August 28, 2006
CGA wins; Plymouth fares well
MISHAWAKA - Winning may not have been the most
important thing, but the Culver Girls Academy did it anyway.
With Saturday's 30th Annual Penn Hokum-Karem serving as CGA's 12th
practice this season, the girls scored 23 points, 14 better than second
place New Prairie.
“We have a number of kids who didn't run much this summer,” Culver
Academies coach Michael Chastain said. “Our top three or four, in the
girls, did and a couple of the boys, but we didn't have very much mileage.
It's going to be a growing experience all year long.”
With a shortage of boy runners, CMA didn't place on the guys side, where
Plymouth finished in third place with 40 points. On the girls side,
Plymouth finished in fourth place with 42 points.
“Each should be able to do what the other does, which is what happened
last year, because they both went to semi-state,” Plymouth coach Allen
Shockney said of his two squads. “It's nice to have the two teams come
along together. Sometimes it's kind of difficult to train one group when
the other is having a lot more success.”
The early season event, which featured 11 girls and
13 boys teams, is generally used by coaches to see where their runners
stand.
“We use August as our training time,” Shockney said. “A lot of the
time, we don't even have a meet in August.”
At the six-mile relay race, each school has at least three, two-person
teams. One athlete will run a mile, then the other runs a mile until each
has run three miles. Once completed, the times of the four teams are
combined.
With teams such as CGA, LaPorte and Plymouth on hand, the competition is
stiff, if not totally important.
“Years ago, the best I could do here was fourth, and we were state
runners-up, so you can't really gauge this one completely,” Shockney
said of the meet. “Although, I have to admit, LaPorte has four guys
stronger than the field. That was quite an impressive show.”
In helping CGA take first place, the tandem teams
of juniors Alex Banfich and Kiley Trennepohl placed first with a time of
36:52. The third fastest time also came from CGA with freshman Willow
Smith and sophomore Mary Peter finishing in 38:35.
“I was very pleased with our two new girls,” Chastain said of Peter
and Smith. “They're both pretty good runners.”
So with those two “pretty good runners” joining a team with 2005 state
champion Banfich, it's easy to see how the team has been ranked 13th in
the state.
“We've got a pretty talented group,” Chastain said. “Once we get the
others in shape, and as long as they can stay healthy, we should be pretty
good.”
For the guys, Plymouth seniors Dan Neidlinger and David Caldwell placed
third overall with a time of 31:43.
Boys
LAPORTE 16, ELKHART MEMORIAL 16, PLYMOUTH 40, SB RILEY 46, MICHIGAN CITY
55, PORTAGE 56, MISHAWAKA 61, NEW PRAIRIE 64, PENN 79, SB ADAMS 87, SB
CLAY 100, GOSHEN 109
Local Results
Plymouth (40): Dan Neidlinger-David Caldwell 31:43; Calvin Cook-Peter
Johnson 33:14; Matt Galt-Brendan Fox 33:58; Kyle Thoden-Andrew Kurtz
35:27; Chad Ballog-Declan Fox 36:54.
Culver Military Academy (DNP): Andrew Faulstich-Alex Kazer 35:30; Bobby
Martin-Coleman Zimmerman 35:07.
Girls
CULVER GIRLS ACADEMY 23, NEW PRAIRIE 37, MISHAWAKA 39, PLYMOUTH 42,
ELKHART MEMORIAL 50, PENN 55, MICHIGAN CITY 64, SB ADAMS 65, LAPORTE 66,
SB RILEY 76, SB CLAY 90
Local Results
CGA (23): Kiley Trennepohl-Alex Banfich 36:52; Willow Smith-Mary Peter
38:35; Hannah Goettle-Elise Hoover 41:58; Kelly Norton-Marisa Gilmore
44:33.
Plymouth (42): Julie Rodriguez-Morgan Hite 38:58; Chara Ballog-Amy Jacobs
40:33; Kathryn Day-Mae Christiansen 43:09; Kelsey Houin-Tsukiko Watanaeg
46:53; Amber Large-Sarah Griewank 51:04.