White 10, Leo Weeks 11, Brody Watson 11 (JV) Lyndon Briones, Kaleb Silvert 9, Oliver McKenzie 10, Matthew Muncie 11, Nathan Simmons 10, Dayan Martinez 9, Michael White 10, Kaleb Troxal 10, Jacob Wadler 10

North Putnam – Aidan Mullican 11, Samuel Whitaker 9, Tyler Thompson 12, Grant Jarboe 10, Caleb Duncan 12, Alex Krominaker 12, Matthew Myers 11, Terran Wittig 12, Jacob Nevitt 11, Lane Summers 9, Dane Spencer 9, Ashton Shaw 9, Elliot Sabens 11, Marcus Burdine 11, Tyler Wright 11, Brendan Chandler 11

Boys’ tennis

Greencastle – Carter Black, Isaiah Campbell, Henry Carter, Anthony Conley, Collin Gasway, James Hammond, Nathaniel Hensley, Luca Magni, Sean Ramey, Trent Ross

South Putnam – Blake Clearwaters 12, Noah Emmrich 12, Jared Seidler 12, Austin Arnold 11, Thomas Fanning 11, Garrett Heavin 11, Trey Long 11, Creigh Remsburg 11, Ty VanSickle 11, Robbie Fisher 10, Levi Girton 10, Jaxon Hodge 10, Tanner Pistelli 10, Brandon Rector 10, Trey Blaydes 9, Nate Clearwaters 9, Marcus Robinson 9, Brady Robinson 9, Evan Steffy 9, Ethan Wallace 9

Girls’ cross country

Cloverdale – Macie Couch 10, Lily Monnett 9, Grace Leonard 10, Arianna McCracken 10, Megan Miller 10, Abigail Bernard 10, Ashleigh Nepote 11

Greencastle – Emma Wilson 11, Emma Huber, Sydney Kallem

North Putnam – Gabby Carney, Grace Elmore, Anna Haste, Taylor Hensley, Ashley O’Neal, Sydney Sims, Madison Trotter

South Putnam – Addi Blaydes 12, Alex Bratcher 10, Rachel Carter 12, Caity Crossman 9, Chelsie Edwards 11, Rachel Jones 12, Stella Latham 10, Naomi Martinez 10, Maddie McHugh 12, Ava McHugh 9, Ally Nichols 12, Lillie Stein 12, Lexi Vanihel 10, Samara Young 11

Girls’ soccer

Greencastle – Claire Gillen 11, Erin Thomas 11, Corinne Buchanan 12, Emily Crowder 10, Katie White 9, Kennedy Trigg 9, Neva Brown 9, Molly Carver 9, Gretchen Weliever 11, Zoe Weltz 9, Annie Hershberger 10, Kaitlyn Dibble 10, Sydney Anderson 9, Megan Friars 12, Catherine Weeks 10, Elizabeth Cox 10, Abbie Beauchamp 9, Sydney Doan 9, Ashlynn Guyer 9

North Putnam – Cayman Curran 9, Hannah Sims 10, Sabrina Toth 11, Destinee Clodfelter 11, Abby Spencer 12, Kylee McCollough 10, Tirzah Freije 12, Abby Andrews 9, Ashlyn Cooke 12, Lillian Rambis 12, Grace Fry 10, Brittany Beavers 10, Jada Stump 12, Kaylie Hackleman 9, McKenna Speier 10, Kristy Krsulic 9, Lauren Lotzow 9, Corissa Crosby 9, Cheyenne Graham 11, Chloey Barnett 11

Boys' cross country

Cloverdale – Rylan Hall 11, Chase Ashcraft 9, Brady Szczerbik 11, Elliott Williamson 11, Evan Williamson 12, Abel Bates 12, Ray Bates 9, Eddie Mannan 12, Andrew Monnett 12, Seth Geiger 10, Michael Holloran 10, Nate Monnett 9, Grant Maners 9, Jason Miller 12

Greencastle – Ben Gellman, Preston Headley, Ian Frank, Donovan Asbell, Justin Berish, Michael King, Tylan Jones, John Brook

North Putnam – Adam Bonebrake, Caleb Duncan, Jacob Farrington, Grant Jarboe, Janus Oestergaard-Dinesen, Matthew Trotter, Steven Weir, Kyle Young

South Putnam – Josh Beikman 10, Adair Bock 12, Dru Bottorff 12, Andrew Carr 11, Michael Crossman 12, Karl Egold 10, Eric Hinkle 11, Frank Jekek, Daniel Johnson 10, Austin Rumley 11, Steven Schnepp 10, Brent Wiggins 9

Boys’ soccer

Greencastle – (Varsity) Ivan Glotzbach 9, Kevin Polster 12, Jakob Foss 10, Jack Romer 12, Simon Foss 12, Matthew Muncie 11, Nate Trissel 12, Ben Parsons 11, Dylan Kendall 11, Ben Wilkerson 10, Evan Crowe 12, Brett Sosebee 12, Sal Martoglio 12, Hector Lezama 10, Jacob Baker 11, Michael White 10, Leo Weeks 11, Brody Watson 11 (JV) Lyndon Briones, Kaleb Silvert 9, Oliver McKenzie 10, Matthew Muncie 11, Nathan Simmons 10, Dayan Martinez 9, Michael White 10, Kaleb Troxal 10, Jacob Wadler 10

North Putnam – Aidan Mullican 11, Samuel Whitaker 9, Tyler Thompson 12, Grant Jarboe 10, Caleb Duncan 12, Alex Krominaker 12, Matthew Myers 11, Terran Wittig 12, Jacob Nevitt 11, Lane Summers 9, Dane Spencer 9, Ashton Shaw 9, Elliot Sabens 11, Marcus Burdine 11, Tyler Wright 11, Brendan Chandler 11

Boys’ tennis

Greencastle – Carter Black, Isaiah Campbell, Henry Carter, Anthony Conley, Collin Gasway, James Hammond, Nathaniel Hensley, Luca Magni, Sean Ramey, Trent Ross

South Putnam – Blake Clearwaters 12, Noah Emmrich 12, Jared Seidler 12, Austin Arnold 11, Thomas Fanning 11, Garrett Heavin 11, Trey Long 11, Creigh Remsburg 11, Ty VanSickle 11, Robbie Fisher 10, Levi Girton 10, Jaxon Hodge 10, Tanner Pistelli 10, Brandon Rector 10, Trey Blaydes 9, Nate Clearwaters 9, Marcus Robinson 9, Brady Robinson 9, Evan Steffy 9, Ethan Wallace 9

Girls’ cross country

Cloverdale – Macie Couch 10, Lily Monnett 9, Grace Leonard 10, Arianna McCracken 10, Megan Miller 10, Abigail Bernard 10, Ashleigh Nepote 11

Greencastle – Emma Wilson 11, Emma Huber, Sydney Kallem

North Putnam – Gabby Carney, Grace Elmore, Anna Haste, Taylor Hensley, Ashley O’Neal, Sydney Sims, Madison Trotter

South Putnam – Addi Blaydes 12, Alex Bratcher 10, Rachel Carter 12, Caity Crossman 9, Chelsie Edwards 11, Rachel Jones 12, Stella Latham 10, Naomi Martinez 10, Maddie McHugh 12, Ava McHugh 9, Ally Nichols 12, Lillie Stein 12, Lexi Vanihel 10, Samara Young 11

Girls’ soccer

Greencastle – Claire Gillen 11, Erin Thomas 11, Corinne Buchanan 12, Emily Crowder 10, Katie White 9, Kennedy Trigg 9, Neva Brown 9, Molly Carver 9, Gretchen Weliever 11, Zoe Weltz 9, Annie Hershberger 10, Kaitlyn Dibble 10, Sydney Anderson 9, Megan Friars 12, Catherine Weeks 10, Elizabeth Cox 10, Abbie Beauchamp 9, Sydney Doan 9, Ashlynn Guyer 9

North Putnam – Cayman Curran 9, Hannah Sims 10, Sabrina Toth 11, Destinee Clodfelter 11, Abby Spencer 12, Kylee McCollough 10, Tirzah Freije 12, Abby Andrews 9, Ashlyn Cooke 12, Lillian Rambis 12, Grace Fry 10, Brittany Beavers 10, Jada Stump 12, Kaylie Hackleman 9, McKenna Speier 10, Kristy Krsulic 9, Lauren Lotzow 9, Corissa Crosby 9, Cheyenne Graham 11, Chloey Barnett 11

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