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Pioneer’s Montgomery, Farris, Baker advance as individuals
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Maggie Smith ran a 21:12, leading a pack of four teammates to the finish line, as the Winamac girls cross-country team won the Logansport sectional title Saturday.
Winamac had 72 points and won their first sectional title in school history. Maconaquah (86), Western (96), Carroll (Flora) (98) and Lewis Cass (109) also advanced to regional.
In addition, Pioneer’s Violet Montgomery and Kylie Farris also advanced to the regional as individuals by finishing among the top 10 runners on non-advancing teams.
In the boys meet, Western had five of the top seven finishers and won with 21 points. Eastern (Greentown) (104), Carroll (Flora) (104), Northwestern (113) and Peru (150) also advanced.
Winamac’s Kolbey Wegner and Cristian Cardenas and Pioneer’s Jackson Baker advanced as individuals.
Logansport will also host the regional at 10:30 a.m. this Saturday.
Girls
Maconaquah’s first, second and third runners all beat Smith to the finish line. But Winamac’s second, third, fourth and fifth – Kate Collins, Kelsey Wegner, Alexis Sheets and Emily Rausch – all beat Maconaquah’s fourth.
Smith ran a 21:12 and finished ninth overall. Collins was 10th in 21:19, Kelsey Wegner was 12th in 21:21, Alexis Sheets was 14th in 21:35, and Rausch was 27th in 22:59. Other Winamac runners included Bethany Poor, who was 43rd in 24:02; and Kingsley Kroft, who was 45th in 24:11.
Montgomery, a freshman, was seventh overall in 21:00. Kylie Farris was 30th in 23:17, Maggie Steffel was 48th in 24:21, Macee Baker was 54th in 25:03, Anna Shewalter was 57th in 25:18, Emma Nelson was 58th in 25:19, and Madison Coy was 73rd in 31:38.
Hannah Moore, a freshman from Northwestern, won the individual title in 19:19.
Boys
Sophomore Kolbey Wegner, the Hoosier North champion from Winamac, ran a 17:46 at the sectional and placed ninth overall. As a team, Winamac, who last won a sectional in 2015, finished 11th among 11 complete teams.
Other Winamac times included Cardenas, who ran an 18:50 and finished 21st; Clay Kistler, who ran a 21:23 and finished 61st; Cooper Jones, who ran a 21:35 and finished 62nd; and Alexander Rimpler, who ran a 24:14 and finished 74th.
Baker, a freshman, ran a 19:03 and finished 26th overall and eighth among individuals on non-advancing teams. Thomas Ehler was 32nd overall and 11th among individuals on non-advancing teams in 19:40.
Other Pioneer runners included Carson Meyer, who was 37th in 29:53; Isaac Nicoll, who was 43rd in 20:11; Jack Cooper, who was 57th in 21:02; Brandon Cearing, who was 67th in 22:04; and Ryan Adams, who was 72nd in 23:43.
Western’s Brayden Curnutt and Joseph Packard finished 1-2 among individuals in 16:46 and 16:47, respectively. Western’s Drew Caldwell, Pete Bradshaw and Matthew Edison all finished within 0.5 seconds of each other in 17:29 and took fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.
It’s Western’s second straight sectional title and their 12th in school history.
