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County cross country teams open up season at SP Puckett Invitational, Valley Kickoff Classic
South Putnam started the 2023 cross country season with a top-five finish in the boys’ race as hosts of the Kieth Puckett Invitational Saturday morning.
The Eagles finished fifth overall with Edgewood winning both the boys’ and girls’ high school races. Greencastle and Cloverdale had incomplete teams on both sides of the event, as did the South Putnam girls.
Greencastle sophomore Landon Miller won the boys’ race over Mustang Zane Meyer with a time of 17:22.5, .8 seconds ahead of Meyer, with South Putnam senior Keaton Chew finishing third in 18:06 to lead the hosts while Gabe Feltner finished sixth overall in 18:45. Evan Hinkle also finished in the top-20 by crossing in 18th place in 19:53. Landon Chew finished in 20:41 while Gunner Roach crossed in 24:59.
Tiger Cub Charlie Menzel finished 12th overall in 19:28 while teammate Caleb Edwards finished in 21:27.
Cloverdale was led by Spencer Nees in 60th place in 23:37 with Evan Barnett crossing in 25:47 and Joeseph Patton finishing in 27:94.
Hannah Crain won the girls’ race in 21:32 for Edgewood while Greencastle freshman Colleen Bossnack finished fourth overall in 23:03 and South Putnam’s Elise Kendall finished in 10th overall in 24:24.
Behind Kendall was Stevie Keenan, who finished 24th overall in 27:19, and Caroline Hodge, who crossed in 33:09. Tiger Cub sophomore Eliana Dinn finished in 34:57 while Cloverdale was represented by Olivia Hemmerling, who finished in 28:06.
North Putnam had the top finishing teams in the middle school races with the girls finishing fourth overall and the boys fifth while South Putnam finished seventh in the boys’ meet.
Cougar Chanlie Busch finished as runner-up in the girls’ race with a time of 12:39 while Greencastle’s Lydia Miller finished fourth overall in 13:26. South Putnam’s Becca Patterson finished seventh overall in 14:28 while North Putnam’s Brooklyn Sutherlin rounded out the top-10 finishers by placing ninth in 14:40.
Other Cougar finishers included Natalynn Franklin in 19th place in 15:29 while Chloe French, Lilly Poynter and Natalia Grajewski finished in order with times of 16:16, 16:19 and 16:30. Kali Torres crossed in 17:11 while Reagan Fenwick finished in 18:24.
Zoe Burdge finished in 16:42 for South Putnam while Ava Webster crossed in 16:55 and Callie Sorrell finished in 19:00. Sarah Fitzsimmons crossed in 22:51 for the Tiger Cubs while Cloverdale’s Adryana Oberkrom led the team with a time of 19:17, followed by Ava Patton in 21:06 and Addison Mustaine-Horrigan finished in 21:36.
Gavin Oakley was the top county finisher in the boys’ race for North Putnam, placing ninth in 12:31, with South Putnam’s Domini Pierce finishing 10th in 12:37.
Carson Chew was next in line for the Cougars in 22nd place, finishing in 13:16, with Connor Dutcher crossing in 13:48, Marshall Wireman finishing in 14:02, Isaac Garriott coming in at 14:41 and Eli Hreno finishing in 17:09.
Bryan Bye was the second Eagle finisher, placing 17th overall in 12:47, followed by Paxton Church in 13:35, Peyton Carr in 15:26, Caleb Mahlan in 16:46, Ezekiel Gallegos in 16:47, Levi Couch in 18:44 and Lincoln O’Rourke in 19:32.
Greencastle was paced by Wilson Hecko in 13th, finishing in 12:44, with Jack Gilbert crossing in 16:17 and Braylon Batta finishing in 16:23.
Cloverdale had two finishers with Bradyn Schabel placing 16th overall in 12:46 and Jaydan Armstrong-Diggs placing 21st overall in 13:13.
Meanwhile, at the Valley Kickoff Classic at the Laverne Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, North Putnam finished 35th overall in the boys’ race.
Elijah Harless was the top finisher for the Cougars in 18:58, followed by Corbin Conner in 20:56, Kaleb Walton in 22:17, Atticus South in 22:55, Jayden Mayon in 23:14, Owen O’Hair in 24:18, Edrien Sobrino in 24:50, Zane Eakle in 26:04 and William Smith in 27:39.
Maddie Trent was the only runner for the Cougar girls in the corresponding race, finishing in 25:33.