Staff report
Even suffering their first loss of the season couldn’t put a damper on the Greenfield-Central Cougars volleyball team’s performance at the Shondell Family Invitational hosted by Muncie Burris Saturday.
Though losing 2-1 to Southwood to begin the day, the Cougars bounced back with victories over Fairfield and previously-unbeaten Muncie Burris to win the event.
With three teams going 2-1 on the day, Greenfield-Central was awarded first place because it earned the most points combined in its matches.
G-C lost 25-22, 23-25, 15-7 to Southwood, ranked No. 4 in Class 1A, before defeating Fairfield 25-16, 25-21.
Muncie Burris, ranked No. 1 in the Class 2A, came in 15-0 and had only lost three sets all season, two coming to Southwood, including one earlier in the day. The Cougars defeated the Owls 16-25, 25-22, 15-8.
Greenfield-Central is 12-1 and returns to action Tuesday with a home match against Greenwood Christian Academy (3-6)
Boys cross country
Cougar trio climb all-time list
Greenfield-Central’s Chris Ross, Carter Crouch and Liam Brinkruff all ran 5K’s under 16 minutes to lead the Cougars boys cross country team to a fifth-place finish at the Rick Weinheimer Invitational in Columbus Saturday.
All three had times that moved them up the school’s all-time best list.
Prior to the race, only four runners in school history had broken the 16-minute mark.
Ross was fourth overall in Saturday’s race with a time of 15:27.3, the second-best time in school history. It was four seconds off the school-record time of 15:23 set in 1989 by Gary Holt.
Crouch finished ninth in 15:46.6, fourth on the school’s all-time list. Jacob Hansen (2016) is third at 15:46.3.
Brinkruff was close behind in 10th with a time of 15:49.6, sixth in the history of G-C harriers. Brandon Plavka (1997) is fifth all-time at 15:47.1.
Floyd Central’s Will Conway won the race in 15:10.2.
Noblesville, ranked No. 2 in the latest Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches poll released Monday, won the team event with 64 points.
Other team scores included: No. 6 Floyd Central 88, No. 11 Columbus North 115, No. 13 Bloomington North 118, No. 21 Greenfield-Central 124, No. 24 Perry Meridian 161, Conner (KY) 169, Edgewood 258, Greenwood 270, Silver Creek 284, Jennings County 327, Southport 338, Evansville North 348, Whiteland 368, Lebanon 395, Bedford North Lawrence 403, New Albany 442, Columbus East 535, Shelbyville 589, Martinsville 603.
Other scorers for Greenfield-Central were freshmen Braylon Mumaugh and Henry Rahe. Mumaugh’s time of 17:15 placed him 55th Saturday. Rahe, at 17:17.8, was 58th. They were the fastest freshmen in the race, both running 20-second personal records.
There were 179 runners in the varsity race. The Cougars’ top seven included David Wasson (81st, 17:52.7), and frosh Bryce Cotterman (95th, 18:10.5).
Greenfield-Central will compete at the Blackford Invitational Saturday.
MV competes in Elite race
Led by a 10th place finish from senior Colin Strachman, Mt. Vernon’s 23rd-ranked boys cross country team placed third out of 14 teams in the Elite Division at the Marion Invitational Saturday.
Strachman ran his 5K race in 16:24.50.
Warsaw, ranked No. 14 in the latest Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches poll released Monday, won with a score of 71. No. 17 Fort Wayne Concordia was second with 76. The Marauders scored 113.
Other scoring and top seven runners for Mt. Vernon included, Xaiden Jenson (20th, 16:43.5), Ahmed Saleh (23rd, 16:47), Cooper Hunziker (30th, 16:56), Brayden Strantz (34th, 17:00.7), Isaiah Njau (38th, 17:05.40), and Austin Baugh (63rd, 17:43.20).
Other team scores were: Angola 128, Chesterton 139, Crown Point 157, Lawrence North 162, Carroll (Fort Wayne) 171, Pendleton Heights 210, Leo 212, Richmond 267, Northeastern 357 and West Noble 359. Frankton did not have enough runners for a team score.
Concordia’s Vaughn Hendrickson won the race in 15:37.10.
Mt. Vernon will compete at the Eagle Classic in Brown County Saturday.
Royals third in 16-team event
Eastern Hancock’s boys cross country team placed third out of 16 full teams, and 23 overall, in the Gold Division race at the Marion Invitational Saturday.
Preston Markley led the Royals with a fourth-place finish and 5K time of 17:04. Brandon Metz was sixth in 17:15 and John Henry Gray was 13th in 17:54. Gray took off 93 seconds from his time in last season’s race.
Andrew Metz was 59th in 19:44 and Caden Powers rounded out the Eastern runners with a 68th place finish in 20:13.
Lapel won with 65 points. Clinton Prairie edged Eastern Hancock with a 132. The Royals scored 138.
Other team scores included: Northwestern 170, Heritage 171, Muncie Burris 176, Adams Central 191, Southern Wells 200, Madison-Grant 208, Monroe Central 225, Clinton Central 238, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers 238, Fort Wayne Canterbury 301, Tipton 307, Wisdom Builders 329, Wes-Del 391.
Teams competing that did not have full squads included: Southwood, Mishawaka Christian, Tri, Randolph Southern, Frankton, Liberty Christian and Churubusco.
Lapel’s Cameron Smith was the individual champion with a time of 15:57.10.
Eastern Hancock will run at the Blackford Invitational Saturday.
Cooper gets Top 5 finish
Jake Cooper placed fifth overall and New Palestine’s boys cross country team was sixth in the Purple Division race of Saturday’s Marion Invitational.
Cooper ran his 5K in 16:58.9. Marion’s Michael Herrington won in 16:35.4.
Marion won the team event with 64 points.
Other team scores included: Concord 74, DeKalb 116, Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger 133, Norwell 138, New Palestine 163, Delta 166, Fort Wayne Snider 178, Muncie Central 184, Bellmont 198, New Castle 305, Mississinewa 320, Fort Wayne Wayne 353.
For the Dragons, Gavin Smith placed 23rd (17:52.8), Jake Collins finished 36th (18:26.8).
They were followed by Charles Rigsbee (51st, 19:11.3), Samuel Ragsdale (52nd, 19:12), Ryan Cain (70th, 20:08.7) and David Gould (71st, 20:08.8).
New Palestine will race at Saturday’s Whiteland Invitational.
Girls cross country
Marauders 6th in Elite group
Mt. Vernon’s girls cross country team placed sixth out of 11 full teams, and 14 overall, in the Chuck Schlemmer Elite Girls Race at the Marion Invitational Saturday.
Ranked No. 1 in the state in the most recent Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches poll, released Monday, Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran won with a score of 46, followed by No. 3 Homestead 60, No. 5 Carroll (Fort Wayne) 71, No. 12 Penn 131, No. 17 Warsaw 143, Mt. Vernon 148, Leo 206, West Noble 215, Northwestern 231, Elkhart 253, Angola 286. Fort Wayne Canterbury, Delta and Pendleton Heights did not have full teams participating.
Addison Knoblauch of Homestead won the race in 16:59.8.
With a 20th place finish and 5K time of 19:35.6, Hannah Hauser led Marauder runners. Makenna Laffey was 25th in 20:07.1. Emma Gale placed 28th in 20:19.6.
Lily Quinn (45th, 20:58), Emma Gasiorek (50th, 21:01.3), Julia Iserloth (51st, 21:03.10) and Chesnie Willis (58th, 21:16.9) were the other scoring and top seven runners for Mt. Vernon.
Mt. Vernon will compete at the Eagle Classic in Brown County Saturday.
New Pal grabs 5th
Out of 15 teams, New Palestine’s girls cross country team placed fifth in Saturday’s Marion Invitational Purple Division race.
For the Dragons, Courtney Study led the way with a 5K run time of 20:42.4. She placed sixth out of 115 runners.
Other Dragon scorers and top seven finishers were: Camille Massari (26th, 21:55.2), Addison Uhl (43rd, 22:57.2), Heidi Bloomer (44th, 23:00.9), Amelia Stone (45th, 23:01.7), Evelyn Kell (71st, 24:20.9) and Lily Westrate (79th, 24:54.80).
Team scores for the event were: Norwell 72, Pendleton Heights 78, Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger 82, Marion 134, New Palestine 151, New Castle 157, Richmond 159, Concord 161, Fort Wayne Snider 190, Bellmont 234, DeKalb 250.
Mississinewa, Fort Wayne Wayne, Delta and Muncie Central did not have enough competitors for a team score.
Cougars place 9th
Greenfield-Central finished ninth and freshman Josie Kinnaman placed in the top 20 of 161 runners in the Rick Weinheimer Invitational in Columbus Saturday.
Kinnaman finished 17th with a time of 20:00.5. Avon’s Jessica Hegedus won with a 5K time of 18:11.
Ranked No. 2 in the state in the latest Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches poll, released Monday, Noblesville won the event with 44 points.
Other team scores were: No. 20 Avon 105, No. 22 Columbus North 110, No. 18 Floyd Central 116, Whiteland 169, Edgewood 171, Southport 217, Greenwood 221, Greenfield-Central 249, Bloomington North 257, Perry Meridian 321, Lebanon 330, Conner (KY) 350, Evansville North 375, Jennings County 379, Columbus East 402, New Albany 433, Shelbyville 474.
Following Kinnaman for the Cougars, Lexie Copeland was 37th in 21:04.2. Adalyn Cole placed 55th in 21:32.6. Kendall Barrett finished 71st in a time of 22:11.1. The final scoring runner was Emaline Capen in 93rd (22:58.7).
Isabelle Hunt (115th, 23:46.8) and Taylor Cooksey (133rd, 24:39.1) rounded out the top seven.
Greenfield-Central will compete in the Jon Mitchell Invitational Saturday, hosted by Cascade High School.
Johnson finishes 15th
Eastern Hancock freshman Sydney Johnson finished 15th in the girls Gold Division race at the Marion Invitational Saturday.
Johnson ran her 5K race in 22:50. The Royals did not have enough participants to have a team score. Kaylee Swan was 30th overall with a career-best time of 24:44.
Eastern Hancock will compete in the Blackford Invitational Saturday.
Girls golf
New Pal is tourney runner-up
The New Palestine girls golf team finished second at the 11-team Connersville Invitational Saturday at Willowbrook Country Club.
The Dragons shot a 388, led by fifth-place finisher Katie Kelley, who carded a 93.
Lauren Deering followed with a 97. Lily Kirchner added a 98 and Lauren Appleby followed with a 100. Hanna Beller scored 101.
The Dragons are next in action Tuesday at Morristown.
Girls soccer
MV wins conference match
On Thursday, at Mt. Vernon, the Mt. Vernon girls soccer team defeated New Castle 11-0 in a Hoosier Heritage Conference contest.
Mt. Vernon scored 10 first-half goals.
For the Marauders, Kylie Brandes had three goals. Jaicee Cole and Mattie Isger each had two goals and two assists. Karmen Kalal and Reagan Britt both had a goal and an assist. Aya Renforth had two assists.
Esther Isger and Ellie Gawrys added goals.
It was the program’s 18th straight HHC win and 49th out of the last 51.
Mt. Vernon, No. 19 in the latest Class 3A Indiana Soccer Coaches Association (ISCA) poll, is 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the HHC.
The Marauders host New Palestine 7 p.m. Wednesday.
