GREENFIELD — With only a few teams participating, and racing on a weekday, the Greenfield-Central boys cross country team used Wednesday’s Cougarpalooza at Brandywine Park as a chance to work on things and right some wrongs before the postseason.
That didn’t stop them from taking seven of the top 10 spots and winning the team title by 16 points.
The Cougars 22 points topped Roncalli (38), Rushville (87) and Indianapolis Scecina (105).
“We had a really big race on Saturday with a lot of competition, so this is a little more low key,” Greenfield-Central head coach Aaron Smith said. “It’s nice to win though, with it being Senior Night. It’s another chance for us to get out and race, learn some things, and figure some things out.”
Using the race as a workout didn’t prevent the Cougars trio of seniors from placing near the top.
Chris Ross came in first with a 5K time of 16:40, beating the runner-up, Roncalli’s Sam Vaught, by 13 seconds.
“It was my mom’s birthday today, so I definitely wanted to win, and it just meant a little more today,” Ross said.
Placing third and fourth were two more Cougars.
Second place came down to a sprint on the final stretch between Vaught and G-C’s Carter Crouch. Crouch’s time of 16:53 was less than a second behind Vaught.
Following Crouch for fourth place was Liam Brinkruff with a time of 17:02
“Our top three were doing a workout today. We probably could’ve gone one, two, and three, but we’re looking at the big picture,” Smith said. “It’s tough for them knowing they could’ve done better, but they were doing what they were told to do.”
Rounding out the team score for the Cougars were four more top 10 finishes.
David Wasson placed sixth (17:43), Braylon Mumaugh placed eighth (18:10), Bryce Cotterman placed ninth (18:10), and Henry Rahe placed 1oth (18:29).
“Coming back from where we were at Columbus, I expected some times to be slower, but not too bad of a race overall,” Smith said. “Bryce [Cotterman] had a really good race today, so that was good to see. He figured some things out in the middle of the race so that’s exciting for us going forward.”
With only four teams competing, a number that is down from previous years, the race brings on new challenges for the Cougars.
Along with using the race to work on things, according to Smith, it gives the Cougars a chance to push themselves.
“It’s good for them to run by themselves sometimes,” Smith said. “In the big meets you have other people pushing you, but you need to be able to push yourself when others aren’t around, so this is good to work on that.”
