FORTVILLE — New Palestine had some ground to gain and a week to do it.
Finishing fifth in last week’s Hoosier Heritage Conference meet in Pendleton, two places behind Greenfield-Central, the Dragons knew they would have to beat the rival Cougars to grab a top five finish at Saturday’s Mt. Vernon Boys Cross Country Sectional.
The top five teams, along with the top 10 individuals not on one of those teams advance to this Saturday’s Rushville Regional.
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“Greenfield beat us pretty good at conference last week. We knew we had to come back and get them this week. That was our goal,” New Palestine coach Chuck Myers said.
The Dragons, who won last year’s sectional but graduated most of that group, were able to break up the Cougars pack and get the fifth and final spot.
Mt. Vernon led all Hancock County schools in the 13-team event with a third-place finish. Franklin Central won with 39 points. Roncalli was runner-up with 72. The Marauders were just seven points out of second. Warren Central scored 95. New Palestine had 138, 19 better than sixth-place Greenfield-Central (157).
At the conference meet, an eight-team race, Greenfield-Central (77) finished 31 points ahead of the Dragons (108).
“We wanted to break up their pack,”Myers said. “They’ve got a great pack from No. 2 to No. 5 and we were able to put a few guys in front of them and got in there and broke it up a little bit as a group.
“The guys had an absolutely fantastic day. They knew they wouldn’t be advancing today if they didn’t get Greenfield. They went out and absolutely did it. I was so proud of them.”
Though the Cougars didn’t get through as a team, they had the area’s best finisher.
Conner Kinnaman was sixth overall, running the 5K course in 17:00.20.
“I didn’t go out super fast; because of that I got boxed in real bad at the start,” Kinnaman said. “I spent the first mile and a half catching up to where I should be and that’s about where I finished.”
Greenfield-Central had three others advance in Matthew Wickham (36, 18:15.92), Tyler Osborn (37, 18:16.56) and Jonah Fletcher (38, 18:18.88).
“New Pal had their No. 3 in front of our chase pack of guys, and then a couple of other schools filled in and because of that point difference, that really adds up especially with how cross country is scored,” Kinnaman said. “Having that bridge between their three and our chase pack, really adds up.
“It’s disappointing to have the team not move on together, but at least we have that pack that’s moving on with me. At least it won’t be me and just the top couple guys.”
The Dragons were led by a back-to-back finish from Colin Darley (10, 17:10.11) and Devon Whitaker (11, 17:11.27). Carson Sams was able to get in front of the Cougar crew and place 33rd (18:05.25). Owen Kleine (39, 18:21.37) and Josh Ackerman (45,18:53.46) were just behind the Greenfield-Central pack.
While the Dragons and Cougars battled for the last spot to get through, Mt. Vernon comfortably moved on with its third-place finish.
Veteran coach Bruce Kendall’s group has been consistent this year, winning both county and conference titles, though it has often been a different runner leading the Marauders in each race. Six different runners have earned the team’s No. 1 position this season.
The top Mt. Vernon runner on Saturday was Tyler Strantz. He placed eighth with a time of 17:08.64. He just edged teammate Reyce Morgan (9, 17:09.20), who was the team’s No. 1 at both county and conference. Austin Rush, who led early in the race, finished 13th (17:14.36). Colin Brown earned points by placing 22nd (17:28.39). A newcomer in the top five was Wilson, who won the junior varsity conference title last week. He grabbed the final scoring spot at 27th (17:54.69).
“They were attached from the meet from the start,” Kendall said. “They were ready to race, probably more relaxed than I was.”
“We tried to keep in a pack, stay together and run fast,” Strantz said.
Eastern Hancock placed eighth in the meet with 215 points. The Royals will advance veterans Daniel Campbell (25, 17:45.65) and Nick Edwards (26, 17:51.05).
Both are returnees to the regional meet. It is Campbell’s third straight appearance.
“Over the summer, and the whole season, it’s a lot of time and mileage that you’re putting in and it pays off,” Campbell said. “It never gets old.”
