CHARLOTTESVILLE — Brenna Shaw is 3-for-3.
The New Palestine junior cross-country standout won her third straight Hancock County Girls Cross-Country individual title, leading her team to their third straight crown, Tuesday at Eastern Hancock High School.
Shaw finished the 5K race in 19:23.35. Her closest competitor was sophomore teammate Emma Mann, who crossed the finish line in 19:35.74.
The Dragons totaled 21 points. All five of their scoring runners finished in the first nine.
Mt. Vernon was second with 44 points. Greenfield-Central scored 70. Eastern Hancock had only one runner and was ineligible for team scoring.
“I was really nervous beforehand, but you have to trust your training and that all you have done leading up to this point is worth it,” Shaw said.
“She knew she was going to have to run well to win,” New Palestine coach Chuck Myers said. “(Greenfield-Central’s Audrey Brinkruff) is very strong. Brenna came out and ran a good race through the first 3K, then started pulling away a little bit.
“Up top in this county is pretty strong, so to win it three times is pretty impressive.”
Brinkruff finished third, for the second straight year, with a time of 19:45.40. The top three were the only runners to break 20 minutes for the 5K run. Shaw’s winning time a year ago was 20:27.07 at the New Palestine course.
“I don’t think I ran that well today,” Brinkruff, who is hoping to do better when the teams meet up again at the Hoosier Heritage Conference meet, said. “Personally, I think I need to get out faster and make some distance. The (New Pal runners) are faster sprinters than I am. If I wait until the end, there’s a good chance they can catch me down the stretch.”
New Palestine’s Kendall Mann and Kaylin Casner were fourth and fifth, respectively, with times of 21:15.12 and 21:26.21. Emily Adam’s ninth place run in 22:09.50 was also key in the team’s low score.
Mt. Vernon had runners six through eight. Victoria Jenson led the trio of Marauders with a time of 21:41.46. Kamryn Eason (21:52.40) and Lydia Carrell (22:01.36) followed.
All top 10 runners earned all-county honors. New Palestine’s Caitlin Urrutia (22:19.82) picked up the final spot.
Eastern Hancock’s lone runner, Ashton Willis, placed 13th. She crossed the finish line in 22:41.11.
“This is a good meet to win, because now we’re going into our bigger meets, conference then into the IHSAA competitions” Shaw added. “It’s just good to get that momentum going and try to win those next big meets, too.”
The first of the big meets that Shaw is talking about is Oct. 5 at Pendleton Heights, where the Dragons will try to defend their Hoosier Heritage Conference title.
