Eastern Hancock harriers open season with championship

Staff report

Led by a 1-2 finish from Preston Markley and Brandon Metz, Eastern Hancock’s boys cross country team won the Meister Family Memorial Run in Parker City, hosted by Monroe Central High School Saturday.

Markley finished his 5K run in 16:50.1, over 30 seconds ahead of his teammate Metz, who crossed the line in 17:22.5.

Eastern Hancock senior John Henry Gray was eighth in 17:58.3. Rounding out the EH runners, Andrew Metz finished 37th in 19:46.1 and Caden Powers placed 40th in 20:09.1.

There were 15 schools in the race and 11 full teams. Eastern Hancock won with a score of 80. Muncie Burris was second with 91 and Northeastern scored 93.

It was the first meet of the season for the Royals and the second straight year they have won the event.

“Our top three runners were outstanding for a first meet,” Eastern Hancock coach Rex Putt said. “All three were a minute or better than last year’s times. That demonstrates what consistent summer workouts will do for you. We still need to close the gap between our third runner and the last two, but that will come with work in practice.”

Marauders win Hokum Karem

Mt. Vernon won the Plainfield Invitational, a Hokum Karem-style meet held at Swinford Park in Plainfield Saturday.

Running in tandems and alternating 1-mile runs with a total of three miles each, the Marauder team of Colin Strachman-Caden Cassada won with a combined time of 30:08.24 to finish second. All three of Mt. Vernon’s scoring teams were in the top seven. Ahmed Saleh-Cooper Hunziker were sixth in 30:38.29 and Xaiden Jenson-Austin Baugh placed seventh in 30:54.39.

Mt. Vernon won with 13 points. Westfield was second with 32 points.

There were 15 teams in the event.

Cougars take top spot in Richmond

Greenfield-Central had all five of its scoring runners and six of its seven varsity competitors finish in the top 10 to lead the way to a victory at the Richmond Hare and Hounds Invitational at Indiana University-East Saturday.

Chris Ross and Liam Brinkruff were the first two runners to cross the finish line. Ross won with a time of 16:04.7. Brinkruff had a time of 16:26.2. Ross’s time ranks No. 7 on the school’s all-time list.

Carter Crouch was fifth in 17:05.6. David Wasson (17:26.7), Braylon Mumaugh (17:36.9) and Henry Rahe (17:39.2) picked up the spots eight through 10, respectively.

Bryce Cotterman was 17th in 18:36.2.

There were four teams and 68 runners in the race. Greenfield-Central had 25 team points. Marion was second with 56.

New Pal finishes 14th

New Palestine’s boys cross country team finished 14th of 18 teams at the 4K John Cleland Invitational hosted by Zionsville High School at Northview Christian Church in Carmel.

Jake Cooper led the Dragons with a 43rd place finish with a time of 13:42.1.

Jacob Collins was 88th in 14:31.4 and Gavin Smith placed 91st in 14:34.3. Other scoring Dragons were Charles Rigsbee (143, 15:30.8) and Ayden Rush (212, 16:54.6).

Zionsville won the invitational.

Volleyball

Royals win Shenandoah Invite

With wins over Cambridge City Lincoln, Lapel and Southwestern, Eastern Hancock won the Shenandoah Invitational Saturday.

The Royals beat Lincoln and Southwestern 2-0 and Lapel 2-1. Eastern Hancock is 6-2 and has won six straight matches.

The Royals beat Lincoln 25-12, 25-13 to start the day. In their most competitive match, they defeated the Bulldogs 27-25, 23-25, 17-15. They wrapped up the day with a 25-14, 25-16 win over the Spartans.

Mt. Vernon wins 3 at WeBo

Mt. Vernon went 3-0 at the Western Boone Invitational Saturday.

The Marauders won all three matches 2-0, defeating Western Boone, Hamilton Heights and Heritage Christian.

Mt. Vernon (5-2) opened the morning with a 25-14, 25-22 win over Heritage Christian. The Marauders beat Western Boone 27-25, 25-13 and wrapped up the day with a 25-23, 25-19 win over Hamilton Heights.

Alivia Morgan had five kills against HC. Sophia Damer had three service aces. Avery Delello and Aubry Dowling each had eight digs and Ava Whitmore had 17 assists.

Sierra Holverson recorded eight kills and eight digs against WeBo. Dowling had four aces. Whitmore had 26 assists.

Wampler and Holverson each had seven kills in the win over Hamilton Heights. Holverson added eight digs and Whitmore had 23 assists.

Cougars win Covenant Christian Invitational

Greenfield-Central went 3-0 to win the Covenant Christian Invitational Saturday.

All three G-C (6-0) wins were 2-0 sweeps.

The Cougars opened with a 25-9, 25-20 victory over Guerin Catholic. They followed with a 25-10, 25-13 win over Herron to reach the championship match.

In the title contest, G-C beat Marquette Catholic 25-13, 28-26.

Dragons third at Southport

New Palestine’s volleyball team finished third at Saturday’s Southport Invitational.

After winning a 2-1 match over Scecina by set scores of 26-24, 21-25, 15-7, the Dragons lost a tight two-set match to defending Class 1A state champion Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian 25-23, 26-24.

In the third-place match, New Palestine defeated East Central 25-18, 25-12.

Azure Flagle had 19 digs in the win over Scecina. Natalie Sevier had a team-high eight kills. Bella Brownfield had seven kills, eight digs and four service aces. Sam Gooding had 24 assists. Makaeli Johnson had eight digs and two aces.

Against Blackhawk, Flagle had 10 digs. Hayden Ramsey recorded seven kills.

Ramsey and Rachel Burke each had six kills against East Central. Gooding had 17 assists.

Girls cross country

G-C’s Kinnaman finishes 2nd

Greenfield-Central freshman Josie Kinnaman was second of 64 runners and the Cougars placed third out of six teams at Saturday’s Richmond Hare and Hounds Invitational at IU-East.

East Central won the event with 30 points. Southport had 39 and G-C finished with 78, placing ahead of Richmond (110), Marion (117) and Connersville (148).

Kinnaman finished with a 5K time of 20:17.7. East Central’s Callie Bentley won in 19:42.

Other scorers for G-C included, Ashlyn Devlin (13, 21:57), Adalyn Cole (14, 22:04.4), Kendall Barrett (24, 23:35.4) and Emaline Capen (25, 23:40.3).

Marauders third at Plainfield

Mt. Vernon’s girls cross country team placed third in the Plainfield Invitational, a 13-team Hokum Karem at Swinford Park Saturday.

Westfield won with 25 points. Franklin had 28 and Mt. Vernon scored 36, two points ahead of Harrison.

Running in tandems and alternating 1-mile runs with a total of three miles each, the team of Hannah Hauser-Emma Gale finished sixth (36:42.70). Makenna Laffey-Julia Iserloth placed 14th (37:24.76) and Emma Gasiorek-Tenley Benz finished 16th (38:10.91).

Dragons finish 12th

New Palestine earned a 12th place finish among 17 teams in the 4K John Cleland Invitational hosted by Zionsville High School at Northview Christian Church in Carmel Saturday.

Courtney Study led the Dragons with a 36th place finish in 16:29.70. Cami Massari was 85th in 18:12.10. Evelyn Kell was 133rd in 19:24.50. Lily Westrate crossed the line in 20:33.60 for 173rd place. The final scoring runner was Addiley Yoder in 218th (22:34.30).

Hamilton Southeastern won the invitational.

Johnson is top Royal

Eastern Hancock freshman cross country runner Sydney Johnson earned an eighth place finish out of 58 runners at the Meister Family Memorial Run in Parker City, hosted by Monroe Central High School, Saturday.

Johnson ran a 5K in 22:27.5. The winner, Addison Coe of Monroe Central, won the race in 21:13.4.

The only other EH runner participating was sophomore Kaylee Swan. She finished 26th in 25:25.3.

Monroe Central had four runners in the top seven and won the team event with 29 points.

Boys soccer

Marauders win conference opener

Mt. Vernon opened Hoosier Heritage Conference play with a 2-0 victory over visiting New Castle Saturday.

Mt. Vernon (3-1, 1-0) got goals from Luka Alka and Nate Bennett. Brady Webber and Ethan Ludlow had assists. Will Keppler had six saves.

G-C runners-up in Cougar Cup

Greenfield-Central finished runner-up in the Cougar Cup, held on Clayton Myers Field Saturday.

In the tournament opener, the Cougars picked up their first win of the season, a 2-1 victory over South Dearborn.

JJ Harlow scored the game-winner midway through the second half, assisted by Andrew Martin. Axel Valladares had the first Cougar goal.

In the championship, East Central beat the Cougars 2-0.

Dragons suffer first loss

New Palestine’s boys soccer team lost 5-0 at No. 7 Brownsburg Saturday. It was the first loss of the season for the Dragons.

The Dragons had six shots, two on goal, both by Elliott Canova. Goalkeeper Jake Wells had 12 saves.

Girls soccer

Mt. Vernon shuts out Franklin

Mt. Vernon’s girls soccer team got goals from five different players in a 5-0 victory against visiting Franklin Saturday.

Esther Isger, Lily Muhlenkamp, Ellie Gawrys, Aya Renforth and Hannah Monroe scored for the Marauders. Taylor Bastin had two assists. Mattie Isger and Renforth also had assists. Ava Stephenson had one save.

Dragons lose to Wildcats

The New Palestine (2-1) girls soccer team lost 4-1 at Lawrence North Saturday.

Tylar Whitaker had the goal for the Dragons.

Girls golf

MV golfers 10th

In a tournament that included a number of state-ranked programs, Mt. Vernon’s girls golf team placed 10th of 18 teams with a score of 394 at the Center Grove Trojan Classic.

No. 1 Carmel won the event with a score of 296.

Izzy VanHeel led the Marauders with a 90. Natalie Miner scored a personal-best 95. Marissa Miner carded a 103 and Aerin Hubbell had a 106.

Boys tennis

Cougars win Franklin Invitational

With three sweeps, and not losing a set all day, Greenfield-Central won the Franklin Community Invitational Saturday.

Opening with a 5-0 win over host Franklin, Greenfield-Central (4-0) followed with 5-0 victories over Mooresville, in the semifinals, and Heritage Christian, in the championship.

In total games, the Cougars outscored their opponents 181-52. Chris Long, CJ Michalek, Caden Robertson, Mateo Molanphy, Luke Sitzman, and Alex Michalek all went 3-0 in match play. Nathan Roberts was 2-0 and Thomas Ryba finished 1-0.

Marauders split at CG

At Center Grove Saturday, Mt. Vernon lost 4-1 to the host Trojans and defeated Perry Meridian 5-0.

Against CG, No. 2 singles player Manny Downs got the lone win for the Marauders, 0-6, 7-6, 10-7.

Against Perry, No. 1 singles player Koon, won 6-0, 6-0. Downs won 6-1, 6-1 and No. 3 Tate Cougill won 6-2, 2-2 (retired).

In doubles action, the No. 1 group of Robbie Moore and Bryndan Wylie won 6-1, 6-1. At No. 2, Matthew Jones and Eli Muterspaugh won 6-2, 6-2.

On Friday, Mt. Vernon dropped a 4-1 decision to visiting Floyd Central.

The lone Marauder win came from Moore/Wylie 6-3, 6-2. Koon lost a close three-setter, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.