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Cougars finish fourth to lead county teams at WIC XC Meet
NASHVILLE — The unofficial start to the cross country postseason began at Brown County Saturday morning as the Putnam County schools competed in the WIC XC Meet.
North Putnam finished fourth overall in the boys’ race, a place ahead of South Putnam, while Cloverdale finished eighth ahead of Greencastle.
In the girls’ race, Greencastle finished ahead of South Putnam for eighth place while North Putnam did not have enough runners to field a team score.
Edgewood won both WIC titles and placed nine runners across both races in the top-15, earning All-WIC honors. Mustang Zane Meyer (16:13) won the boys’ race while Indian Creek’s Libby Dowty (17:35) cruised to a win in the girls’ race.
Six county runners earned All-WIC honors with Tiger Cub Landon Miller (16:46) the top finisher, finishing third a year after winning the meet as a sophomore.
South Putnam’s Gabe Feltner (16:56) finished seventh while North Putnam duo Jeremiah Miles (17:24) and Elijah Harless (17:30) finished 11th and 13th respectively.
Greencastle’s Colleen Bossnack (21:30) was the top county finisher among girls in ninth place with Jacy Huffman (22:16) snagging the last All-WIC spot in 15th place.
“We came into this meet a little banged up,” South Putnam head coach Brandon Welti said. “A few of our runners are just coming back from injuries, some are trying to manage injuries and illness has crept up on a few of them as well.
“It's been a rough week for our team. Yet, in spite of these difficulties, we still had some strong performances.”
“We had another consistent showing,” Cloverdale head coach Aleksey Stewart said. “Our pack got a little more spread out today, but we had a couple personal bests and we always take those.
“Each week I'm seeing more actual racing and the kids being competitors, so we're definitely trending up. We’re hoping to have our best race yet as a whole group next week at sectional.”
“We did about as well as I expected,” Greencastle head coach Brian Hammett said. “Landon ran a good race for that course and Colleen matched where she was last season.
“We had a couple of girls out with illness and injury that hurt our team standing that I believe will be back next weekend going into sectional and everyone should be ready to go on Saturday.”
Backing Miles and Harless were Thomas Nelson (18:49) and Corbin Conner (19:05) in 30th and 31st place with Kaleb Walton (20:17) rounding out the scoring in 45th place. Other finishers included Owen O’Hair (20:30), Conner Dutcher (20:58), Zane Eakle (22:02) and Edrien Sobrino-Behler (22:26).
Behind Feltner was Landon Chew (19:20) in 35th place with Bryan Bye (20:25) in 48th place, along with Isaac Boyce (20:51), Paxton Church (20:57) and Gunner Roach (21:49).
“Gabe, of course, ran well and was our lone All-Conference runner; his determination to get out hard and battle is always great to watch and much appreciated,” Welti noted. “Bryan stepped up and was really competitive, and it's been great watching him grow over the course of the season.
“Fellow freshman Paxton also really pushed himself and came away with a PR.”
Cloverdale outpaced Greencastle with Evan Barnet (19:35) leading the charge in 39th place, followed by Mason Paauwe (20:17) in 46th place with Spencer Nees (20:40) and Jayden Armstrong-Diggs (20:48) not far behind with Joseph Patton (23:10) rounding out the scoring, followed by Bradyn Schabel (24:24) and Nicholas Day (25:25).
Caleb Edwards (20:32), Wilson Hecko (21:42), Jackson Corey (25:22), Miles Jernagan (29:13) and Gavin Colwell (32:11) rounded out the field for the Tiger Cubs.
Behind Bossnack for Greencastle was Lydia Miller (24:27) in 29th place with Adelynn Moore (29:45), Charlotte Hall (31:18) and Anastasia Graham (41:27) rounding out the scoring.
South Putnam was paced by Elise Kendall (26:33) in 47th place, followed in by Delaney Fugate (27:30), Joslyn Bumgardner (29:52), Addalyn Brinkman (30:58), Molly Trammell (32:04), Victoria Paige (34:20) and July Owen (36:37).
“We knew it was going to be a rough one,” Welti said about the girls’ race. “Elise was battling illness all week. She was clearly feeling exhausted and running on fumes, but she refuses to let it stop her from trying and giving her best effort. We really love and appreciate her grit as a runner.
“Addie and Laney each ran personal best races, and they both looked strong in doing so.”
Barbi Fuchs (24:14) finished 28th overall for the Cougars with Erica Zatorski (26:56) finished 50th overall while Kaylee Hoover (28:06) was not far behind.
Greencastle, South Putnam and Cloverdale will compete at the Terre Haute North Sectional while North Putnam competed in the Ben Davis Sectional this Saturday.