Daily Reporter staff reports
The Eastern Hancock boys and girls cross-country teams had a strong showing during the Marion Invitational at Indiana Wesleyan University on Saturday.
The Royals boys continued their successful season by placing seventh out of 21 teams in the gold division race, which qualified them for the elite division in 2017.
The girls were ninth best in their 17-team division despite competing without two of the program’s seven runners.
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Taylor Stine led the Royals’ girls team and reached the medal stand with a top-25 finish at 18th in a season-best time of 21 minutes, 37 seconds.
Annie Floyd was 36th with a time of 22:58. Lainey Effing was 41st with a career-best 23:11. Liberty Durham posted a season-best 24:15. Makla Law set a personal best at 29:12.
Skylar Schrope led the way for the boys with a new personal best in 17:49 to earn 26th place. Will Huffman lowered his career time with an 18:01.
Gabe Blake ran the 5K course in 18:17. Alvaro Valero and Nick Edwards came in at 19:34 and 19:37, respectively. Zach Sickle finished with a career best at 21:07.
Dragons run to top-20 placements at Marion
The New Palestine cross-country teams were impressive at the Marion Invitational on Saturday.
The Dragons boys placed 12th in the 22-team elite race with a total of 309 places. Senior Caleb Eagleson paced the squad with a 25th-place finish, running the 5K course in 16:20.1.
Senior Chase Crowder was 37th at 16:39.8 and senior Sam Voelz placed 43rd in 16:45.3. Drew Austin was 108th at 17:44.3 and Ethan Westrate was 109th in 18:03.9.
The girls placed 19th in the elite division behind a 22:26.9 from Julie Strange for 135th. Sophia Taylor was 141st at 22:45.1, and Haley Rickey ran in a time of 22:47.2. Emma Wiggington (23:02.1) and Natalie Lindsay (23:28.2) rounded out the Dragons’ scoring.
Cougars place in top 10 at Columbus invite
The Greenfield-Central boys and girls cross-country teams captured top-10 placements during Saturday’s Columbus North Classic at Cereland Park.
The boys finished seventh out of 13 teams in the big school division led by Jacob Hansen. The senior placed fifth with a time of 16:20.6, putting him as the sixth fastest Cougar all time.
Cooper Hanson ran the race in 17:07.7 for 20th overall. Parker Niemeier was 33rd at 17:21.6. Zac Archibald took 46th at 17:48.
The girls placed eighth out of 12 schools in the AA division. Sydney Cook crossed the finish line for 17th to lead the team. Tatiana Kueffer was 37th, Sarah Muckerheide came in 47th and Darian Gosset was 51st.
Tennis
Dragons split afternoon in 3-way competition
The New Palestine tennis team hosted a three-way meet Saturday, earning a split with University and Silver Creek.
The Dragons swept University 5-0, but they narrowly lost a thriller against Silver Creek 3-2.
Carson Gavin tied the match against Silver Creek 1-1 after winning his No. 2 singles match 6-2, 6-2. The No. 2 doubles tandem of Tyler Swain and Nick Rusche applied some pressure to give New Palestine a 2-1 advantage following their 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-1 victory.
Losses at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles put the focus on the No. 3 singles match, which went three sets.
Patrick Heffernan went up 6-2 after the first set, but his opponent, Cooper Cundiff, fought back to win the final two 6-4, 6-3.
The Dragons are now 8-2 for the season.
Marauders take fourth at Richmond Invite
Mt. Vernon finished fourth at the Richmond Invitational on Saturday.
Wilken Baldwin went 2-1 overall at No. 1 singles for the Marauders. The No. 1 doubles team of Gavin Stamper and Sam Frye earned runner-up honors.
Girls soccer
Dragons fall to Flashes for first loss of season
The New Palestine girls soccer team tasted defeat for the first time this season, dropping a tough match to Franklin Central 3-1 on Saturday.
Jordan Reid scored the Dragons’ lone goal off a feed from Meaghan Matus in the first half to give New Palestine a 1-0 lead at halftime.
The Flashes rallied back with three goals in the second half to drop the Dragons to 4-1 on the season.
“We have a few things to address, but they are things that can be fixed,” Dragons head coach Gina Fannin said. “We somehow lost our momentum and just didn’t play our game.”
Volleyball
Royals drop a pair of contests vs. Lapel
The Eastern Hancock volleyball team lost a pair of matches at Lapel on Saturday.
The host Bulldogs defeated the Royals 3-0 with a 25-11, 25-13, 25-18 effort. Eastern Hancock lost in three straight sets to Shenandoah 25-16, 25-10, 25-20.
The Royals are now 6-7 this season.
