HANCOCK COUNTY — The leaders of the pack may be gone, but there are a lot of frontrunners in the making for the 2021 Hancock County girls cross-country season.
One of the county’s most decorated runners graduated.
New Palestine’s Brenna Shaw is now running at Purdue University. Shaw was a four-time county champ, a three-time state qualifier and regional winner and twice crossed the line first in the Hoosier Heritage Conference meet.
In a lot of those races teammate Kendall Mann and Greenfield-Central’s Audrey Brinkruff weren’t far behind. They, too, have graduated. Mann is running at DePauw and Brinkruff is competing at Taylor.
Here’s a look at what’s in store for area teams as they begin the 2021 season.
New Palestine
The Dragons lost Shaw, Kendall Mann and Megan Collins to graduation, but Chuck Myers’ team has the rest of the traditionally-talented varsity lineup back for the upcoming campaign.
New Palestine has won four straight county crowns and have an HHC winning streak of three.
“Hopefully we can continue winning (the big meets), but it won’t be an easy task,” Myers said.
New Pal has some solid candidates headed to the front of the line with senior returnees Emma Mann and Emily Adam along with sophomores Courtney Study and Jocelynn Flagle.
Emma Mann finished a close second to Shaw at last year’s sectional and was third in the regional. Study was No. 6 in the sectional meet and was part of New Palestine’s state qualifying 4×800-relay team during track and field season.
Adam finished 20th at the sectional and Flagle was 21st.
“I think we can still be very competitive in the county and conference and advance in the tournament, as well,” Myers said.
“Maybe not quite the level we have been the last few years, having Brenna as a frontrunner, but if Emma Mann runs as well as she can, she can fill that void pretty well.”
Along with four of last year’s varsity seven back, the Dragons return senior Caitlin Urrutia, who was part of the varsity group two years ago. Another key addition will be junior Lexi Baynes, a first-time cross-country runner who was also part of last year’s state-qualifying distance relay group.
Myers also expects contributions from seniors Bailey Sleppy and Emily Santelik.
Mt. Vernon
Mt. Vernon should be hot on the heels of their rivals.
The Marauders were runners-up to the Dragons at county and conference and finished third in both the sectional and regional.
“New Pal is still the team to beat. They still have the target on their back,” Mt. Vernon coach Kean Coy said. “That’s how we’re going to see it until we can consistently compete with and eventually beat them.”
Coy’s 2020 group is mostly intact for the upcoming season, though the one graduation loss was a solid competitor in all-HHC runner Esther Small.
The veteran, talented group is led by senior Lydia Carrell, who won last year’s Arabian Roundup, earned all-conference honors and placed 10th in the regional.
“She’s been our base over the last four years and I expect her to be one of our top runners,” Coy said.
Senior Morgan Tharp is another returning all-HHC runner, coming off a breakout track and field season.
Sophomore Alexandria Jenson spent time as the team’s No. 1 runner and set the school’s freshman 5,000-meter mark. She was ninth in last year’s conference meet and 10th in the sectional.
The Marauders have even more experience with junior Melinda Cornelius and senior Alexandra Overshiner.
Cornelius was 17th in the sectional and 19th in the regional. Overshiner was injured last cross-country season, but bounced back in the spring as one of the track team’s top-distance runners. She comes in fully healthy this year.
“I feel we have a really good mix of veteran leadership and know-how for the sport,” Coy said. “We also have a lot of newbies that have a ton of potential. Whether that will realized this season has yet to be seen, but I’m pretty optimistic for several of them.”
Junior Madelyn Ludlow also returns with some varsity experience, while frosh Emma Gale and Julia Iserloth are two of the “newbies” to keep an eye on.
Greenfield-Central
The Cougars will miss Brinkruff, who as a junior became the program’s first state qualifier.
Coach Scott Burton will miss his No. 1 runner, but the Cougars have some strong runners back with regional runs on their résumé.
Sophomore Emma Bogle, junior Reagan Crouch and senior Gia Valenzano finished in places 39 through 41 at last year’s sectional with Bogle edging her teammates for the final spot in the Rushville Regional.
Crouch qualified for the regional in 2019 and is the early preseason leader to be the team’s new No. 1.
“We’ve got a lot of experience coming back, but we’re still on the young side, Burton said.
Lone frosh Lexie Copeland, a first-time cross country runner sophomore Alyssa Siegel and senior Emily Wright, who was a regional qualifier as a freshman, are among those expected to have opportunities to score varsity points along with returning juniors Olivia Wahl and Emma Leininger and sophomore vets Josie Joyner and Shelby Hoffman.
As Burton mentioned, his team is young. Of the 14 listed on the roster only three are seniors with Madelyn King joining Valenzano and Wright.
Eastern Hancock
The Royals, at the start of practice last week, did not have enough runners — they need five — for a team score.
What they lack in quantity should be made up in quality.
Ashton Willis, a senior, was the team’s only runner in 2020 and she placed 28th in the sectional, 39th in the regional and is an All-Mid-Eastern Conference runner. She was a semistate qualifier as a sophomore.
Coach Rex Putt has two more to run with Willis this season, but he’s searching for a few more to have a shot at team points for the county, conference and sectional meets.
Freshman Olivia Evans is another runner that knows what it’s like to be at the head of the field. She won county middle school titles in sixth, seventh and eighth grade. She’ll be running a longer distance, from 3,000 meters to 5,000 meters, as a high schooler.
“There’s a lot of variables there (with the longer distance), but I think she could be pretty special,” Putt said.
Junior Mia Griesmeyer is a first-time runner that Putt said has looked good in practice.
The county meet is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 21 at Eastern Hancock High School. The Royals run in the MEC meet on Oct. 2, at Blue River Valley.
New Palestine, Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central compete in the HHC Meet, at Delta, also on Oct. 2.
The tournament series of races begin with the sectional at Mt. Vernon High School on Oct. 9.
