Brenna Shaw
New Palestine junior
It was another stellar year for the Dragon standout. Shaw won individual titles in the county, conference and regional and helped lead New Palestine to the school’s first sectional championship since 2000. To wrap things up, she finished 48th in the IHSAA State Finals.
Emily Adam
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New Palestine sophomore
The future looks bright for the Dragon youngster. She was NP’s No. 5 runner much of the year, but her high finishes in the bigger meets were key in the team’s history-making season. She had top 20 finishes in the conference (18th), sectional (12th) and regional (17th) meets.
Audrey Brinkruff
Greenfield-Central junior
No runner in school history has had a better year than Brinkruff. She became the school’s first-ever state qualifier and her finishes at conference (second), sectional (third) and regional (third) were also school bests. She placed 18th at the semi-state to move on to the state finals, where she was one of only two county runners competing. She placed 101st in a field of 205.
Kaylin Casner
New Palestine senior
The lone senior on the all-county team finished off her prep career with an outstanding 2019 season. She finished in the top seven in the county (fifth), conference (seventh), sectional (fourth) and regional (fifth). She was the team’s second best finisher at the sectional, helping secure the Dragons first sectional crown since 2000.
Emma Mann
New Palestine sophomore
Incredible may be an understatement of what Mann was able to do in her first cross country season. She missed her entire freshman cross country campaign due to injury. She jumped right in as a sophomore and was runner-up to Shaw in the county meet. She was fourth in both the HHC and regional meets and placed sixth at the sectional. She just missed out being a third county runner at state, placing 31st at the semistate.
Kendall Mann
New Palestine junior
Mann was part of the great depth of the outstanding 2019 Dragons team. She had top 10 finishes in the county (fourth), conference (10th) and sectional (fifth). She was strong in the regional, as well, placing 15th and was the fourth best county finisher at semi-state with a 57th place finish.
Ashton Willis
Eastern Hancock sophomore
She was, literally, a one-person team for the Royals. The lone Eastern Hancock runner ran with the lead packs most of the season. She finished runner-up in the Mid-Eastern Conference meet and showed great improvement all season. She followed a solid sectional run (21st) with even a better performance at the regional (16th), to earn a spot in the Shelbyville Semi-State.
Honorable mention
Greenfield-Central — Reagan Crouch; Mt. Vernon — Lydia Carrell, Kamryn Eason, Rilee Hartman, Victoria Jenson, Esther Parham; New Palestine — Caitlin Urrutia
Coach of the Year
Chuck Myers, New Palestine
What a year for Myers’ Dragons. Already coming off a 2018 that saw the team win county, conference and regional titles, Myers’ crew repeated on all three and added a sectional championship, too. The best news for the veteran coach is the team is still young. They’ll miss senior Casner, but the rest of the team’s top finishers will be back for 2020.
