Greater expectations: Girls teams enter season with high hopes

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Pictured:the boys and girls cross country county championship on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018. (Tom Russo | Daily Reporter)

HANCOCK COUNTY — After having a very strong 2018, it’s quite possible that 2019 could be even better for the New Palestine girls’ cross-country team.

The 2019 lineup has a lot of the same names that ran so well a year ago when the Dragons won Hancock County, Hoosier Heritage Conference and Rushville Regional titles.

Most of the Dragons’ top runners are back, with the addition of some strong newcomers. The 2019 campaign could see them in the final meet of the season, the IHSAA Girls Cross Country State Championships.

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That could very well happen with the return of individual state qualifier Brenna Shaw and teammates Kendall Mann, Emily Adam, Kaylin Casner and Haley Rickey.

Add in sophomore Emma Mann, part of the school’s record-setting 4×800-Meter Relay team in track, and strong junior varsity runners Emily Santelik and Caitlin Urrutia, and coach Chuck Myers thinks even bigger things can happen in 2019.

“I believe it’s a possibility,” Myers said of getting the entire team in the state cross-country meet. “We missed it by only 18 points last year.”

Shaw, who is still just a junior, won county, conference, sectional and regional individual titles. She was 15th in the semistate and placed 95th in the state.

Kendall Mann, also a junior, just missed joining her teammate at state. She placed 30th in the semistate. She was also third at conference, fourth at county and seventh at the regional.

Other returnees are bringing solid résumés into the 2019 season, too. Adam finished fifth at county, seventh at conference and ninth at the sectional. Casner, a senior, finished sixth at the HHC meet and ninth in both the county and regional. Rickey, also a senior, was sixth in the county meet.

“It’s why we’re really excited about the season,” Myers added about the returning cast. “We have high expectations that we hope to meet.”

Mt. Vernon

The Dragons aren’t the only team returning a solid group for 2019.

Mt. Vernon returns all seven varsity runners from a squad that advanced to the semistate in 2018. Mt. Vernon was runner-up to New Palestine at the county and finished fourth and fifth in the sectional and regional, respectively.

“Expectations should always be high, but my personal expectations are probably higher this year,” Mt. Vernon coach Kean Coy said.

“We have so much more depth than in years past that I honestly feel that every returnee will have a huge impact at some point this season,” the coach added.

Leading the group is Rilee Hartman, who placed eighth in the county and 17th at the sectional meet.

She was Mt. Vernon’s No. 1 runner last year. Hartman is joined by a strong contingent, including Lydia Carrell, Kamryn Eason, Esther Parham and Abby Worley, who Coy said are all way ahead of where there were at this point last year.

Madison King and Tessa Freeman are expected to be in the mix, too, but Coy said it may be tough picking a top seven for the varsity races.

Freshmen Tori Jenson, Mindy Cornelius and Madelyn Ludlow are off to good starts in their initial high school seasons. Coy also welcomes sophomore Morgan Tharp, who ran well during track season.

Greenfield-Central

The Cougars return one of the county’s best runners in Audrey Brinkruff, who broke up the New Palestine pack in the county meet to place third. She was runner-up to Shaw at the HHC meet and added an eighth at the sectional and finished 11th at the regional.

“She should be a contender for both county and conference,” coach Scott Burton said. “The school record is within her grasp. She should make a return trip to the semistate and hopefully, have a chance at qualifying for state.”

Brinkruff will lead the group and get help from returnee Emily Wright, a regional qualifier last year, but the rest of the Cougars lineup on race days will likely be made up of newcomers.

Burton said that after Brinkruff, three of the next four spots could come from freshmen Reagan Crouch, Emma Leininger and Olivia Wahl. Returnee Gia Valenzano, who battled injuries as a freshman, could also compete for a top five position.

More depth could come from Olivia Moss, the team’s lone senior, and Sophia Moss.

“The biggest goal for the season is to see continued development,” Burton said. “We have a very inexperienced group this season, so it will be interesting to see how they develop. Our long term season goal is to qualify for regional as a team.”

Eastern Hancock

The Royals have had a history of strong teams, but the 2019 squad is missing the numbers needed to place a strong team score.

As the team heads into the upcoming season, only two runners are competing, sophomores Ashton Willis and Annie Lindsay, and only Willis has been healthy for the practices.

“Hopefully we can convince a few more young ladies to come out and join,” coach Rex Putt said.

Willis is a strong runner, having her best meets in 2018 come at the sectional and regional competitions.

Putt said she will need to cut a minute off her time to make the jump to the semistate.

“She is capable,” Putt said.

The county meet is scheduled for Sept. 24, while the HHC and Mid-Eastern Conference races are both slated for Oct. 5. The postseason begins with sectional races on Oct. 12.