By James Costello
Sports Writer
CULVER — The setting was all new, as Culver Academies hosted its first sectional cross country tournament Tuesday. Last year, the Academies, as well as Culver Community, Plymouth and Triton all competed at the Logansport sectional. This year’s field featured a couple newcomers, but the outcome was much the same.

The boys team race was a little tighter.

Plymouth won its third straight sectional championship with 42 points, while Culver Military Academies placed second with 45, a scant three points behind the leader. Last season, CMA finished third behind Peru — which didn’t compete at the new Culver sectional — and the Eagles placed second behind Plymouth in 2005. Northfield placed third at this year’s sectional, followed in order by Tippecanoe Valley and Rochester. Triton placed seventh with 158 points, and Culver Community was ineligible to compete with only four entrants in the race.

The Eagles and the Pilgrims had already met three times prior to the sectional meet — at the Culver Academies Invite, the New Prairie Invitational and the Marshall County Meet — and both CMA cross country head coach Michael Chastain and Plymouth head cross country coach Allen Shockney knew Tuesday’s race would be close.
Plymouth scored 42, and CMA tallied 45 points, as the two teams sewed up the top five positions and had several more finish in the top 15.

“In the boys race especially, I knew it would be very close because every time we’ve raced it’s been very close,” said Chastain. “They (Plymouth) deserved it. They ran for it. They wanted it: They have three seniors on the squad, and I think they really wanted it... Their fifth man was back a little bit, and our fifth and sixth were behind him until the last 1k or so, and he lost them. They faltered.”

“I was in the lead vehicle, and saw the top runners, and I saw Culver and I saw our guys and I thought ‘Gee, we’re close,’” said Shockney. “But then once they get spread out it’s hard to keep score mentally. So I just crossed my fingers.”

Four of CMA’s top five team runners were sophomores with newcomer Alejandro Arroyo leading the pack. Arroyo recorded a personal best time of 16:27 — six seconds faster than his previous PR — to take an individual first for the Eagles. Plymouth’s Calvin Cook brought his time down 38 seconds from the mark he set for himself at last year’s sectional run to take second behind Arroyo on Tuesday.

Matt Galt placed third for the Pilgrims, followed by CMA’s Coleman Zimmerman — who crossed the line in 16th place at the ‘06 Logan Sectional, then Pilgrim Peter Johnson, who finished in fifth place Tuesday. Two more Eagle sophomores, Trace Ostergren and Chris Trennepohl placed 10th and 11th for CMA, while Plymouth’s Kyle Thoden was 12th. Rounding out the Eagles’ top five was Alexander Kazer, followed four seconds later by Pilgrim junior Andrew Kurtz.

Triton had some trouble at the meet, as they were without usual number one Bart Christian. Christian had missed a vocational class Tuesday afternoon and was declared ineligible to run at sectional. The IHSAA rule provided that students who missed a half day in the morning could run in an evening meet as long as they attended the last half of afternoon classes, but those who miss classes in the afternoon would be disqualified from running.

“Obviously that hurts us,” said Triton cross country head coach Wes Rettinger of Christian’s DQ. “I was pleased with the way everyone stepped up. I told them not to get down, that they still had a shot.”

Curtis Nordmann and Blake Lemler placed back-to-back in 23rd and 24th respectively, while Blake Schori was 33rd, Joel Meister was 42nd and Race Berkey was 46th for the Trojans.

Culver Community was unable to compete with only four runners, but junior Stephan Vantwoud made a decent showing in 19th. Also for the Cavaliers, Jesse Good was 35th, Coltin Measles was 57th, and Blake Bennett was 59th.

The girls sectional race was much as it has been in past years. It was also much like the boys meet Tuesday, with Plymouth and Culver taking the top four individual spots for the top two team places, although it was Culver and not Plymouth that got the championship.

IATCCC 15th-ranked Culver Girls Academy took first with 21, followed by Plymouth with 49. Northfield placed third, followed by Rochester, then Caston with respective fourth and fifth team placements. Both Triton and the Lady Cavs were unable to field full teams to compete at the race as were Tippecanoe Valley and Manchester.

CGA’s Alexandra Banfich won her fourth of four sectional championships to set the pace with in 18:36.

“It was a solid race, but it definitely wasn’t my best,” said the two-time state champion. “Once we get into regional and semistate there’s a lot more excitement. I don’t think anyone on our team got a PR today. But it was a good race, we did all right as a team.”

Banfich was followed distantly by Plymouth’s Morgan Hite who entered the chute in second over a minute behind her.

Hite’s second-place finish equaled her sectional performance last year, and it drove a wedge between Banfich and fellow Lady Eagles Kaye Sitterley and Mary Peter who place third and fourth Tuesday.

Kiley Trennepohl was seventh for CGA, and Zita Groll took 10th to round out the top five for the championship team. For Plymouth, Mae Christiansen and Allasyn Slater were eighth and ninth respectively at Culver, while Kathryn Day was 18th and Caitlin Gomez took the remaining spot on the Pilgrim’s score card in 21st.

Lauren Shaffer placed sixth as the lone Culver Community representative at the meet. The sophomore’s finish was four places higher than she recorded at the ‘06 sectional. Meanwhile, Triton’s Ashley Kann and Jessica Calvert earned respective 27th and 28th place rankings, and Kelsey Bessinger crossed the line in 35th place.

The Academies and Plymouth will race again at the Academies’ campus Saturday morning at the regional race. Top-15 finishing individuals in each race will also get a chance to compete without a team, and the Cavs’ Shaffer will also be present.

“It’s a different group coming in,” said Chastain. “Obviously it’s a little different than what we’ve seen before. So hopefully the kids prepare for it mentally. It’s up to them at this point. They’ve got to want it. I think the boys have a little bit of a sour taste in their mouths after today. We’ll see on Saturday.”