GREENFIELD — It was the last big meet before all the really big meets.
Greenfield-Central hosted its annual Cougar Chase Invitational at Hancock Health Stadium, Friday, and had a number of positive takeaways as the girls and boys track and field teams prepare for county, conference and postseason meets in the month of May.
Short-handed due to contact tracing, Greenfield-Central’s girls’ team was still able to get an impressive second-place finish in the five-team event, scoring 135.5 points. Franklin Community won with 242 points. Greenwood was third, edging Rushville 85.5 to 85. Frankton was fifth with 68.
G-C sophomore Reagan Crouch won the annual trophy given to the highest-scoring female competitor.
The Cougar boys were third behind Franklin (176.5) and Frankton (147) with 119 points. They nudged out Greenwood for the third spot. The Woodmen scored 118.5. Rushville finished with 73.
Crouch was part of four second-place finishes.
As she does in the fall and winter, the sophomore showed her versatility.
Crouch is a cross-country runner and does the rarity in swimming of competing both in diving and swimming. It’s no different in the spring during track and field season.
She was second in the high jump (4-feet, 10-inches), 100-meter hurdles (17.93 seconds), 300 hurdles (51.55 seconds) and was part of the runner-up 1,600-meter relay team (4:30.70) with Addison Hill, Audrey Pechin and Jorja Houston.
“Since I’m a sophomore, it feels pretty awesome,” Crouch said of earning the high-scorer award. “We didn’t have a season last year, so getting that is really nice. Being able to score points for my team means a lot to me.”
“She ran cross country, too, so she’s got the ability to run anything from the 100-meter dash on up and be competitive at it,” G-C girls head coach Reuben McCracken said. “She’s a great person to have on your team. Her work ethic is that that she will do anything that you need her to do. It’s good to have a person with the ability and the attitude.”
Crouch wasn’t the only high-scoring Cougar.
Senior Audrey Brinkruff was high on the list. She was second in the 1,600 (5:23.50) and 3,200 (11:55.86), as well as the 3,200 relay (11:22.92) with Gia Valenzano, Alyssa Siegel and Emily Wright.
Freshman Savannah Lake was among that group. She won the 200 (27.88) and was second in the 100 (13.48), by just .01 seconds. She joined Lauren Uptegrove, Lindsey McCord and Ava Grass on the first-place 400-relay squad (53.64).
G-C’s Kayleigh Hite won the discus with a distance of 91-feet, 11-inches.
“We’re finding some spots to score a few more extra points, just trying to squeeze out as much as we can,” McCracken said. “Tonight was a good test for some girls in certain events. I like the direction they are headed in.
“We may be too short-handed when we go to county (Wednesday), but I think we should have a good meet when we go to conference (Tuesday, May 11).”
The boys team boasted one of the meet’s standouts, in senior pole vaulter Cody Hargett, along with a group of young competitors that are beginning to perform at a high level.
Hargett, who set the school record in the team’s first meet this season, 14-feet, 8-inches, at Southport, cleared 14-feet on a cool, windy evening.
He was admittedly frustrated that his vaulting ended short of his expectations.
“I’m frustrated. The conditions were cold and it’s still just April. We still have a month until the state meet,” Hargett, who plans to continue competing in college at Indiana Wesleyan and major in Pastoral Ministries, said. “It’s all practice, preparing and preparing.
“I’m the type of athlete that wants to PR every night and do his best. When that doesn’t happen it takes a minute for me to gather everything. Mentally, every meet is a chance to improve. What I’ll take away from tonight is, I know what I have to practice at and get consistent at.”
The Cougars also had victories in the 100 and 400 dashes. Freshman Kirk Knecht, who also plays on the Cougar junior varsity baseball team, won in 11.77 seconds. Sophomore Michael Runions won the 400 in 53.48. Runions was second in the 200 with a time of 24.47 seconds.
Sophomore Griffen Wheeler was second in the 1600 (4:41.17).
“We’ve got a really young team and have a lot of freshmen and sophomores scoring points,” assistant coach Aaron Smith said. “Obviously, we have Cody in the pole vault who has been pretty much a lock to get us 10 points in every meet. That’s been nice to have.”
Smith was subbing for head coach Scott Burton, who was out due to active duty for the National Guard.
“We’re always trying to work on things we can improve,” Smith added. “Our underclassmen scoring points, this is their first varsity track season. They’re still just trying to learn some things for those guys and seeing what we can do this year and definitely next year.”
