Published: August 27, 2008 12:26 am            

New Albany boys' win Hokum Karem

HHC takes top three spots in both races

NEW ALBANY — If you wanted a preview of the Hoosier Hills Conference meet on Oct. 4, then Indiana University Southeast was the place to be on Tuesday evening.

HHC teams claimed the top three spots in the girls’ race, while three conference squads finished in the top five in the boys’ race at the Clarksville Hokum Karem.

The New Albany boys had the top two two-man relay teams, helping them win the meet title with 23 points. Floyd Central wound up second with 33 points, followed by Mid-Southern Conference power Silver Creek (59) in fourth and Jeffersonville (64) in fifth.

Finishing first was the New Albany tandem of Mathew Holcomb and Pryce Ragains in a time of 31:35. Teammates Jason Holcomb and Alan Hoon were a second behind in the runner-up spot.

“Those first two groups, we expected them to do pretty well,” Bulldogs coach Paul Hamilton said. “It was a pretty nice little finish to see them come in 1-2 like they did.”

The highest-placing Floyd tandem placed 10th, led by veteran runner Sam Mires. Joey Coats and Corbin Feldhaus led the Red Devils by placing fifth, and Silver Creek’s Brendan Chwalek and Eli Staton finished seventh.

“We really performed better than it may look in the results,” Dragons coach Al Eckert said. “We are young and everyone pretty much improved on what they did in this race last year. I was especially pleased with Eli Staton. He was paired up with Brendan, and I thought he ran particularly strong especially when you compare it to what he did last season.”

Despite placing ninth in the team standings, Providence’s two-man tandem of Oliver Book and Jake Ford finished third. Home School Union wound up eighth, Borden was 12th and Charlestown placed 15th.

In the girls’ race, Jeff finished the highest among the local teams, placing second with 36 points. New Albany wound up third with 43 points, while HHC favorite Madison won the meet with 14.

Leading the Red Devils were the sophomore tandem of Rachelle Thomas and Megan Blackburn in sixth.

“I’m very pleased. We’ve come a long way,” Jeff coach Tom Kendall said. “The girls have worked really hard all summer long. They got together and decided they really wanted to work hard this summer and improve, and that’s what they’ve done.”

The Bulldogs’ top tandem consisted of seniors Saisha Rairdon and Stephanie Cave, who placed second in 24:33.

“Our senior girls did phenomenal today, and they are looking forward to a real strong year,” Hamilton said. “We had a freshman, Abby Ragains, doing her first formal competition, and she held her own pretty well today, too.”

Floyd Central wound up fifth with 50 points, with its top tandem being Chelsea Reidinger and Hannah Keehn in 10th. Henryville finished ninth.

Eckert was happy with the performance of his top girls’ tandem that consisted of Olivia Horvath and Emily Warren. The Silver Creek duo finished 12th.

“Olivia Horvath ran very strong, and her summer miles have really paid off for her,” Eckert said. “Emily Warren also ran strong legs, considering she hasn’t ran very much. I was very pleased with their 12th-place finish.”



CLARKSVILLE HOKUM KAREM

at Indiana University Southeast

BOYS

Team scores — New Albany 23, Floyd Central 33, Tell City 51, Silver Creek 59, Jeffersonville 64, Salem 71, Corydon 83, Home School Union 97, Providence 101, South Central 105, Scottsburg 106, Borden 110, Pekin Eastern 157, Fern Creek 168, Charlestown 169.

New Albany — 1. M. Holcomb-Ragains 31:35, 2. J. Holcomb-Hoon 31:36, 20. Wehmiller-Santana 33:35.

Floyd Central — 10. Mires-Portman 32:39, 11. Blackman-Lawless 32:41, 12. Hodge-Crockett 32:45, 15. Huhnerkoch-Moutoux 33:00, 16. Hamilton-Mathieson 33:03.

Silver Creek — 7. Chwalek-Staton 32:14, 17. Eckert-Alford 33:12.

Jeff — 5. Coats-Feldhaus 32:03, 19. Richardson-Kimbrell 33:16.

Home School Union — 14. Ke. Sweetland-Ky. Sweetland 32:57.

Providence — 3. Ford-Book 31:47.

Borden — 13. Williams-Scott 32:48.

Clarksville — 18. Wink-Kemp 33:13.



GIRLS

Team scores — Madison 14, Jeffersonville 36, New Albany 43, Tell City 46, Floyd Central 50, Corydon 77, Pekin Eastern 82, Salem 94, Henryville 102, Scottsburg 120, Fern Creek 146.

Jeff — 6. Thomas-Blackburn 25:52, 11. Chan-Simcoe 26:54, 18. Mosqueda-Inman 27:41, 36. Cox-Gavin, 44. Delab-Crouthemal.

New Albany — 2. Rairdon-Cave 24:33, 7. Condra-Ragains 26:10, 34. Gall-Booker 30:16, 39. Klueppelberg-Smith, 41. James-Stout.

Floyd Central — 10. Reidinger 26:49, 17. Huff-Meza 27:35, 23. Amburn-Hartog 28:44, 27. Rhodes-Pfannmoeller 29:24, 35. Turner-Portwood, 42. Laird-Warth.

Henryville — 20. Spellman-Gilstrap 27:56, 32. Guthrie-Hodge 30:04, 46. Hunter-Lynch.

Silver Creek — 12. Horvath-Warren 27:00.

Home School Union — 14. Rucker-Yeager 27:05.

Providence — 16. Spalding-Seibert 27:22, 45. Graf-McCauley.

Borden — 24. Williams-Lynch 28:46, 43. Green-McKinley.

Charlestown — 30. Burkhart-Farmer 29:44.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.