2020 ECI End of Season Awards
Girls Awards
ECI All Freshman Team
Sydney Matthews (New Castle)
Nicki Southerland (Delta)
Sydney Fellers (Blue River)
Addison Coe (Monroe Central)
Katie Osborne (Monroe Central)
Gracie Baker (Monroe Central)
Allie Clamme (Blackford)
Freshman of the Year
Sydney Matthews (New Castle)
Matthews had quite an impressive season, as she was one of the dominant runners in ECI as a freshman. Accomplishments for the Trojan harrier included individual invite wins at the Hagerstown and Randolph Southern invitationals, going sub 20 minutes at the HHC meet and advancing to the Shelbyville Semi-State meet.
ECI All Sophomore Team
Brynn Wright (Cowan)
Lydia Harvey (New Castle)
Leida Keihn (Jay County)
Shannyn Cox (Delta)
Kendyl Thrasher (Wapahani)
Emerson Justin (Wes-Del)
Delaney Strange (Muncie Central)
Sophomore of the Year
Brynn Wright (Cowan)
No one perhaps ran more solid down the stretch of the season than Brynn Wright did. After finishing 3rd in the MEC meet in the last week of the regular season Wright continued to run well in the tournament posting a 7th place finish at the Delta Sectional and then busting out a PR of 20:43 for a 12th place finish in the Regional to advance to the New Haven Semi-State where she was amongst the top finishers in ECI placing 81st.
ECI All Junior Team
Olivia Keesling (Randolph Southern)
Makayla Robles (Delta)
Grace Huisman (Yorktown)
Lauren Smith (Cowan)
Jaci Knott (Wes-Del)
Lindy Wood (Jay County)
Hope Edwards (Shenandoah)
Junior of the Year
Olivia Keesling (Randolph Southern)
The career arc of improvement for Keesling has been impressive, as she has shed multiple minutes off of her time every year to put herself amongst the top of ECI. This season, Keesling posted top 5 finishes at the Randolph County and MEC meets as well as running a PR of 20:34 at the Delta Regional to advance to the New Haven Semi-State, becoming the third Keesling sister to advance to semi-state in recent years.
ECI All Senior Team
Elizabeth Reece (Yorktown)
Ashleigh Brelage (Delta)
Ella Baldwin (Winchester)
Sara Barnhizer (Yorktown)
Sara Fugiett (Jay County)
Natalie Moulton (Yorktown)
Izzie Brown (Yorktown)
Senior of the Year
Elizabeth Reece (Yorktown)
The multi-sport star had another great season as she was one of four key senior contributors that helped lead the Lady Tigers to a Delaware County Championship and a team Semi-State birth. Individually, Reece posted top five finishes at the Taylor Clash, DCAA and the Delta Sectional and also ran a SR of 20:43 at the HHC Meet.
ECI Runner of the Year
Nicki Southerland (Delta)
The unanimous choice for ECI Runner of the Year on the girls’ side is Nicki Southerland. Southerland this year has been absolute dominant in her freshman campaign as the only blemish to her season thus far is a 2nd place runner-up finish at the New Haven Semi-State this past weekend. Looking forward, Southerland will be on the short list of state favorites this weekend and ECI Runner wishes Delta and Nicki the best of luck this weekend!
ECI Most Improved Team of the Year
Wes-Del Warriors
After finishing 7th in last year’s MEC Meet the Wes-Del Warriors showed tremendous growth this season to place 2nd in the 2020 edition of the MEC Meet. Leading the way for the Warriors was junior Jaci Knott who returned to the New Haven Semi-State for the third consecutive season as an individual. The Lady Warriors also improved their Sectional placing from a season ago, jumping from 10th last year to 6th, all while running this year’s Sectional without number two runner Emmi Justin.
ECI Meet of the Year
Delaware County Meet 9/8/20
The Girls team race seemed on paper to be one of the tighter competitions on the day. The Yorktown Tigers and Delta Eagles are the top 2 teams in the ECI Runner Top 5 Team rankings and have already met once this season at Taylor University in the County Clash, with the Eagles taking the victory over the Tigers that day. As the race began, a familiar sight took place, Nicki Southerland surged to the front with ease. She would run dominantly from gun to tape to collect her first individual County Title. She did so, once again, in record-breaking fashion. She would shatter the old Delaware County record by over a minute! The team race that developed behind her was XC at its finest. The Tigers and Eagles jostled back-and-forth, tilting the points battle several times. Also, individuals from Cowan, Wapahani, and Daleville made pushes for a top-10 “All-County” distinction. Southerland’s Eagle teammate Makayla Robles made a strong push in the final stretch to secure a 1-2 finish for Delta. But, close behind Robles was Yorktown’s Grace Huisman in 3rd. For 4th place, Yorktown’s Elizabeth Reece surged ahead of Cowan’s Lauren Smith in the final meters to pick up enormous team points for the Tigers. Smith would finish 5th and Delta’s Shannyn Cox would be close behing in 6th. Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher would display a great kick of finishing speed to hold off Yorktown’s Sara Barnhizer for 7th place. Finishing out the All-County spots would be Barnhizer in 8th, Cowan’s Brynn Wright in 9th, and Yorktown’s Natalie Moulton in 10th. The team race truly came down to team depth as the Yorktown Tigers pulled off a 3 point edge of the Eagles for their 5th straight County title.
ECI Team of the Year
Delta Eagles
The Lady Eagles improved throughout the season using a combination of front running and depth to propel them to the top of ECI as the season progressed. Led by state contender Nicki Southerland, Delta is also solidified by the likes of McKayla Robles (a state caliber runner in her own right), Shannyn Cox and Ashleigh Brelage. Accolades for Delta this year include winning a Sectional title, placing 3rd at Regional and finishing an ECI best 14th at the New Haven Semi-State.
Boys Awards
ECI All Freshmen Team
Nick Cook (Wapahani)
Eli Chamberlin (Monroe Central)
Gabriel Reynolds (Muncie Central)
Conner Walser (Union City)
Harry Callaway (New Castle)
Ethan Colvin (Daleville)
Zach Crull (Blue River)
Freshman of the Year
Nick Cook (Wapahani)
The future is bright for this freshman as he piled up a number accolades in his inaugural high school campaign. Chief among them was a first place finish at the Delaware County Meet as well as a sub 17-minute performance on the IWU course. Cook finished his season at the New Haven Semi-State this year where there was only one other freshman runner in the 180-person field who finished ahead of him.
ECI All Sophomore Team
Clay Batio (Delta)
Wiley Close (Yorktown)
Caden Landis (Monroe Central)
Colton Boggs (Wapahani)
Landon Hutchens (Wapahani)
Gannon Crosser (Yorktown)
Donavan Osborn (Blackford)
Sophomore of the Year
Clay Batio (Delta)
This sophomore was solid all year long for the Eagles as he led the way for his team with impressive finishes all season. Highlights for Batio included running a PR of 17:23 at the Marion Invite, receiving all county honors at the DCAA Meet and advancing alongside teammate Lucas Fox to the New Haven Semi-State.
ECI All Junior Team
Tucker Burris (Monroe Central)
Carter Miller (Monroe Central)
Andrew Fewell (New Castle)
Skyler Dickey (New Castle)
Michael Canfield (Muncie Burris)
Brandon Ellis (Wapahani)
Noah Kitterman (Blackford)
Junior of the Year
Carter Miller (Monroe Central)
From starting out most of the year being Monroe Central’s “Robin” behind Tucker Burris, Miller emerged as his own “Batman” as the season progressed. Followed by runner up finishes in the Randolph County, MEC and Sectional meets towards the end of the season Miller stepped up his game to notch a 5th place finish at Regional against some stiff competition and came within 2 seconds of a state berth with his 21st finish at the New Haven Semi-State.
ECI All Senior Team
Griffen Miller (Wapahani)
Andrew Shrock (Wapahani)
Josh Stephenson (Muncie Burris)
Lucas Fox (Delta)
Caden Shumaker (Monroe Central)
Cole Whitehead (Yorktown)
Khoa Weston (Daleville)
Senior of the Year
Griffen Miller (Wapahani)
The Raider senior had a huge season for Wapahani as he helped lead his team to eight invitational wins on the year, including the Delaware County Championship. Miller’s top performances were marked by a 16:56 PR at IWU, an individual invite win at the County Clash Meet at Taylor University and leading his Raider squad to a team birth at the New Haven Semi-State.
ECI Runner of the Year
Tucker Burris (Monroe Central)
The Monroe Central junior was dominant against ECI competition all season long with multiple individual wins including the Randolph County, MEC and Sectional meets. Outside ECI, Burris was equally dominant securing more invite wins at meets in New Haven and South Adams and he also ran gusty races against competition in the Delta Regional and New Haven Semi-State solidifying this Golden Bear as one of the best small-school runners in the state of Indiana.
ECI Most Improved Team of the Year
Daleville Broncos
After finishing 9th in the sectional meet a season ago this Bronco team made a huge jump for a 5th place sectional finish this season to earn a bid to the Delta Regional. Led by first-year coach Megan Yencer-Sargent, this Daleville squad was littered with quality young talent that rallied behind senior lead runner Khoa Weston to improve throughout the season. And with so many runners returning next year season the future is bright for these charging Broncos.
ECI Meet of the Year
Mid-Eastern Conference Meet 10/3/20
The boys race was Cross-Country at its finest with the matchup up front between Wapahani and Monroe Central. Two of the best small schools in the state, dueling it out in perfect weather conditions at the end of the year as teams are beginning to peak is everything a cross-country fan can ask for and this meet did not disappoint. Up front from the time the gun went off were the Bears, who used PR’s by Tucker Burris and Carter Miller to finish 1-2 and set a tone that Monroe Central was not going to go away in this meet without a fight. Next up was the counterpunch by Wapahani who followed with a 3-5 finish by Brandon Ellis, Nick Cook and Andrew Shrock. The rest of the meet got wild as it was settled in a :16 second span as Monroe Central’s Kyler Shumaker placed 6th (another PR ran by the Bears), followed by Raider runner Griffen Miller in 7th and then the eldest Monroe Central Shumaker (Caden) in 9th followed then by a pair of sophomore 5th men in Wapahani’s Colton Boggs narrowly edging out Monroe Central’s Caden Landis for 10th and 11th. Just wow, and as mentioned in the previous run-on sentence we’re talking about a :16 second span where all of this happens and here’s your plot twist; we’re not done yet. We’re only 12 seconds into this so far and at this point in the race 5 Bears have crossed the line as well as 5 Raiders. What does each team have in common at this point? Both squads have 29 team points which means the winner of the MEC came down to the all important 6th man and on this day it was Monroe Central’s Eli Chamberlain whose 12th place all-conference finish narrowly edged Wapahani’s Landon Hutchens who finished 13th. What a race.
ECI Team of the Year
Monroe Central Golden Bears
Coach Braun let it be known early in the year that the Bears would be after the “Triple Crown” this season (winning the Randolph County, MEC and Sectional meet) and his squad definitely rose to the occasion in the meets that mattered the most capturing all three in the waning weeks of the season. In addition to the victories included in the “Triple Crown” Monroe Central also won the South Adams Invite and also advanced to the Semi-State meet at Huntington, a feat that eluded the sectional champion Golden Bears a season ago.
ECI All Freshman Team
Sydney Matthews (New Castle)
Nicki Southerland (Delta)
Sydney Fellers (Blue River)
Addison Coe (Monroe Central)
Katie Osborne (Monroe Central)
Gracie Baker (Monroe Central)
Allie Clamme (Blackford)
Freshman of the Year
Sydney Matthews (New Castle)
Matthews had quite an impressive season, as she was one of the dominant runners in ECI as a freshman. Accomplishments for the Trojan harrier included individual invite wins at the Hagerstown and Randolph Southern invitationals, going sub 20 minutes at the HHC meet and advancing to the Shelbyville Semi-State meet.
ECI All Sophomore Team
Brynn Wright (Cowan)
Lydia Harvey (New Castle)
Leida Keihn (Jay County)
Shannyn Cox (Delta)
Kendyl Thrasher (Wapahani)
Emerson Justin (Wes-Del)
Delaney Strange (Muncie Central)
Sophomore of the Year
Brynn Wright (Cowan)
No one perhaps ran more solid down the stretch of the season than Brynn Wright did. After finishing 3rd in the MEC meet in the last week of the regular season Wright continued to run well in the tournament posting a 7th place finish at the Delta Sectional and then busting out a PR of 20:43 for a 12th place finish in the Regional to advance to the New Haven Semi-State where she was amongst the top finishers in ECI placing 81st.
ECI All Junior Team
Olivia Keesling (Randolph Southern)
Makayla Robles (Delta)
Grace Huisman (Yorktown)
Lauren Smith (Cowan)
Jaci Knott (Wes-Del)
Lindy Wood (Jay County)
Hope Edwards (Shenandoah)
Junior of the Year
Olivia Keesling (Randolph Southern)
The career arc of improvement for Keesling has been impressive, as she has shed multiple minutes off of her time every year to put herself amongst the top of ECI. This season, Keesling posted top 5 finishes at the Randolph County and MEC meets as well as running a PR of 20:34 at the Delta Regional to advance to the New Haven Semi-State, becoming the third Keesling sister to advance to semi-state in recent years.
ECI All Senior Team
Elizabeth Reece (Yorktown)
Ashleigh Brelage (Delta)
Ella Baldwin (Winchester)
Sara Barnhizer (Yorktown)
Sara Fugiett (Jay County)
Natalie Moulton (Yorktown)
Izzie Brown (Yorktown)
Senior of the Year
Elizabeth Reece (Yorktown)
The multi-sport star had another great season as she was one of four key senior contributors that helped lead the Lady Tigers to a Delaware County Championship and a team Semi-State birth. Individually, Reece posted top five finishes at the Taylor Clash, DCAA and the Delta Sectional and also ran a SR of 20:43 at the HHC Meet.
ECI Runner of the Year
Nicki Southerland (Delta)
The unanimous choice for ECI Runner of the Year on the girls’ side is Nicki Southerland. Southerland this year has been absolute dominant in her freshman campaign as the only blemish to her season thus far is a 2nd place runner-up finish at the New Haven Semi-State this past weekend. Looking forward, Southerland will be on the short list of state favorites this weekend and ECI Runner wishes Delta and Nicki the best of luck this weekend!
ECI Most Improved Team of the Year
Wes-Del Warriors
After finishing 7th in last year’s MEC Meet the Wes-Del Warriors showed tremendous growth this season to place 2nd in the 2020 edition of the MEC Meet. Leading the way for the Warriors was junior Jaci Knott who returned to the New Haven Semi-State for the third consecutive season as an individual. The Lady Warriors also improved their Sectional placing from a season ago, jumping from 10th last year to 6th, all while running this year’s Sectional without number two runner Emmi Justin.
ECI Meet of the Year
Delaware County Meet 9/8/20
The Girls team race seemed on paper to be one of the tighter competitions on the day. The Yorktown Tigers and Delta Eagles are the top 2 teams in the ECI Runner Top 5 Team rankings and have already met once this season at Taylor University in the County Clash, with the Eagles taking the victory over the Tigers that day. As the race began, a familiar sight took place, Nicki Southerland surged to the front with ease. She would run dominantly from gun to tape to collect her first individual County Title. She did so, once again, in record-breaking fashion. She would shatter the old Delaware County record by over a minute! The team race that developed behind her was XC at its finest. The Tigers and Eagles jostled back-and-forth, tilting the points battle several times. Also, individuals from Cowan, Wapahani, and Daleville made pushes for a top-10 “All-County” distinction. Southerland’s Eagle teammate Makayla Robles made a strong push in the final stretch to secure a 1-2 finish for Delta. But, close behind Robles was Yorktown’s Grace Huisman in 3rd. For 4th place, Yorktown’s Elizabeth Reece surged ahead of Cowan’s Lauren Smith in the final meters to pick up enormous team points for the Tigers. Smith would finish 5th and Delta’s Shannyn Cox would be close behing in 6th. Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher would display a great kick of finishing speed to hold off Yorktown’s Sara Barnhizer for 7th place. Finishing out the All-County spots would be Barnhizer in 8th, Cowan’s Brynn Wright in 9th, and Yorktown’s Natalie Moulton in 10th. The team race truly came down to team depth as the Yorktown Tigers pulled off a 3 point edge of the Eagles for their 5th straight County title.
ECI Team of the Year
Delta Eagles
The Lady Eagles improved throughout the season using a combination of front running and depth to propel them to the top of ECI as the season progressed. Led by state contender Nicki Southerland, Delta is also solidified by the likes of McKayla Robles (a state caliber runner in her own right), Shannyn Cox and Ashleigh Brelage. Accolades for Delta this year include winning a Sectional title, placing 3rd at Regional and finishing an ECI best 14th at the New Haven Semi-State.
Boys Awards
ECI All Freshmen Team
Nick Cook (Wapahani)
Eli Chamberlin (Monroe Central)
Gabriel Reynolds (Muncie Central)
Conner Walser (Union City)
Harry Callaway (New Castle)
Ethan Colvin (Daleville)
Zach Crull (Blue River)
Freshman of the Year
Nick Cook (Wapahani)
The future is bright for this freshman as he piled up a number accolades in his inaugural high school campaign. Chief among them was a first place finish at the Delaware County Meet as well as a sub 17-minute performance on the IWU course. Cook finished his season at the New Haven Semi-State this year where there was only one other freshman runner in the 180-person field who finished ahead of him.
ECI All Sophomore Team
Clay Batio (Delta)
Wiley Close (Yorktown)
Caden Landis (Monroe Central)
Colton Boggs (Wapahani)
Landon Hutchens (Wapahani)
Gannon Crosser (Yorktown)
Donavan Osborn (Blackford)
Sophomore of the Year
Clay Batio (Delta)
This sophomore was solid all year long for the Eagles as he led the way for his team with impressive finishes all season. Highlights for Batio included running a PR of 17:23 at the Marion Invite, receiving all county honors at the DCAA Meet and advancing alongside teammate Lucas Fox to the New Haven Semi-State.
ECI All Junior Team
Tucker Burris (Monroe Central)
Carter Miller (Monroe Central)
Andrew Fewell (New Castle)
Skyler Dickey (New Castle)
Michael Canfield (Muncie Burris)
Brandon Ellis (Wapahani)
Noah Kitterman (Blackford)
Junior of the Year
Carter Miller (Monroe Central)
From starting out most of the year being Monroe Central’s “Robin” behind Tucker Burris, Miller emerged as his own “Batman” as the season progressed. Followed by runner up finishes in the Randolph County, MEC and Sectional meets towards the end of the season Miller stepped up his game to notch a 5th place finish at Regional against some stiff competition and came within 2 seconds of a state berth with his 21st finish at the New Haven Semi-State.
ECI All Senior Team
Griffen Miller (Wapahani)
Andrew Shrock (Wapahani)
Josh Stephenson (Muncie Burris)
Lucas Fox (Delta)
Caden Shumaker (Monroe Central)
Cole Whitehead (Yorktown)
Khoa Weston (Daleville)
Senior of the Year
Griffen Miller (Wapahani)
The Raider senior had a huge season for Wapahani as he helped lead his team to eight invitational wins on the year, including the Delaware County Championship. Miller’s top performances were marked by a 16:56 PR at IWU, an individual invite win at the County Clash Meet at Taylor University and leading his Raider squad to a team birth at the New Haven Semi-State.
ECI Runner of the Year
Tucker Burris (Monroe Central)
The Monroe Central junior was dominant against ECI competition all season long with multiple individual wins including the Randolph County, MEC and Sectional meets. Outside ECI, Burris was equally dominant securing more invite wins at meets in New Haven and South Adams and he also ran gusty races against competition in the Delta Regional and New Haven Semi-State solidifying this Golden Bear as one of the best small-school runners in the state of Indiana.
ECI Most Improved Team of the Year
Daleville Broncos
After finishing 9th in the sectional meet a season ago this Bronco team made a huge jump for a 5th place sectional finish this season to earn a bid to the Delta Regional. Led by first-year coach Megan Yencer-Sargent, this Daleville squad was littered with quality young talent that rallied behind senior lead runner Khoa Weston to improve throughout the season. And with so many runners returning next year season the future is bright for these charging Broncos.
ECI Meet of the Year
Mid-Eastern Conference Meet 10/3/20
The boys race was Cross-Country at its finest with the matchup up front between Wapahani and Monroe Central. Two of the best small schools in the state, dueling it out in perfect weather conditions at the end of the year as teams are beginning to peak is everything a cross-country fan can ask for and this meet did not disappoint. Up front from the time the gun went off were the Bears, who used PR’s by Tucker Burris and Carter Miller to finish 1-2 and set a tone that Monroe Central was not going to go away in this meet without a fight. Next up was the counterpunch by Wapahani who followed with a 3-5 finish by Brandon Ellis, Nick Cook and Andrew Shrock. The rest of the meet got wild as it was settled in a :16 second span as Monroe Central’s Kyler Shumaker placed 6th (another PR ran by the Bears), followed by Raider runner Griffen Miller in 7th and then the eldest Monroe Central Shumaker (Caden) in 9th followed then by a pair of sophomore 5th men in Wapahani’s Colton Boggs narrowly edging out Monroe Central’s Caden Landis for 10th and 11th. Just wow, and as mentioned in the previous run-on sentence we’re talking about a :16 second span where all of this happens and here’s your plot twist; we’re not done yet. We’re only 12 seconds into this so far and at this point in the race 5 Bears have crossed the line as well as 5 Raiders. What does each team have in common at this point? Both squads have 29 team points which means the winner of the MEC came down to the all important 6th man and on this day it was Monroe Central’s Eli Chamberlain whose 12th place all-conference finish narrowly edged Wapahani’s Landon Hutchens who finished 13th. What a race.
ECI Team of the Year
Monroe Central Golden Bears
Coach Braun let it be known early in the year that the Bears would be after the “Triple Crown” this season (winning the Randolph County, MEC and Sectional meet) and his squad definitely rose to the occasion in the meets that mattered the most capturing all three in the waning weeks of the season. In addition to the victories included in the “Triple Crown” Monroe Central also won the South Adams Invite and also advanced to the Semi-State meet at Huntington, a feat that eluded the sectional champion Golden Bears a season ago.
