NEW PALESTINE — New Palestine’s Drew Austin pounded past the finish line with a final time of 17:18.48, sailing to the end far ahead of the competition.
He slowed to a jog to wring the sweat out of his shirt, then made his way to the water coolers to chat with his teammates, who were runners-up in the race.
Austin poured a cup of Powerade and returned to the finish line, handing it off to Greenfield-Central’s Conner Kinnaman, who took fourth place.
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Austin wiped his brow and cheered on the remaining runners — from every competing team — greeting each with a smile and a high-five as they passed the finish line. It felt good to win, but being a good host is more important than that, Austin said.
The New Palestine Dragons won the Hancock County Cross-Country meet Tuesday, taking first with a total time of 1:29:18 for the boys team and 1:45:46 for the girls.
The Dragon boys won with 19 points, beating Greenfield-Central (57), Mt. Vernon (60) and Eastern Hancock (98).
In the girls meet, the Dragons tallied a perfect score of 15 to win, sweeping six of the top seven spots and seven of the top nine. Mt. Vernon (49) was second. Both Eastern Hancock and Greenfield-Central fielded incomplete teams.
Both Dragon teams came in well-prepared for a tough competition, and hopefully they can maintain that same stride moving into their conference meet next weekend, New Palestine head coach Chuck Myers said.
Starting with the girls, Dragons sophomore Brenna Shaw finished in first place with a final time of 20:27:07, neck-and-neck with her teammate, senior Victoria Crowder, who took second at 20:27:53. In third place was Greenfield-Central’s Audrey Brinkruff, who followed behind with a time of 20:42:69.
Shaw took first place at the county meet last year as well, and she said that despite the beating sun, it feels good to be a defending champion.
“Honestly I was thinking, ‘just finish,’ because I’m feeling awful right now,” Shaw said after the race. “We looked great today, I think. We just went out there and competed.”
“I’m so proud of my team this year, and it’s been a fun season,” she added.
In the boys race, behind Austin was New Palestine’s Kyler Harrison and Josh Collins, who took second and third place with respective times of 17:44.18 and 17:48.48. Greenfield-Central’s Conner Kinnaman and Parker Niemeier came in close behind at 17:51.57 and 17:55.72.
New Palestine’s course can be unforgiving, and it helps to have the home team advantage when you have a knowledge of the path ahead of you, Myers said. The course has a decent-sized hill in the middle of it; any runner who finishes in the mid-20s has done considerably well in his opinion, he said.
Looking at Austin giving out high-fives to the other runners, Myers grinned at his team. He said he’s fortunate to work with a group with a positive outlook; that attitude even helps improve team morale and performance, which leads to victories like today, he said.
“We knew Greenfield would be up up there at the beginning, but Drew (Austin) got out and slowed them up a bit,” Myers said. “It was just a very good day for our top five, and that’s what we expect from them, because it’s what they’ve been delivering all season. Hopefully we can continue it on next week when we go to conference.”
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The following are the top 10 finishers in both boys and girls races at Tuesday’s Hancock County Cross-Country meet.
Girls
1. Brenna Shaw, NP, 20:27.07
2. Victoria Crowder, NP, 20:27.53
3. Audrey Brinkruff, GC, 20:42.69
4. Kendall Mann, NP, 21:17.65
5. Emily Adam, NP, 21:28.79
6. Haley Rickey, NP, 22:05.04
7. Grace Voelz, NP, 22:18.09
8. Rilee Hartman, MV, 22:41.89
9. Kaylin Casner, NP, 22:45.88
10. Sarah Muckerheide, GC, 22:53.89
Boys
1. Drew Austin, NP, 17:18.48
2. Kyler Harrison, NP, 17:44.18
3. Josh Collins, NP, 17:48.48
4. Conner Kinnaman, GC, 17:51.57
5. Parker Niemeier, GC, 17:55.72
6. Devon Whitaker, NP, 18:11.86
7. Caleb Stirm, NP, 18:15.83
8. Ryan Strantz, MV, 18:23.37
9. Skyler Schrope, EH, 18:25.84
10. Luke Muckerheide, GC, 18:26.36
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