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CROSS COUNTRY PREVIEWS: North Putnam looks to control boys’ and girls’ county titles; Greencastle boys eye big season after sectional changes
Following a change to the IHSAA Cross Country State Tournament, the end of the season will look a little different for runners starting in the 2023 season.
Instead of a four-stage tournament, cross country will now only have three weeks of tournament contests, eliminating the semistate round, with sectionals now taking place a week later than before.
As a result, the WIC Cross County Meet will now take place a week after the Putnam County Cross Country Meet, bridging the gap to the new postseason start time of Oct. 14.
Along with the postseason reduction, sectionals were realigned to adapt to the changes listed above with three Putnam County schools now taking part in the sectional at Terre Haute, similar to the track sectional in the spring, with the other joining a sectional that draws from both Ben Davis and Brownsburg.
North Putnam
The defending boys’ county champions and the lead team in the WIC and sectional races, North Putnam will return five of its seven boys and four of its five girls from the postseason last year to try and take full control of the county this season.
Cougar head coach Kevin Lutes said the squad showed it wanted to continue to make gains based on the turnout during the summer.
“Things have gone pretty well,” Lutes said. “We had a lot more consistently out in the summer than in the past.
“We’ve got 11 guys that are out right now and five on the girls’ side. We’ve got a few that are just getting into things and we’d like to have a couple more girls but we’re making the best of things with what we’ve got.”
Semi-State qualifier Jeremiah Miles returns, though will be unavailable early in the season due to injury, but has four other sectional runners out again in Elijah Harless, Thomas Nelson, Owen O’Hair and Kaleb Walton, alongside Conner Corbin, Zane Eakle, Jayden Mayo, Will Smith, Edrino Sobrino and Atticus South.
Maddie Trent, who qualified for the regional round last year, will be joined by fellow returnees Brooke Hensley, Jacy Huffman and Erica Zatorski while Barbi Fuchs joins the roster.
Though missing Miles early on was a blow, Lutes said the boys were taking it as a chance to push for spots early on.
“With more people out, we’ve got guys that instinctively want to push others while also building camaraderie on easier days to bring everybody up,” Lutes said. “It’s wide open to see who our top runners will be.
“We’ve had a lot of consistency with our high school boys showing up and getting their miles in during the summer, which will benefit them when we getting speed work and racing over the next month. I’m excited to see who will jump out and take the reins while also watching to see how they run as a team.”
Unlike the rest of the county teams, North Putnam will shift to the Ben Davis Sectional in the postseason shuffle.
“It’ll be interesting to see how things play out,” Lutes said about the change to the Ben Davis Sectional, adding state placer Brebeuf Jesuit into the mix alongside the host Giants, Avon, Brownsburg and other heavy hitters. “It will be tougher to progress through with the tournament changes.”
Lutes added the task between now and the postseason was to get a squad lighter on experience than usual molded into a team that was ready for the challenges that awaited at the end of the year.
“Madie is our only senor so on one side, we’re good for the next couple of years,” Lutes pointed out. “This will be a learning year without many upperclassmen, something we haven’t had to deal with much, so it’s about getting people comfortable with stepping up and getting more spotlight than they might have before.
“Jeremiah still plays a large part in talking strategy while also motivating the others but it will be different when he’s not in there to lead a race. Elijah has been doing a good job in practice of getting out in front thought.
“We will need some more vocal leaders among our underclassmen as we go,” Lutes added. “Maddie went to regionals last year and knows what she needs to do in a race but is a little bit quiet. We want some others to help take the reins but that will come with time and racing.”
Greencastle
Without any seniors a year ago, Greencastle was in a spot where it could add rather than replace members on the squad heading into the 2023 season.
Tiger Cub head coach Brian Hammett got good news on that front with two additions to both the boys’ and girls’ squads.
“It’s been alright to start the year,” Hammett said. “We have one boy that’s been unavailable but otherwise, we’ve had pretty good turnout so far.
“We have six boys and three girls out with a couple splitting time between running and soccer, which is a welcome change. This it the biggest girls’ team we’ve had for a couple of years with an incoming freshman, a newcomer and a returning senior, so between the two teams, we’ve got high hopes for what they can do.”
Charlie Menzel and Landon Miller return to lead the boys’ squad after both qualified for the Shelbyville Semi-State last season, joined by fellow returners Daniel Dinn, Isaac Hertenstein and Jeremiah Weir, the latter current out with injury, along with last year’s middle school county champion Caleb Edwards and Aiden Vagalia.
Meredith Ball will have company this year on the girls’ side with Eliana Dinn and last year’s middle school county champion Colleen Bossnack joining the ranks.
“Meredith has had to run by herself at a lot of big races,” Hammett said. “There are times she might have been a little discouraged but I feel she’ll be a little more confident with fellow runners to go out and race with.”
The group will be running in a new sectional, moving from Brownsburg to Terre Haute, a sectional that closely resembles the track sectional the county teams know well.
“Charlie and Landon both have had some big accomplishments in the past and both are looking to advance in the tournament again this year,” Hammett noted. “Some schools aren’t happy but we move from a competitive sectional to one where there are fewer big schools, so as a team, we have high hopes for what the boys can accomplish.
“Our goal is to be healthy and run our best race at the right time. Once you move beyond Terre Haute North and South and Northview, it’s a crapshoot for the fourth and fifth spots and, even if those spots aren’t there, we feel we have individuals who can make it to the regional at the very least.”
While the postseason is some ways off, Hammett said the boys wanted provide a tougher challenge in the county title race and felt the squad had a chance to make waves this season.
“We feel it’ll be a good year,” Hammett said. “We have a couple of runners running their first 5K races on one end while Charlie and Landon are working hard to better themselves, be a little stronger, a little faster and cut the times a little more.
“Isaac and Daniel are both seniors and we’re looking for them to have their best years as both are committed, working hard and, as a group, the boys are looking to do something we haven’t done in a while and that’s to advance out of the sectional as a team.
“This is one of the best boys’ teams we’ve had in a while and we’re looking forward to what they do,” Hammett added. “We want all the runners to succeed and hope this is the time they all have great breakout years.”