Published: October 18, 2009 12:58 am      

CROSS COUNTRY: Highlanders, Bulldogs earn return trips to semistate

MARENGO — Saturday was a day of triumphant returns for the Clark-Floyd area at the Crawford County cross country regional.

Three local teams and one individual runner earned return trips to next weekend’s Brown County Semistate after competing in the meet a year ago. Another area squad ended a three-year wait to get its ticket for a return trip to the semistate.

Both the boys’ and girls’ teams from New Albany and Floyd Central qualified for the semistate on Saturday by finishing in the top five in their respective races. Joining the Bulldogs and the Highlanders at Brown County next Saturday will be Borden junior Hunter Williams, who survived in the postseason after battling a muddy course.

The top five teams and top 15 individuals advanced to semistate.



BOYS

New Albany had three runners place in the top 20 to qualify for the semistate for the fourth consecutive season. The Bulldogs placed third with 86 points.

Leading New Albany was Jonathon Ragains, who finished seventh in a time of 17:22. Teammate Jason Holcomb followed in 11th (17:33), while the Bulldogs’ Simon Quinkert placed 20th (17:55).

New Albany’s Matthew Holcomb, who did not run in Tuesday’s Crawford County Sectional due to flu symptoms, ran 26th (18:14) and teammate Alan Hoon wound up 30th (18:20). Anthony Laporte, who also was out for the sectional due to flu symptoms, returned to the Bulldogs’ lineup to finish 40th (18:42).

“We basically just told them today that we had to get everybody out there, whether they felt good or not,” New Albany head coach Paul Hamilton said. “Some of them haven’t had a chance to race in the past couple of weeks, so we really needed to get them back out on the course. I thought they gutted it out on a tough course. For everybody on the course today, there was a lot of maneuvering and a lot of slipping and people getting cut up all over the place.”

Two-time defending regional champion Floyd Central, which has won the regional five of the last six seasons, earned a semistate berth by placing fourth with 138 points.

The Highlanders’ Cory Portwood was the only area runner to place in the top five, finishing fourth in 17:10. Rounding out the Floyd scoring were Matthew Hamilton in 31st (18:21), Logan Kelly in 33rd (18:22), Jesse Hamilton in 38th (18:40) and Chris Pepin in 41st (18:44).

For the second consecutive season, Williams finished 14th at regional (17:35) and secured his second straight semistate berth. The Braves’ standout qualified for Brown County despite being disappointed with his finish due to falling several times on the course.

“I hate a muddy course. I fell down at least four times and it took so much out of me. If I wasn’t falling, I was slipping and sliding,” said Williams, who placed fifth in the sectional on the same course. “Everybody was expecting me to get out pretty easy. But once I fell, it was a whole game of catch-up the whole time. It feels like I let everybody down.”

North Harrison claimed its first regional title since 2000, scoring 39 points with four runners placing in the top eight. The Cougars’ Tyler Byrne, who won Tuesday’s sectional, repeated as individual regional champion in 16:03.



GIRLS

Despite being without two of its top runners due to the flu in Hannah Keehn and Alyssa Moore, Floyd Central qualified for semistate for the first time since 2006 by finishing fourth with 117 points.

Chelsea Reidinger paced the Highlanders with a 13th-place run (22:10). Teammate Abbie Ewing, a freshman, had Floyd’s second-fastest effort, finishing 21st (22:37).

Rounding out the scoring for the Highlanders were Constance Rhodes in 24th (22:44), Brandy Fulton in 27th (22:51) and Kendra Mifflin in 39th (23:20). Floyd’s Rachel Hartog ran 40th (23:29).

Highlander girls’ head coach Carl Hook was ecstatic with the efforts given by all seven of his runners.

“It was an awesome day today. The girls really, really ran awesome today,” Hook said. “Today, we had seven good races. Everybody ran good today. These girls absolutely pulled together like they should and took care of business today without a doubt.

“Brandy Fulton and Kendra Mifflin were just huge today for us. Chelsea Reidinger, our No. 1 runner, ran an awesome race today. (Ewing) had a great race.”

New Albany edged Tell City by one point to collect fifth place with 159 points. Two Bulldogs finished in the top 10, who were Phoebe Bauer in fifth (21:12) and Alissa Knable in 10th (22:05).

Also for New Albany, Kaitlyn Smith ran 41st (23:32), Myranda Atkins was 56th (25:01), Lauren McCool finished 57th (25:02) and Regan Springer placed 64th (25:54).

“We were really hoping, regardless of where our team finished, that we get two of our top runners out, and they both got in the top 10,” Hamilton said. “Phoebe has just ran well for us all year, and Alissa has just worked her tail off to get to where she is in her first season as a cross country runner. She’s a senior, so I knew she wanted to advance to the semistate. I thought our team did well.”

Providence ended up four points shy of making semistate, finishing seventh with 163 points. It was the second close call of the week for the Pioneers, who were two points shy of their first sectional title on Tuesday.

Linden Spalding led Providence by placing 23rd (22:41). Teammate Erin Denis was 34th (23:04), followed by Kallie Ash in 35th (23:04) and Mary Gauf in 38th (23:15). The Pioneers’ Kori Siebert placed 46th in 23:59.

Clarksville freshman Roshanda Hogue finished 31st (22:58) in her first regional. Heritage Hills’ Cecilia Oxford won the race in 20:22, leading the Patriots to their second straight regional crown.



CRAWFORD COUNTY REGIONAL

at Crawford County High School

(Top five teams and top 15 individuals advanced to next Saturday’s Brown County Semistate.)

BOYS

Team scores — North Harrison 39, Perry Central 67, New Albany 86, Floyd Central 138, Heritage Hills 144, Forest Park 161, Tell City 188, Jasper 189, Corydon 193, Lanesville 216.

New Albany — 7. Ragains 17:22, 11. J. Holcomb 17:33, 20. Quinkert 17:55, 26. M. Holcomb 18:14, 30. Hoon 18:20, 40. Laporte 18:42, 53. Ott 19:20.

Floyd Central — 4. Portwood 17:10, 31. M. Hamilton 18:21, 33. Kelly 18:22, 38. J. Hamilton 18:40, 41. Pepin 18:44, 54. Yeaton 19:22.

Borden — 14. Williams 17:35.



GIRLS

Team scores — Heritage Hills 43, Perry Central 89, Northeast Dubois 96, Floyd Central 117, New Albany 159, Tell City 160, Providence 163, Jasper 168, South Central 182, Lanesville 259.

Floyd Central — 13. Reidinger 22:10, 21. Ewing 22:37, 24. Rhodes 22:44, 27. Fulton 22:51, 39. Mifflin 23:20, 40. Hartog 23:29, 43. Meza 23:38.

New Albany — 5. Bauer 21:12, 10. Knable 22:05, 41. Smith 23:32, 56. Atkins 25:01, 57. McCool 25:02, 64. Springer 25:54, 66. Ragains 26:25.

Providence — 23. Spalding 22:41, 34. Denis 23:04, 35. Ash 23:04, 38. Gauf 23:15, 46. Siebert 23:59, 48. C. McCauley 24:28, 63. A. McCauley 25:49.

Clarksville — 31. Hogue 22:58.