Greenfield-Central’s Kirk Knecht compete in the boys long jump event at the 2021 IHSAA Boys Track & Field State Meet at Ben Davis High School on Friday, June 4, 2021.
Rob Baker/Daily Reporter
NOBLESVILLE — The Greenfield-Central boys track and field team won eight events Saturday en route to claiming the Guerin Catholic Invitational title.
The Cougars tallied 161 points to finish ahead of runner-up Hamilton Heights (134), Guerin Catholic (107), Eastern Hancock (88), Seton Catholic (48) and University (25).
Kirk Knecht set the pace for the Cougars by winning the 100-meter dash, 200 and long jump competitions. Ian Jack added a victory in the 400-meter run and was part of Greenfield-Central’s winning 4×400-meter relay team.
Elliot Ryba won the high jump, while Chris Ross was first in his debut in the 3,200-meter run. The G-C 4×800 relay team was first, consisting of Griffen Wheeler, who was also part of the 4×400 along with Jack, Jeff Fraire and Logan Stoeffler.
Hudson McGuire, Jack and Michael Runions ran on the 4×100 relay team and finished second overall. McGuire was fourth in the 100 and seventh in the 200. Lucas Tutrow was sixth in the 1,600. Liam Brinkruff came in fifth during the 800-meter run competition. Jacob Presser was third in the 3,200. Stoeffler was eighth in the 400. Masan Kojima was sixth in the 800. Carter Crouch placed eighth in the 3,200.
Runions was fourth in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles. Cash Looper was fourth in the 110 hurdles and pole vault and fifth in the 300 hurdles. Dakota Herald placed fifth in the pole vault and seventh in 110 hurdles.
Gio Vincenzi took seventh in the long jump. Reese Hill seized third in both the shot put and discus. Caleb Nelson was fourth in the discus with a personal-record breaking throw. Cole Maroska was fifth in the shot put.
On Friday night, Wheeler lowered his 3,200 PR by four seconds during the 3200 Showcase at Carmel High School, bringing him within seven seconds of breaking the G-C school record.
Wheeler ran the race in 9 minutes, 40 seconds, finishing 32nd out of 111 runners. Brinkruff posted a 9:53 to put him under 10 minutes for the first time. He placed 53rd as the third-fastest sophomore in G-C history.
Royals finish 4th at Guerin
The Eastern Hancock boys track and field team finished fourth during the Guerin Catholic Invitational on Saturday.
The Royals tallied 88 points with Kain Sotelo taking first place in the high hurdles in a time of 16.56.
Sotelo was also second in the 300 hurdles (44.57) and high jump (5 feet, 8 inches).
Preston Markley was second in the 1,600 (4:49.32) and the 800 (2:05.88). Ashton Smith was runner-up in the 400 (53.37) and with the 4×800 relay team of Jayden Stine, Brandon Metz and Markley (8:48.15).
Dragons win on Senior Day
The New Palestine boys track and field team celebrated senior day Saturday with an 86-47 win over Lawrence Central.
The Dragons boys won 11 of the 16 events. Isaiah Thacker was a double-winner in the 200 and long jump. Other winners were Madix Johnson in the 100, Connor Lapenta in the 400, Colin Darley in the 800, Jake Cooper in the 1,600, Gavin Smith in the 3,200 and Sage Halter in pole vault.
James O’Dell, Thacker, Johnson and Grayson Thomas won the 4×100 relay. Jaret Whitaker, Halter, Drew Lapenta and Connor Lapenta won the 4×400. Cody Crawmer, Danny Davis, Whitaker and Colin Darley won the 4×800.
Girls Track and Field
Cougars win Guerin Catholic Invite
The Greenfield-Central girls track and field team collected eight first-place ribbons to win the Guerin Catholic Invitational on Saturday.
The Cougars amassed 142 points to finished ahead of Guerin Catholic (136), Eastern Hancock (88), Hamilton Heights (81), University (65), Seton Catholic (43) and Lafayette Central Catholic (23).
Kayana Maroska and Savannah Lake placed first and second, respectively, in the 100-meter dash.
All three Cougar relay teams (4×800-meter, 4×100 and 4×400) were victorious.
Regan Crouch took first in the 300 hurdles and high jump. Lake was first in the 200. Maroska also was first in the 400.
Dragons run past Bears
The New Palestine girls track and field team won on senior day Saturday 113-16 against Lawrence Central.
The Dragons girls won 14 of the 16 events. Rylee Hurst won three individual events, taking the 100, 200 and 400.
Other winners were Tylar Whitaker in the 800, Ashlyn Sanford in the 1,600, Edie Schwarb in the 3,200, Rebecca Johnson in pole vault, Maya Hobbs in long jump, Kayla Rieman in high jump, Quin Lumbley in shot put and Sydney Miller in discus.
The Dragons swept the relays, with Hobbs, Anne Bauer, Alaina Doran and Taylor Kelley winning the 4×100. Hobbs, Sanford, Whitaker and Lexi Baynes won the 4×400, while Emily Adam, Morgan Stone, Schwarb and Jocelynn Flagle won the 4×800.
Golf
Dragons take 5th at invite
The New Palestine boys golf team shot 344 Saturday to finish fifth at the 13-team Martinsville Invitational.
Matthew Barada shot 76, finishing fifth overall in the tournament at Foxcliff Golf Course in Martinsville.
Braeden Baker shot 83, Evan Griffith 86 and Landon Beaty 89. Gus Walling’s 94 was the fifth score.
Baseball
New Pal rallies to victory
Luke Legault hit a walk-off double Saturday to give the New Palestine baseball team a come-from-behind 6-5 victory over visiting Franklin Central.
Trailing 5-4 going into the bottom of the seventh, Zayden Stiller hit a leadoff double and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Maddox Manes followed with a walk to put runners on the corners. Another wild pitch plated Stiller with the tying run and put Manes in scoring position.
Legault then hit a 2-0 pitch to deep centerfield to plate Manes with the winning run.
The victory improved the Dragons’ record to 6-4.
Carter Stogsdill got the pitching win, allowing two hits and one earned run in 1.2 innings of relief. Eli Bruns started the game and scattered eight hits and allowed three earned runs. Caleb Davis relieved him in the sixth and got one out before Stogsdill took over.
The Dragons were outhit 11-8, but had four extra hits and seven hits from the top four in the order. Stogsdill was 2-for-4 with a run. Zayden Stiller was 2-for-3 with a double, triple and a run. Legault was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Manes was 1-for-3 with two runs, a double and an RBI. Ben Morwick was 1-for-3.
Softball
Dragons sweep weekend DH
The New Palestine softball team swept two different teams Saturday with six-inning, 10-run victories at Seymour.
The Dragons opened the day with a 16-6 victory over Decatur Central, then followed with a 10-0 victory over Seymour.
The Dragons scored six runs in the first inning of each game to take control.
Against Decatur Central, Katie Hirschy had a big game, blasting two homers. She was 2-for-4 with three runs and four RBI. Alexa Holman also homered. She was 2-for-3 with a run and three RBI.
Allie Blum was 2-for-5 with two doubles and three runs. Paige Ernstes was 3-for-4 with a double, a run and two RBI. Sydney Hughbanks was 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI. Alaina Miller was 1-for-4 with two runs. Aglaia Rudd and Reese Rosenbaum had a single and an RBI each. Grace Paquette also had a single and a run.
Holman picked up the pitching win, allowing one hit and one run in 3.1 innings. She struck out two. Courtney Study came on in relief and pitched 2.2 innings, allowing one earned run and three hits. She fanned three.
Against Seymour, the Dragons again jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first, then added a run in the fifth and three in the sixth to win 10-0. Katie Kottlowski and Study combined on a two-hit shutout.
Holman homered for the third straight game, going 2-for-4 with three RBI to lead the Dragons’ 16-hit attack. Rudd was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI. She hit one of the Dragons’ five doubles.
Alyssa Mumaw was 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and two RBI. Miller was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs. Sydney Oliver was 2-for-2 with an RBI. Blum and Hirschy were each 1-for-4 with a run. Paquette was 1-for-3 with a run. Kottlowski was 1-for-2 with a double and an RBI. Ernstes was 1-for-1 with a double and an RBI.
The Dragons are now 9-0-1 on the season.
