Daily Reporter Staff Reports
The New Palestine boys cross country team put together a strong performance during the team’s final warm up before the postseason at the Hoosier Heritage Conference Meet on Saturday.
The Dragons placed three runners in the top 10 and four in the top 15 to finish runner-up in the boys race at Pendleton Heights High School with 51 points.
The host Arabians won the event behind individual champion Parker Jones’ 16:19.75 with 33 points.
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Greenfield-Central’s Jacob Hansen, the 2016 individual Hancock County champion, was the fastest local competitor, placing second behind Jones at 16:39.43.
The New Palestine girls team was third with 123 points overall. Pendleton Heights won with 19 points and Yorktown was second at 50.
Hancock County girls champion Sydney Cook of Greenfield-Central was the best performer from the area, placing 12th in a time of 21:36.11.
The New Palestine boys team won the Hancock County team title last month with their depth, which once again came through at the HHC.
Five runners cross the finish line 19th or better. Seniors Caleb Eagleson and Sam Voelz were fourth and fifth at 17:00.98 and 17:04.48, respectively.
Chase Crowder, a senior, was ninth at 17:11.81. Kyler Harrison, a sophomore, was 14th in 17:30.51, while sophomore Drew Austin took 19th with a time of 17:55.04.
Greenfield-Central was third as a team with 76 points. Mt. Vernon was sixth at 138.
Along with Hansen, the Cougars had four runners in the top 21. Sophomore Parker Niemeier (17:42.01) and junior Cooper Hanson (17:46.77) were 15th and 16th. Junior Zac Archibald ran the 5K in 18:00.94 for 21st.
Mt. Vernon’s leading runner was Drew Bluethmann in 17:57.59, which was good enough for 20th.
Hancock County champion Greenfield-Central was sixth in the girls race with 129 points. The Mt. Vernon Marauders were fourth with 125.
The Dragons had three runners in the top 25 with sophomore Julie Strange placing 14th in 21:45.20. Freshman Haley Rickey was 18th in 22:02.99. Junior Natalie Shanahan (22:37.54) was 24th.
Greenfield-Central’s Tatiana Kueffer (22:11.01) and junior Darian Gossett (22:35.01) were 20th and 23rd.
Mt. Vernon’s freshman Kamryn Eason (22:12.36) and Rilee Hartman (22:21.17) were 21st and 22nd.
Sophomore Addison Cullom was 25th in 22:48.00. Erin Lyday, a senior, placed 28th in 22:53.95.
Royals boys win invite, girls finish second
The Eastern Hancock Royals boys cross country team won its own Invitational on Saturday, marking its first championship since 2006.
The Eastern Hancock Invitational victors had 36 points to runner-up Liberty Christian with 61.
Wisdom Builders had 67, Shenandoah 80, and Knightstown 109.
Senior Gabe Blake led the Royals with a fourth-place finish in 18:06, followed by Skyler Schrope in fifth at 18:24, and Will Huffman in sixth at 18:32.
Alvaro Cosmen was 13th at 19:32, and Nick Edwards was 15th at 19:57.
The Eastern Hancock girls team finished as runners-up to Wisdom Builders 39-43. Shenandoah was third with 62, and Anderson Prep was fourth with 66.
Taylor Stine led the Royals with a third-place run in 22:08. Lainey Effing was fifth at 23:13. Annie Floyd was eighth at 23:49, and Liberty Durham ninth overall at 23:54. Grace McCartney was 20th at 27:13 to complete the scoring for the girls.
Boys soccer
Greenfield-Central wins regular-season finale
The Greenfield-Central Cougars closed out the regular season with a 1-0 victory on the road against Fishers on Saturday.
Zack Bell was able to collect a pass from Luke Tuttle and converted the game-winning goal in the first half while the defense held the rest of the way.
The Cougars finish the season with an 11-2-1 record and were tied for second in the Hoosier Heritage Conference with New Palestine at 5-2.
The shutout was the team’s seventh on the year.
The defense has limited their opponents to 10 goals in 13 matches.
Greenfield-Central travels to the New Palestine sectional on Wednesday to face Shelbyville in the tournament’s opening night at 5 p.m.
