2022 Season Preview---5 Meets to Watch
With cross-country season fast approaching, ECI Runner has decided to preview the five meets that we are looking forward to the most this fall.
Opening Saturday (Aug. 20th)
Ok, we are already cheating by focusing on a whole day and not just one meet but at the same time but who can blame us? IT’S OPENING WEEKEND! And yes, some early bird meets will have already taken place by then but this is the date that truly seems like opening day for High School Cross-Country with almost every ECI school racing on this day. Most of the ECI schools this Saturday will be running either at the County Clash at Taylor University or the Meister Invitational at Monroe Central so we will focus there.
At the Taylor Clash will be a quartet of Delaware County teams including Delta, Muncie Central, Wes-Del and Yorktown who will all be seeing how they stack up against each other for the first time this season as well as against other foes from Madison and Grant counties. One of the top stories out of this meet will be on the girl’s side to see how the rivalry between Yorktown and Delta unfolds once again. It is always interesting to see how these two teams stack up against each and we will have our first sneak peek as this meet is both of their season openers. On the boys side there will be several individuals who will be looking to possibly establish themselves early as " the best in the county" including Yorktown’s Jonathon Loney and Gannon Crosser Delta’s Clay Batio and Muncie’s Gabe Reynolds and Hayden Bradford.
The Meister Invitational hosted by Monroe Central will feature ECI schools including Blackford, Cowan, Muncie Burris, Randolph Southern, Union, Union City, and Daleville. The girls race will be a good measuring stick to see how many of the local teams from the area stack up with one another (especially with a lot of the potential MEC favorites all in the same race.) The ECI girls scene has already seen some pretty good performances this young season from the likes of Daleville’s Faith Norris, Randolph Southern’s Haileigh Allen, Cowan’s Brynn Wright, Blackford’s Allison Clamme, and Union’s Lilly Pierce, all who have ran well in their season debuts this past week. The boys’ race will see a rebuilt Monroe Central squad led by Eli Chamberlain and Caden Landis who will look to continue its team success it has enjoyed in recent years as well as seeing many of the ECI’s best individuals battling it out for early season bragging rights. A list that includes Union City’s Conner Walser, Blackford’s Donavan Osborn, Daleville’s Noah Colvin and Cowan freshman Jackson Bradley.
Marion Inv. (September 3rd)
Hosted at IWU, this is traditionally one of the fastest courses in the entire state of Indiana, often having runners drop massive SR’s or PR’s on the racetrack of a course. This meet will feature New Castle, Delta, Muncie Central, Monroe Central, Muncie Burris, and Wes-Del running in multiple divisions out of the ECI pool. For the girls, watch out for some serious times to be dropped, especially by defending race champ, Delta’s Nicki Southerland. Also, watch for the New Castle tandem of Ella Garvin and Lydia Harvey to do some damage on this date along with Muncie Central’s Delaney Strange, Wes-Del’s Emerson Justice and Monroe Central’s Addison Coe. On the boys side, many area runners will be trying to post what they hope is the best time in ECI on this date. Some of those runners that figure to be in the mix of things will be Monroe Central’s Eli Chamberlain, Delta’s Clay Batio, Muncie Central’s Hayden Bradford and Muncie Burris’ Henry Cooper.
Delaware County Championships (September 6th)
The DCAA Meet is always a premier mid-season meet in ECI as the stakes are high to take home the county trophy from the six Delaware County participating schools including Delta, Yorktown, Wapahani, Wes-Del, Daleville, and Cowan. The girls race has been controlled recently by the Lady Tigers, who have won the Delaware County Championship six years in a row with the last champion from another school being Delta in 2015. For the Tigers to go for seven in a row however they will need big runs from the trio of Rachael Stagge, Allison Smith and Tori Oliver. Likewise, for Delta to claim the top spot they will need to rely on the front running of Nicki Southerland and a strong race from freshman Kylee Robles.This meet will also include some of ECI’s best in Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher and Daleville’s Faith Norris as well as all-county returners in Wapahani’s Maddie Felton and Cowan’s Brynn Wright.
The boys race last year saw Wapahani win while posting five of the top nine spots overall but after graduating two of their main runners, look for a very competitive meet across Delaware County this year. At the top of the who to watch list this year will be Wapahani’s Nick Cook, who was the the 2020 County Champion of this race. Cook, along with veteran teammates Colton Boggs, Payton Baker, and Jon Shrock could be in contention for individual all-county honors as well as the team title. Yorktown, which was only eight points behind the Raiders last year, will be led by Gannon Crosser and Jonathon Loney. This meet will also include another all-county returner in Delta’s Clay Batio.
MEC Championships (October 1st)
Blue River, Cowan, Daleville, Monroe Central, Randolph Southern, Union, Wapahani and Wes-Del will all represent ECI in the MEC meet this year. The girl’s race will see ten of the top eleven runners from last season’s race returning this year, which is absolutely insane. At the front of the favorites to win the race outright will be Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher, Daleville’s Faith Norris and Blue River’s Charlee Gibson. Monroe Central’s Addison Coe, Union’s Lilly Pierce and Cowan’s Brynn Wright are also more than capable of getting within contention for a top spot in this star studded field. Other All-MEC runners from last season returning this year are Monroe Central’s Katie Osborne, Blue River’s Sydney Fellers and Shenandoah’s Kayci Hill.
In the boys’ race, Wapahani’s Nick Cook will be the early favorite as he is the defending champion of the race and the Raiders are the defending team champions as well. Along with Cook will be All-MEC teammates in Colton Boggs and Payton Baker. Other returning All-MEC runners include Monroe Central’s Eli Chamberlain, Shenandoah’s San Hinshaw and also watch out for Cowan’s Gavin Ashby who’s 13th place finish last year just missed an All-MEC spot.
Delta Sectional (October 8th)
The majority of ECI schools will compete at the Delta Sectional on what hopefully will be a cool, calm, dry morning at (insert location here) but only some of the competing athletes will get to move on to the following week’s regional meet. The girls race will feature Delta’s state-title hopeful Nicki Southerland as well as a plethora of ECI talent that will be looking to make deep tournament runs. After Southerland, the top returning talent from last year’s sectional includes Cowan’s Brynn Wright, Daleville’s Faith Norris, Yorktown’s Allison Smith and Rachael Stagge, Monroe Central’s Addison Coe and Katie Osborne, Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher and Maddie Felton, Muncie Central’s Delaney Strange and Wes-Del’s Emerson Justin. For the team title, as it always is early in the year, it is anyone’s race with perhaps Yorktown, Delta and Monroe Central leading the charge as early sectional favorites.
The boys meet as always is anyone’s race. Since 2015, Delta, Muncie Central, Yorktown, Monroe Central and Wapahani have all been crowned Sectional Champion in one of the most competitive sectionals in the entire state. The top returning runners from last year’s sectional include Wapahani’s Nick Cook, Colton Boggs and Payton Baker, Muncie Central’s Dylan Bradford and Gabe Reynolds, Monroe Central’s Eli Chamberlain, Yorktown’s Jonathon Loney, Delta’s Clay Batio and Winchester’s Aiden Moystner.
With cross-country season fast approaching, ECI Runner has decided to preview the five meets that we are looking forward to the most this fall.
Opening Saturday (Aug. 20th)
Ok, we are already cheating by focusing on a whole day and not just one meet but at the same time but who can blame us? IT’S OPENING WEEKEND! And yes, some early bird meets will have already taken place by then but this is the date that truly seems like opening day for High School Cross-Country with almost every ECI school racing on this day. Most of the ECI schools this Saturday will be running either at the County Clash at Taylor University or the Meister Invitational at Monroe Central so we will focus there.
At the Taylor Clash will be a quartet of Delaware County teams including Delta, Muncie Central, Wes-Del and Yorktown who will all be seeing how they stack up against each other for the first time this season as well as against other foes from Madison and Grant counties. One of the top stories out of this meet will be on the girl’s side to see how the rivalry between Yorktown and Delta unfolds once again. It is always interesting to see how these two teams stack up against each and we will have our first sneak peek as this meet is both of their season openers. On the boys side there will be several individuals who will be looking to possibly establish themselves early as " the best in the county" including Yorktown’s Jonathon Loney and Gannon Crosser Delta’s Clay Batio and Muncie’s Gabe Reynolds and Hayden Bradford.
The Meister Invitational hosted by Monroe Central will feature ECI schools including Blackford, Cowan, Muncie Burris, Randolph Southern, Union, Union City, and Daleville. The girls race will be a good measuring stick to see how many of the local teams from the area stack up with one another (especially with a lot of the potential MEC favorites all in the same race.) The ECI girls scene has already seen some pretty good performances this young season from the likes of Daleville’s Faith Norris, Randolph Southern’s Haileigh Allen, Cowan’s Brynn Wright, Blackford’s Allison Clamme, and Union’s Lilly Pierce, all who have ran well in their season debuts this past week. The boys’ race will see a rebuilt Monroe Central squad led by Eli Chamberlain and Caden Landis who will look to continue its team success it has enjoyed in recent years as well as seeing many of the ECI’s best individuals battling it out for early season bragging rights. A list that includes Union City’s Conner Walser, Blackford’s Donavan Osborn, Daleville’s Noah Colvin and Cowan freshman Jackson Bradley.
Marion Inv. (September 3rd)
Hosted at IWU, this is traditionally one of the fastest courses in the entire state of Indiana, often having runners drop massive SR’s or PR’s on the racetrack of a course. This meet will feature New Castle, Delta, Muncie Central, Monroe Central, Muncie Burris, and Wes-Del running in multiple divisions out of the ECI pool. For the girls, watch out for some serious times to be dropped, especially by defending race champ, Delta’s Nicki Southerland. Also, watch for the New Castle tandem of Ella Garvin and Lydia Harvey to do some damage on this date along with Muncie Central’s Delaney Strange, Wes-Del’s Emerson Justice and Monroe Central’s Addison Coe. On the boys side, many area runners will be trying to post what they hope is the best time in ECI on this date. Some of those runners that figure to be in the mix of things will be Monroe Central’s Eli Chamberlain, Delta’s Clay Batio, Muncie Central’s Hayden Bradford and Muncie Burris’ Henry Cooper.
Delaware County Championships (September 6th)
The DCAA Meet is always a premier mid-season meet in ECI as the stakes are high to take home the county trophy from the six Delaware County participating schools including Delta, Yorktown, Wapahani, Wes-Del, Daleville, and Cowan. The girls race has been controlled recently by the Lady Tigers, who have won the Delaware County Championship six years in a row with the last champion from another school being Delta in 2015. For the Tigers to go for seven in a row however they will need big runs from the trio of Rachael Stagge, Allison Smith and Tori Oliver. Likewise, for Delta to claim the top spot they will need to rely on the front running of Nicki Southerland and a strong race from freshman Kylee Robles.This meet will also include some of ECI’s best in Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher and Daleville’s Faith Norris as well as all-county returners in Wapahani’s Maddie Felton and Cowan’s Brynn Wright.
The boys race last year saw Wapahani win while posting five of the top nine spots overall but after graduating two of their main runners, look for a very competitive meet across Delaware County this year. At the top of the who to watch list this year will be Wapahani’s Nick Cook, who was the the 2020 County Champion of this race. Cook, along with veteran teammates Colton Boggs, Payton Baker, and Jon Shrock could be in contention for individual all-county honors as well as the team title. Yorktown, which was only eight points behind the Raiders last year, will be led by Gannon Crosser and Jonathon Loney. This meet will also include another all-county returner in Delta’s Clay Batio.
MEC Championships (October 1st)
Blue River, Cowan, Daleville, Monroe Central, Randolph Southern, Union, Wapahani and Wes-Del will all represent ECI in the MEC meet this year. The girl’s race will see ten of the top eleven runners from last season’s race returning this year, which is absolutely insane. At the front of the favorites to win the race outright will be Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher, Daleville’s Faith Norris and Blue River’s Charlee Gibson. Monroe Central’s Addison Coe, Union’s Lilly Pierce and Cowan’s Brynn Wright are also more than capable of getting within contention for a top spot in this star studded field. Other All-MEC runners from last season returning this year are Monroe Central’s Katie Osborne, Blue River’s Sydney Fellers and Shenandoah’s Kayci Hill.
In the boys’ race, Wapahani’s Nick Cook will be the early favorite as he is the defending champion of the race and the Raiders are the defending team champions as well. Along with Cook will be All-MEC teammates in Colton Boggs and Payton Baker. Other returning All-MEC runners include Monroe Central’s Eli Chamberlain, Shenandoah’s San Hinshaw and also watch out for Cowan’s Gavin Ashby who’s 13th place finish last year just missed an All-MEC spot.
Delta Sectional (October 8th)
The majority of ECI schools will compete at the Delta Sectional on what hopefully will be a cool, calm, dry morning at (insert location here) but only some of the competing athletes will get to move on to the following week’s regional meet. The girls race will feature Delta’s state-title hopeful Nicki Southerland as well as a plethora of ECI talent that will be looking to make deep tournament runs. After Southerland, the top returning talent from last year’s sectional includes Cowan’s Brynn Wright, Daleville’s Faith Norris, Yorktown’s Allison Smith and Rachael Stagge, Monroe Central’s Addison Coe and Katie Osborne, Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher and Maddie Felton, Muncie Central’s Delaney Strange and Wes-Del’s Emerson Justin. For the team title, as it always is early in the year, it is anyone’s race with perhaps Yorktown, Delta and Monroe Central leading the charge as early sectional favorites.
The boys meet as always is anyone’s race. Since 2015, Delta, Muncie Central, Yorktown, Monroe Central and Wapahani have all been crowned Sectional Champion in one of the most competitive sectionals in the entire state. The top returning runners from last year’s sectional include Wapahani’s Nick Cook, Colton Boggs and Payton Baker, Muncie Central’s Dylan Bradford and Gabe Reynolds, Monroe Central’s Eli Chamberlain, Yorktown’s Jonathon Loney, Delta’s Clay Batio and Winchester’s Aiden Moystner.
ECI Runner Preview
The Last Girls Team Spot to move out of the Pendleton Sectional
The top of the Girls Pendleton Sectionals seems pretty clear heading into Saturday with Hamilton Southeastern, Fishers and Pendleton Heights figuring to finish 1-2-3 (and presumably in that order) but it is the bottom half of the advancing bracket where things are about to get very interesting. As we sit here, all three schools in Alexandria, Blue River Valley and Shenandoah all have a very real shot at securing a top five team advancing spot to next week’s Delta Regional. But unfortunately for these teams there will probably only be two spots left meaning one of these schools will run for the last time as a team this Saturday while the other two will advance to next week’s regional. Now let’s look at the rosters and advantages each team has as we head into Sectional:
Alexandria
Top 7 Roster and Season-Best times according the Athletic.net
Lilly Thomas (22:01)
Madisen Weir (24:00)
Jacklynn Hosier (24:02)
Reanna Stinson (24:41)
Madelyn Thompson (26:24)
Maddie Rowlett (28:13)
Kylie Patton (29:43)
The case for Alexandria to advance: On paper, Alexandria’s advantage is their 4-5 runners where Reanna Stinson and Madelyn Thompson have faster season best times than the 4-5 runners from the other two schools. The Tigers also have the fastest 6th runner on paper in the event of a tie in runner Maddie Rowlett. Alexandria also has had a lot of postseason success in recent years, most recently finishing 4th at the Pendleton Sectional in 2020 with a team that featured the Tigers top two runners in Lilly Thomas and Madisen Weir.
Blue River Valley
Top 7 Roster and Season-Best times according the Athletic.net
Charlee Gibson (20:21)
Sydney Fellers (21:37)
Kelsey Porter (24:55)
Lexie Cordell (25:26)
Ella Schmidt (26:31)
Maddie Denton (31:20)
Jenna Willis (32:14)
The case for Blue River to advance: Front running. Of the three schools we are featuring, Blue River has it in freshman Charlee Gibson. Gibson finished 2nd at the MEC Meet a week ago and was the Henry County Champion in the meet before that. The Vikings will also rely on sophomore Sydney Fellers to run well. Last week, Fellers had an All-MEC 6th place finish at her conference meet and a runner-up finish behind her teammate Gibson in the Henry County Meet.
Shenandoah
Top 7 Roster and Season-Best times according the Athletic.net
Anna Buskirk (21:17)
Kayci Hill (21:49)
Abby Buskirk (23:15)
Hope Edwards (24:53)
Madison Cooper (27:30)
Hannah Hinshaw (29:12)
Kaitlyn Ashby (32:17)
The case for Shenandoah to advance: So far this season, Shenandoah is the only team of these three featured teams to have three girls run under 24-minutes with Anna Buskirk, Kayci Hill and Abby Buskirk all doing so. The Lady Raiders will have to rely on big runs from their top three as well as senior Hope Edwards and sophomore Madison Cooper should Shenandoah advance to the next round.
The Last Girls Team Spot to move out of the Pendleton Sectional
The top of the Girls Pendleton Sectionals seems pretty clear heading into Saturday with Hamilton Southeastern, Fishers and Pendleton Heights figuring to finish 1-2-3 (and presumably in that order) but it is the bottom half of the advancing bracket where things are about to get very interesting. As we sit here, all three schools in Alexandria, Blue River Valley and Shenandoah all have a very real shot at securing a top five team advancing spot to next week’s Delta Regional. But unfortunately for these teams there will probably only be two spots left meaning one of these schools will run for the last time as a team this Saturday while the other two will advance to next week’s regional. Now let’s look at the rosters and advantages each team has as we head into Sectional:
Alexandria
Top 7 Roster and Season-Best times according the Athletic.net
Lilly Thomas (22:01)
Madisen Weir (24:00)
Jacklynn Hosier (24:02)
Reanna Stinson (24:41)
Madelyn Thompson (26:24)
Maddie Rowlett (28:13)
Kylie Patton (29:43)
The case for Alexandria to advance: On paper, Alexandria’s advantage is their 4-5 runners where Reanna Stinson and Madelyn Thompson have faster season best times than the 4-5 runners from the other two schools. The Tigers also have the fastest 6th runner on paper in the event of a tie in runner Maddie Rowlett. Alexandria also has had a lot of postseason success in recent years, most recently finishing 4th at the Pendleton Sectional in 2020 with a team that featured the Tigers top two runners in Lilly Thomas and Madisen Weir.
Blue River Valley
Top 7 Roster and Season-Best times according the Athletic.net
Charlee Gibson (20:21)
Sydney Fellers (21:37)
Kelsey Porter (24:55)
Lexie Cordell (25:26)
Ella Schmidt (26:31)
Maddie Denton (31:20)
Jenna Willis (32:14)
The case for Blue River to advance: Front running. Of the three schools we are featuring, Blue River has it in freshman Charlee Gibson. Gibson finished 2nd at the MEC Meet a week ago and was the Henry County Champion in the meet before that. The Vikings will also rely on sophomore Sydney Fellers to run well. Last week, Fellers had an All-MEC 6th place finish at her conference meet and a runner-up finish behind her teammate Gibson in the Henry County Meet.
Shenandoah
Top 7 Roster and Season-Best times according the Athletic.net
Anna Buskirk (21:17)
Kayci Hill (21:49)
Abby Buskirk (23:15)
Hope Edwards (24:53)
Madison Cooper (27:30)
Hannah Hinshaw (29:12)
Kaitlyn Ashby (32:17)
The case for Shenandoah to advance: So far this season, Shenandoah is the only team of these three featured teams to have three girls run under 24-minutes with Anna Buskirk, Kayci Hill and Abby Buskirk all doing so. The Lady Raiders will have to rely on big runs from their top three as well as senior Hope Edwards and sophomore Madison Cooper should Shenandoah advance to the next round.
2021 MEC Preview
With the MEC Meet fast approaching at Blue River Valley this Saturday, ECI Runner broke down who will be in the running for a top 12 ALL-MEC spot this weekend.
The Boy Favorites
Tucker Burris (Monroe Central)
Burris is running another stellar season including multiple invite wins for the Bears (including winning the Randolph County Meet this week) and will be looking to repeat as MEC champ after taking top honors in the 2020 season. Burris ran an impressive 16:16 on the Blue River course a season ago.
Nick Cook (Wapahani)
The Raider sophomore has had an impressive 2021 campaign including an individual win at the Winchester Inv. and running a PR of 16:24 at IWU earlier this season that is the second fastest time by an ECI runner in the 2021 season.
ALL-MEC Hopefuls
Gavin Ashby (Cowan)
The Blackhawk sophomore had a breakout performance last week on the Huntington course for the New Haven Invite where Ashby ran a season best time of 18:49 on the wet and muddy course.
Payton Baker (Wapahani)
Baker has a 2021 season best time of 18:13 that was run at Taylor University earlier this year at the County Clash as well as earning All County honors (8th place) at the Delaware County Meet earlier this month.
Colton Boggs (Wapahani)
Boggs, a junior, has ran a season best time this year of 17:41 on the IWU course and has also been All-MEC both his freshmen (11th place) and sophomore (10th place) seasons and will be looking to make it three in a row on Saturday.
Luke Butler (Wes-Del)
Butler this season has posted a season best time of 18:05 and IWU and also made the All-County team with a 10th place finish. The four-year runner will be looking be looking to earn All-MEC honors for the second time in cross-country on Saturday.
Eli Chamberlain (Monroe Central)
Chamberlain has a 2021 season record of 17:25 that he ran at IWU earlier this year and has also finished individually in the top 5 in five separate meets this year including a 4th place finish at the Randolph County Invite this week.
Ethan Colvin (Daleville)
The Bronco sophomore has showed some steady improvement as the season has progressed and currently has a 2021 season best time of 18:31 ran at IWU earlier this year.
Brandon Ellis (Wapahani)
The senior Raider has a PR of 17:20 ran at IWU this year and also has a 3rd place finish at the Delaware County Meet under his belt as he heads into the MEC Meet on Saturday.
Drayden Gates (Wapahani)
The first year cross-country runner has shown steady improvement as the year has progressed, highlighted by a 17:50 season best time at IWU a few weeks ago.
Sam Hinshaw (Shenandoah)
After a delayed start to Shenandoah’s racing season, Hinshaw has been able to steadily cut down times to be in the ranks of the area’s best. The junior has a season best time of 19:03 that he just ran at a very wet and muddy course for the Delta Invite last Saturday. Hinshaw was also the individual champ in the Henry County Meet this week as well.
Caden Landis (Monroe Central)
The junior runner currently has a season best time of 18:19 ran just this week in his 5th place finish at the Randolph County Invite. Landis finished 11th in the MEC meet in 2020 and 12th in 2019.
Carter Miller (Monroe Central)
The reigning runner-up from the MEC Meet a season ago will be looking to go four-for-four with ALL-MEC honors this weekend as finished 7th as a freshmen, 9th as a sophomore and 2nd a season ago. Miller is coming off a 17:21 runner-up 2nd place finish at the Randolph County Invite ran this Tuesday.
Kyler Shumaker (Monroe Central)
The senior runner has a season best time of 17:29 ran at IWU this year and finished 6th in the MEC Meet in 2020. Shumaker also placed 3rd in the Randolph County Meet this week.
Gabe Sayre (Blue River)
The Viking junior will have the opportunity to receive ALL-MEC honors on his home course on Saturday. Sayre currently has a season best time of 18:20 that he ran at the South Adams Invitational two weeks ago.
The Girl Favorites
Addison Coe (Monroe Central)
Coe’s 2021 accolades include running a season best time of 21:00 at IWU earlier this year and winning the girls race at the Wapahani Invitational. In total, Coe has posted seven top 5 finishes so far this year including a runner-up finish at the Randolph County Invite on Tuesday.
Charlee Gibson (Blue River)
The freshman phenom has been sensational this year with big runs all season long including a 20:30 season best at the South Adams Invitational and winning the Burris Invite earlier this year and the Henry County Meet on Tuesday.
Olivia Keesling (Randolph Southern)
The Keesling name has been synonymous with distance running in the MEC for the better part of a decade and the youngest of the sisters seems primed for a great MEC race this weekend in a season that has already seen her run a 20:34 at her home Randolph Southern Invite and individually win three invitationals at Union City, Rushville and the Randolph County Meet this week.
Faith Norris (Daleville)
Add the Bronco sophomore to the list of worthy candidates to take this year’s MEC crown. So far this year, Norris has a season best time of 21:13 ran at IWU and was the individual winner of the Ethan Cheeseman Memorial Invite at Union.
Brynn Wright (Cowan)
Wright has been solid all year long, posting a season best time of 21:18 at the Randolph Southern Invitational. With runner-up finishes this season at the Ethan Cheeseman Memorial Run, Wapahani Invite and New Castle Invite, Wright may be the right pick to make on Saturday.
ALL-MEC Hopefuls
Anna Buskirk (Shenandoah)
Burkirk is coming off a 3rd place individual finish at the Henry County Meet earlier this week and has a season best time of 21:17 ran at the Landes XC Invite over Labor Day weekend.
Olivia Covert (Daleville)
The Daleville senior has shown plenty of improvement at the MEC over the years finishing 31st her freshman year, 15th as a sophomore and earning All-MEC honors last year placing 12th. Covert’s best meet this year was another high stakes meet at the Delaware County Invite where she finished 10th in a season best time of 22:49.
Sydney Fellers (Blue River)
The sophomore has a season best time of 21:41 ran at the Randolph Southern Invite earlier this year and has a couple of runner-up finishes under her belt this year at the Burris Invite and the Henry County Invite held on Tuesday. Fellers finished 6th at the MEC meet in 2020.
Maddie Felton (Wapahani)
Felton has had a strong season thus far this year with her best race coming at the Delaware County Meet where she posted a season best time of 22:37 and finished 7th overall. Felton also has an individual title on her 2021 resume as she was the overall winner at the Winchester Invite to begin Wapahani’s season.
Kayci Hill (Shenandoah)
Another impressive Raider freshman, Hill placed 4th at the Henry County Meet on Tuesday and has a season best time of 21:59 ran at the Landes XC Invite.
Emmy Justin (Wes-Del)
The Wes-Del junior has a season best time from her IWU meet earlier this year, posting a time of 22:15. Justin also made the ALL-MEC team last season as she placed 8th at the MEC Meet in 2020.
Jaci Knott (Wes-Del)
Knott already has two ALL-MEC XC medals in her collection by placing 6th as a freshman and 9th as a junior. Knott’s current best season time was ran at the Delaware County Meet earlier this year where she finished 8th.
Katie Osborne (Monroe Central)
Osborne has been solid for the Bears all season long and currently has a season best time of 22:06 ran at the South Adams Invitational earlier this week. Osborne also approached that mark this week, running a 22:14 for a 4th place finish at the Randolph County Meet on Tuesday.
Lilly Pierce (Union)
The sophomore runner has seen a big dip in her times recently, including a season best 21:31 ran at the Randolph County Meet earlier this week. Pierce also has a runner-up finish at the Eastern Hancock Invite on her resume this year.
Karly Puckett (Monroe Central)
Now a junior, Puckett will try for her third All-MEC nod after finishing 12th her freshmen year and 11th as a sophomore. Currently, Puckett has a season best of 23:02 ran earlier this year at IWU. Puckett also finished 6th at the Randolph County Meet this week.
Lauren Smith (Cowan)
The three time ALL-MEC runner will be looking for her fourth ALL-MEC medal on Saturday after finishing 2nd her freshman year, 3rd as a sophomore and being the overall winner her junior season. Smith currently has a season best time of 23:09 ran at the Randolph Southern Invite.
Kendyl Thrasher (Wapahani)
The Raider junior has already showed signs of her old self since coming back from a foot injury that knocked her out for most of the early part of the season. Since coming back, Thrasher has posted quality runs at the Yorktown Invite and finished with a season best time of 22:37 at the New Haven Invite last Saturday. Thrasher finished 7th in the MEC meet in 2020.
With the MEC Meet fast approaching at Blue River Valley this Saturday, ECI Runner broke down who will be in the running for a top 12 ALL-MEC spot this weekend.
The Boy Favorites
Tucker Burris (Monroe Central)
Burris is running another stellar season including multiple invite wins for the Bears (including winning the Randolph County Meet this week) and will be looking to repeat as MEC champ after taking top honors in the 2020 season. Burris ran an impressive 16:16 on the Blue River course a season ago.
Nick Cook (Wapahani)
The Raider sophomore has had an impressive 2021 campaign including an individual win at the Winchester Inv. and running a PR of 16:24 at IWU earlier this season that is the second fastest time by an ECI runner in the 2021 season.
ALL-MEC Hopefuls
Gavin Ashby (Cowan)
The Blackhawk sophomore had a breakout performance last week on the Huntington course for the New Haven Invite where Ashby ran a season best time of 18:49 on the wet and muddy course.
Payton Baker (Wapahani)
Baker has a 2021 season best time of 18:13 that was run at Taylor University earlier this year at the County Clash as well as earning All County honors (8th place) at the Delaware County Meet earlier this month.
Colton Boggs (Wapahani)
Boggs, a junior, has ran a season best time this year of 17:41 on the IWU course and has also been All-MEC both his freshmen (11th place) and sophomore (10th place) seasons and will be looking to make it three in a row on Saturday.
Luke Butler (Wes-Del)
Butler this season has posted a season best time of 18:05 and IWU and also made the All-County team with a 10th place finish. The four-year runner will be looking be looking to earn All-MEC honors for the second time in cross-country on Saturday.
Eli Chamberlain (Monroe Central)
Chamberlain has a 2021 season record of 17:25 that he ran at IWU earlier this year and has also finished individually in the top 5 in five separate meets this year including a 4th place finish at the Randolph County Invite this week.
Ethan Colvin (Daleville)
The Bronco sophomore has showed some steady improvement as the season has progressed and currently has a 2021 season best time of 18:31 ran at IWU earlier this year.
Brandon Ellis (Wapahani)
The senior Raider has a PR of 17:20 ran at IWU this year and also has a 3rd place finish at the Delaware County Meet under his belt as he heads into the MEC Meet on Saturday.
Drayden Gates (Wapahani)
The first year cross-country runner has shown steady improvement as the year has progressed, highlighted by a 17:50 season best time at IWU a few weeks ago.
Sam Hinshaw (Shenandoah)
After a delayed start to Shenandoah’s racing season, Hinshaw has been able to steadily cut down times to be in the ranks of the area’s best. The junior has a season best time of 19:03 that he just ran at a very wet and muddy course for the Delta Invite last Saturday. Hinshaw was also the individual champ in the Henry County Meet this week as well.
Caden Landis (Monroe Central)
The junior runner currently has a season best time of 18:19 ran just this week in his 5th place finish at the Randolph County Invite. Landis finished 11th in the MEC meet in 2020 and 12th in 2019.
Carter Miller (Monroe Central)
The reigning runner-up from the MEC Meet a season ago will be looking to go four-for-four with ALL-MEC honors this weekend as finished 7th as a freshmen, 9th as a sophomore and 2nd a season ago. Miller is coming off a 17:21 runner-up 2nd place finish at the Randolph County Invite ran this Tuesday.
Kyler Shumaker (Monroe Central)
The senior runner has a season best time of 17:29 ran at IWU this year and finished 6th in the MEC Meet in 2020. Shumaker also placed 3rd in the Randolph County Meet this week.
Gabe Sayre (Blue River)
The Viking junior will have the opportunity to receive ALL-MEC honors on his home course on Saturday. Sayre currently has a season best time of 18:20 that he ran at the South Adams Invitational two weeks ago.
The Girl Favorites
Addison Coe (Monroe Central)
Coe’s 2021 accolades include running a season best time of 21:00 at IWU earlier this year and winning the girls race at the Wapahani Invitational. In total, Coe has posted seven top 5 finishes so far this year including a runner-up finish at the Randolph County Invite on Tuesday.
Charlee Gibson (Blue River)
The freshman phenom has been sensational this year with big runs all season long including a 20:30 season best at the South Adams Invitational and winning the Burris Invite earlier this year and the Henry County Meet on Tuesday.
Olivia Keesling (Randolph Southern)
The Keesling name has been synonymous with distance running in the MEC for the better part of a decade and the youngest of the sisters seems primed for a great MEC race this weekend in a season that has already seen her run a 20:34 at her home Randolph Southern Invite and individually win three invitationals at Union City, Rushville and the Randolph County Meet this week.
Faith Norris (Daleville)
Add the Bronco sophomore to the list of worthy candidates to take this year’s MEC crown. So far this year, Norris has a season best time of 21:13 ran at IWU and was the individual winner of the Ethan Cheeseman Memorial Invite at Union.
Brynn Wright (Cowan)
Wright has been solid all year long, posting a season best time of 21:18 at the Randolph Southern Invitational. With runner-up finishes this season at the Ethan Cheeseman Memorial Run, Wapahani Invite and New Castle Invite, Wright may be the right pick to make on Saturday.
ALL-MEC Hopefuls
Anna Buskirk (Shenandoah)
Burkirk is coming off a 3rd place individual finish at the Henry County Meet earlier this week and has a season best time of 21:17 ran at the Landes XC Invite over Labor Day weekend.
Olivia Covert (Daleville)
The Daleville senior has shown plenty of improvement at the MEC over the years finishing 31st her freshman year, 15th as a sophomore and earning All-MEC honors last year placing 12th. Covert’s best meet this year was another high stakes meet at the Delaware County Invite where she finished 10th in a season best time of 22:49.
Sydney Fellers (Blue River)
The sophomore has a season best time of 21:41 ran at the Randolph Southern Invite earlier this year and has a couple of runner-up finishes under her belt this year at the Burris Invite and the Henry County Invite held on Tuesday. Fellers finished 6th at the MEC meet in 2020.
Maddie Felton (Wapahani)
Felton has had a strong season thus far this year with her best race coming at the Delaware County Meet where she posted a season best time of 22:37 and finished 7th overall. Felton also has an individual title on her 2021 resume as she was the overall winner at the Winchester Invite to begin Wapahani’s season.
Kayci Hill (Shenandoah)
Another impressive Raider freshman, Hill placed 4th at the Henry County Meet on Tuesday and has a season best time of 21:59 ran at the Landes XC Invite.
Emmy Justin (Wes-Del)
The Wes-Del junior has a season best time from her IWU meet earlier this year, posting a time of 22:15. Justin also made the ALL-MEC team last season as she placed 8th at the MEC Meet in 2020.
Jaci Knott (Wes-Del)
Knott already has two ALL-MEC XC medals in her collection by placing 6th as a freshman and 9th as a junior. Knott’s current best season time was ran at the Delaware County Meet earlier this year where she finished 8th.
Katie Osborne (Monroe Central)
Osborne has been solid for the Bears all season long and currently has a season best time of 22:06 ran at the South Adams Invitational earlier this week. Osborne also approached that mark this week, running a 22:14 for a 4th place finish at the Randolph County Meet on Tuesday.
Lilly Pierce (Union)
The sophomore runner has seen a big dip in her times recently, including a season best 21:31 ran at the Randolph County Meet earlier this week. Pierce also has a runner-up finish at the Eastern Hancock Invite on her resume this year.
Karly Puckett (Monroe Central)
Now a junior, Puckett will try for her third All-MEC nod after finishing 12th her freshmen year and 11th as a sophomore. Currently, Puckett has a season best of 23:02 ran earlier this year at IWU. Puckett also finished 6th at the Randolph County Meet this week.
Lauren Smith (Cowan)
The three time ALL-MEC runner will be looking for her fourth ALL-MEC medal on Saturday after finishing 2nd her freshman year, 3rd as a sophomore and being the overall winner her junior season. Smith currently has a season best time of 23:09 ran at the Randolph Southern Invite.
Kendyl Thrasher (Wapahani)
The Raider junior has already showed signs of her old self since coming back from a foot injury that knocked her out for most of the early part of the season. Since coming back, Thrasher has posted quality runs at the Yorktown Invite and finished with a season best time of 22:37 at the New Haven Invite last Saturday. Thrasher finished 7th in the MEC meet in 2020.
2021 Season Preview---5 Meets to Watch
With cross-country season fast approaching, ECI Runner has decided to preview the five meets that we are most looking forward to this fall.
Opening Saturday (Aug. 21st)
Ok, we are already cheating by focusing on both the Taylor County Clash and the Meister Family Memorial Invite at the same time but who can blame us? IT’S OPENING WEEKEND! And yes, some early bird meets will have already taken place by then and they are nice and all but this is the date that truly seems like opening day for High School Cross-Country with almost every ECI school racing at one of these two locations.
At the Taylor Clash will be a quintet of Delaware County teams including Delta, Muncie Central, Wapahani, Wes-Del and Yorktown who will all be seeing how they stack up against each other for the first time this season as well as against other foes in Madison and Grant counties. One of the top stories out of this meet will be on the girl’s side to see how the rivalry between Yorktown and Delta unfolds once again. It is always interesting to see how each years’ versions of these two teams stack up against each and we will have our first peek as this meet is both of their season openers. On the boys side there will be several individuals who will be looking to establish themselves early as "best in the county" including Yorktown’s Luke Harber, Delta’s Clay Batio, Muncie’s Gabe Reynolds, Wes-Del’s Luke Butler Wapahani’s Nick Cook and Brandon Ellis.
The Meister Invitational hosted by Monroe Central will feature ECI schools including Blackford, Blue River, Cowan, Muncie Burris, Randolph Southern, Union, Union City and Daleville. The girls race will be a good measuring stick to see how many of the local teams from the area stack up with one another (especially with a lot of the potential MEC favorites all in the same race.) On the boys side it will be the first time ECI will get to see the two-time reigning sectional champ Monroe Central Bears who will be returning five out of their top six runners from a year ago. Also interesting to see from this race will be how runners and teams from the likes of Blue River (who return all seven of their varsity runners from a season ago including lead man Gabe Sayre) and Daleville (who return five of their top seven from last year including top returners Tim Arnold and Ethan Colvin) respond after getting a taste of postseason success in 2020 with team regional berths.
Marion Inv. (September 4th)
Hosted at IWU, this is traditionally one of the fastest courses in the entire state of Indiana, often having runners drop massive SR’s or PR’s on the racetrack of a course. This meet will feature New Castle, Delta, Muncie Central, Monroe Central, Muncie Burris and Wes-Del out of ECI. Making state headlines at this meet last season was the race by Delta’s Nicki Southerland whose 17:35.6 narrowly edged out eventual state runner-up Zoe Duffus of Fort Wayne Carroll to take overall top honors at the Marion Inv. On the boys side from last year, this meet was a coming out party of sorts for eventual sectional champ Monroe Central who saw their core of Tucker Burris (who also set the school record at this meet), Carter Miller, Caden Landis, Eli Chamberlain and Caden Shumaker all run well in a dominating Gold Division win. Other individuals to watch here will be New Castle’s coed quartet of Sydney Mathews, Lydia Harvey, Andrew Fewell and Skyler Dickey as well as Muncie’s Gabe Reynolds and Burris’ top runner Michael Canfield.
Delaware County Championships (September 7th)
The DCAA Meet is always a premier mid-season meet in ECI as the stakes are high to take home the county trophy from the six Delaware County participating schools including Delta, Yorktown, Wapahani, Wes-Del, Daleville and Cowan. Last year’s girls race featured one of the more contested meets across ECI all season long with the Lady Tigers narrowly edging out Delta with a 36-39 score. To repeat as champs Yorktown will have to rebuild some depth due to the loss of some important graduating seniors but look for senior leader Grace Huisman along with juniors Alison Smith and Rachael Stagge to lead the charge as the Yorktown Tigers will try to topple the reigning sectional champ Delta Eagles again for the county crown.
The boys race last year saw Wapahani win in dominating fashion posting five of the top eight spots overall but look for things to be much more competitive across Delaware County this year. At the top of the who to watch list this year will be Yorktown’s Luke Harber who before missing most of last season due to injury was one of the top XC runners in ECI as a sophomore. Harber, along with veteran teammates Ryan Bade, Wiley Close, Gannon Crosser and Sam Brumley could be in contention not only for the top county spot, but a spot at the top of the ECI rankings this season as well. This meet will also include all-county returners in Delta’s Lucas Fox and Wapahani’s Brandon Ellis, Colton Boggs and reigning county champ, Nick Cook.
MEC Championships (October 2nd)
Blue River, Cowan, Daleville, Monroe Central, Randolph Southern, Union, Wapahani and Wes-Del will all represent ECI in the MEC meet this year. The girl’s race will see the top 17 runners from last season’s race returning this year, which is absolutely insane. At the front of the favorites will be Cowan’s Lauren Smith who is the returning MEC champ and will look to hold off the likes of Monroe Central’s Addison Coe, Randolph Southern’s Olivia Keesling and Smith’s teammate Brynn Wright who were all within shouting distance of Smith at the end of the race last season. Other All MEC runners from last season returning this year are Daleville’s Olivia Covert, Monroe Central’s Karlie Puckett and Katie Osborne, Wes-Del’s Jaci Knott and Emmy Justin, Blue River’s Sydney Fellers and Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher.
The boys race last year was as close as close can get with Monroe Central edging out Wapahani via a sixth man tie-breaker to take home the conference crown. Last season’s MEC also saw the Bears and Raiders secure 12 of the top 13 individual spots as well asserting themselves as the top dogs in the conference. Also, this year’s meet will see the four front runners from last year's meet return including Monroe Central’s Tucker Burris and Carter Miller and Wapahani’s Nick Cook and Brandon Ellis. All of that said, look for a more balanced MEC meet this year with developing squads from Daleville and Blue River continuing to improve and make their way up the ECI rankings as well as Wes-Del senior Luke Butler making an all-conference charge as well.
Delta Sectional (October 9th)
The majority of ECI schools will compete at the Delta Sectional on what hopefully will be a cool, calm, dry morning at the Barn Academy in Muncie but only some of the competing athletes will get to move on to the following week’s regional meet. The girls race will feature Delta’s state-title hopeful Nicki Southerland as well as a plethora of ECI talent that will be looking to make deep tournament runs. After Southerland, the top returning talent from last year’s sectional includes Southerland’s teammate Makalya Robles, Jay County’s Lydia Keihn and Cowan’s duo of Lauren Smith and Brynn Wright. All five regional qualifying teams from last year (Delta, Yorktown, Jay County and Cowan) bring back big chunks of their core this year but so will other regional hopefuls in Wes-Del, Wapahani, Muncie Central and Randolph Southern.
The boys meet could see two big headlines heading into it with the Monroe Central Golden Bears eyeing a possible three-peat for the sectional team title and up to a handful of individual runners making a push for a possible state meet berth down the road. The top eight finishers from last year’s sectional return this year including the Monroe Central quartet of Tucker Burris, Carter Miller, Eli Chamberlain and Kyler Shumaker, Wapahani’s Nick Cook and Brandon Ellis, Delta’s Clay Batio, and Muncie Burris’ Michael Canfield.
With cross-country season fast approaching, ECI Runner has decided to preview the five meets that we are most looking forward to this fall.
Opening Saturday (Aug. 21st)
Ok, we are already cheating by focusing on both the Taylor County Clash and the Meister Family Memorial Invite at the same time but who can blame us? IT’S OPENING WEEKEND! And yes, some early bird meets will have already taken place by then and they are nice and all but this is the date that truly seems like opening day for High School Cross-Country with almost every ECI school racing at one of these two locations.
At the Taylor Clash will be a quintet of Delaware County teams including Delta, Muncie Central, Wapahani, Wes-Del and Yorktown who will all be seeing how they stack up against each other for the first time this season as well as against other foes in Madison and Grant counties. One of the top stories out of this meet will be on the girl’s side to see how the rivalry between Yorktown and Delta unfolds once again. It is always interesting to see how each years’ versions of these two teams stack up against each and we will have our first peek as this meet is both of their season openers. On the boys side there will be several individuals who will be looking to establish themselves early as "best in the county" including Yorktown’s Luke Harber, Delta’s Clay Batio, Muncie’s Gabe Reynolds, Wes-Del’s Luke Butler Wapahani’s Nick Cook and Brandon Ellis.
The Meister Invitational hosted by Monroe Central will feature ECI schools including Blackford, Blue River, Cowan, Muncie Burris, Randolph Southern, Union, Union City and Daleville. The girls race will be a good measuring stick to see how many of the local teams from the area stack up with one another (especially with a lot of the potential MEC favorites all in the same race.) On the boys side it will be the first time ECI will get to see the two-time reigning sectional champ Monroe Central Bears who will be returning five out of their top six runners from a year ago. Also interesting to see from this race will be how runners and teams from the likes of Blue River (who return all seven of their varsity runners from a season ago including lead man Gabe Sayre) and Daleville (who return five of their top seven from last year including top returners Tim Arnold and Ethan Colvin) respond after getting a taste of postseason success in 2020 with team regional berths.
Marion Inv. (September 4th)
Hosted at IWU, this is traditionally one of the fastest courses in the entire state of Indiana, often having runners drop massive SR’s or PR’s on the racetrack of a course. This meet will feature New Castle, Delta, Muncie Central, Monroe Central, Muncie Burris and Wes-Del out of ECI. Making state headlines at this meet last season was the race by Delta’s Nicki Southerland whose 17:35.6 narrowly edged out eventual state runner-up Zoe Duffus of Fort Wayne Carroll to take overall top honors at the Marion Inv. On the boys side from last year, this meet was a coming out party of sorts for eventual sectional champ Monroe Central who saw their core of Tucker Burris (who also set the school record at this meet), Carter Miller, Caden Landis, Eli Chamberlain and Caden Shumaker all run well in a dominating Gold Division win. Other individuals to watch here will be New Castle’s coed quartet of Sydney Mathews, Lydia Harvey, Andrew Fewell and Skyler Dickey as well as Muncie’s Gabe Reynolds and Burris’ top runner Michael Canfield.
Delaware County Championships (September 7th)
The DCAA Meet is always a premier mid-season meet in ECI as the stakes are high to take home the county trophy from the six Delaware County participating schools including Delta, Yorktown, Wapahani, Wes-Del, Daleville and Cowan. Last year’s girls race featured one of the more contested meets across ECI all season long with the Lady Tigers narrowly edging out Delta with a 36-39 score. To repeat as champs Yorktown will have to rebuild some depth due to the loss of some important graduating seniors but look for senior leader Grace Huisman along with juniors Alison Smith and Rachael Stagge to lead the charge as the Yorktown Tigers will try to topple the reigning sectional champ Delta Eagles again for the county crown.
The boys race last year saw Wapahani win in dominating fashion posting five of the top eight spots overall but look for things to be much more competitive across Delaware County this year. At the top of the who to watch list this year will be Yorktown’s Luke Harber who before missing most of last season due to injury was one of the top XC runners in ECI as a sophomore. Harber, along with veteran teammates Ryan Bade, Wiley Close, Gannon Crosser and Sam Brumley could be in contention not only for the top county spot, but a spot at the top of the ECI rankings this season as well. This meet will also include all-county returners in Delta’s Lucas Fox and Wapahani’s Brandon Ellis, Colton Boggs and reigning county champ, Nick Cook.
MEC Championships (October 2nd)
Blue River, Cowan, Daleville, Monroe Central, Randolph Southern, Union, Wapahani and Wes-Del will all represent ECI in the MEC meet this year. The girl’s race will see the top 17 runners from last season’s race returning this year, which is absolutely insane. At the front of the favorites will be Cowan’s Lauren Smith who is the returning MEC champ and will look to hold off the likes of Monroe Central’s Addison Coe, Randolph Southern’s Olivia Keesling and Smith’s teammate Brynn Wright who were all within shouting distance of Smith at the end of the race last season. Other All MEC runners from last season returning this year are Daleville’s Olivia Covert, Monroe Central’s Karlie Puckett and Katie Osborne, Wes-Del’s Jaci Knott and Emmy Justin, Blue River’s Sydney Fellers and Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher.
The boys race last year was as close as close can get with Monroe Central edging out Wapahani via a sixth man tie-breaker to take home the conference crown. Last season’s MEC also saw the Bears and Raiders secure 12 of the top 13 individual spots as well asserting themselves as the top dogs in the conference. Also, this year’s meet will see the four front runners from last year's meet return including Monroe Central’s Tucker Burris and Carter Miller and Wapahani’s Nick Cook and Brandon Ellis. All of that said, look for a more balanced MEC meet this year with developing squads from Daleville and Blue River continuing to improve and make their way up the ECI rankings as well as Wes-Del senior Luke Butler making an all-conference charge as well.
Delta Sectional (October 9th)
The majority of ECI schools will compete at the Delta Sectional on what hopefully will be a cool, calm, dry morning at the Barn Academy in Muncie but only some of the competing athletes will get to move on to the following week’s regional meet. The girls race will feature Delta’s state-title hopeful Nicki Southerland as well as a plethora of ECI talent that will be looking to make deep tournament runs. After Southerland, the top returning talent from last year’s sectional includes Southerland’s teammate Makalya Robles, Jay County’s Lydia Keihn and Cowan’s duo of Lauren Smith and Brynn Wright. All five regional qualifying teams from last year (Delta, Yorktown, Jay County and Cowan) bring back big chunks of their core this year but so will other regional hopefuls in Wes-Del, Wapahani, Muncie Central and Randolph Southern.
The boys meet could see two big headlines heading into it with the Monroe Central Golden Bears eyeing a possible three-peat for the sectional team title and up to a handful of individual runners making a push for a possible state meet berth down the road. The top eight finishers from last year’s sectional return this year including the Monroe Central quartet of Tucker Burris, Carter Miller, Eli Chamberlain and Kyler Shumaker, Wapahani’s Nick Cook and Brandon Ellis, Delta’s Clay Batio, and Muncie Burris’ Michael Canfield.
2020 Season
Weekend Preview: What to watch for this weekend in ECI:
This weekend in ECI in 3. 2. 1.
Week 7: CONFERENCE WEEKEND
3 Runners to Watch
Ashleigh Brelage (Delta) –The Eagle senior will be looking to have some big races in the weeks ahead as the stakes are higher for the looming championship season. Brelage is rocking a SR of 20:27 that she ran at Flashrock a couple of weeks ago. Her mark of 20:27 makes it the 3rd fastest time run by an ECI runner this year after her teammates Nicki Southerland and Makayla Robles. The Delta teams are at the HHC meet on Saturday.
Brandon Ellis (Wapahani) – Ellis has started to return to form in recent weeks as one of the lead runners for the Raiders. In recent weeks he ran a PR of 17:10 on the sectional course in the Jim Leffler Invite and had an impressive top 5 finish at New Haven last Saturday. Ellis will look to continue to improve during the most important part of the season as he and his Raider teammates will be at Blue River for the MEC meet on Saturday.
Luke Harber (Yorktown) – ECI’s top returning runner from a year ago finally got to make his season debut at New Haven last week after a lengthy absence due to injury. Harber will definitely be looking to give the Tigers the boost they need as they continue to solidify their top 5 and look to make noise in the weeks ahead. Yorktown is at the HHC meet this weekend.
2 Teams to Watch
Shenandoah Girls- The Lady Raiders are coming off a Henry County championship win this week and will be looking to carry that momentum with them moving forward. Leading the way for the Shenandoah squad is Hope Edwards who ran a PR of 22:22 at the County meet to help preserve the team crown for the Raiders. Not too far away from Edwards are pack runners Abby Buskirk, Madison Cooper and Ava Vining. Shenandoah will be at the Blue River for the MEC on Saturday.
Blue River Boys- This Viking squad is riding some momentum on their own as they captured the Henry County title this week. Blue River is led by sophomores Gabe Sayre and James Cull who both have gone under the 19 minute mark this season. Along with a slew of freshmen competing for the 3-6 spots behind them the Vikings are primed to continue to improve and will be looking for a team regional berth in the weeks ahead. Blue River hosts the MEC meet on Saturday.
1 Meet to Watch
MEC Meet @ Blue River
Blue River
Cowan
Daleville
Monroe Central
Randolph Southern
Shenandoah
Union
Wapahani
Wes-Del
Girls Preview:
It’s conference weekend across ECI with the highest number of teams competing in the MEC Meet. Up front on the girls side will be several girls looking to take top individual honors including Blue River’s freshmen star Sydney Fellers who currently carries the best time this season of everyone in the MEC in this meet. Also in the hunt up front will be another Keesling from Randolph Southern. This year however, it’s the youngest sister, Olivia that has been turning heads as she has been shedding time all season. Other runners looking to throw their hat in the ring for top honors will be Monroe Central’s freshmen duo of Addison Coe and Katie Osborn, Cowan junior Lauren Smith and Wapahani sophomore Kendyl Thrasher. On the team side of things, Monroe Central’s depth will make them the prohibitive favorites to become MEC team champions but the race for 2nd will be something to keep an eye on as Cowan, Wes-Del, Shenandoah and all Wapahani will all be jockeying for position for a runner up finish and to put themselves in a prime spot to advance to Regionals at next week’s Sectional as well.
Boys Race
Last year’s MEC race saw 8 out of the 12 All-MEC runners come from the Wapahani and Monroe Central teams and this year should be no different as many of the teams key runners are back and expected to place at or near the top of the race. The two teams met just last week at New Haven in a meet where the two harrier squads dominated the rest of the 23 team field with Wapahani slipping past the 2nd place Bear team to take home top team honors. In this week’s breakdown, the individual favorite in the race will be Monroe Central’s Tucker Burris who will be looking to win his first individual MEC crown with a herd of Bear teammates and Wapahani runners behind him vying to put themselves in the best spot to take the team crown. As is usually the case in big meets, every spot 1-5 (and possibly more) will matter to determine the MEC team champion this year. Outside of the Wapahani/Monroe Central matchup, many other ECI runners including Blue River’s Gabe Sayre, Wes-Del’s Luke Butler and Daleville’s Khoa Westin will all be looking to put themselves in the thralls of making the All MEC team on Saturday.
Ashleigh Brelage (Delta) –The Eagle senior will be looking to have some big races in the weeks ahead as the stakes are higher for the looming championship season. Brelage is rocking a SR of 20:27 that she ran at Flashrock a couple of weeks ago. Her mark of 20:27 makes it the 3rd fastest time run by an ECI runner this year after her teammates Nicki Southerland and Makayla Robles. The Delta teams are at the HHC meet on Saturday.
Brandon Ellis (Wapahani) – Ellis has started to return to form in recent weeks as one of the lead runners for the Raiders. In recent weeks he ran a PR of 17:10 on the sectional course in the Jim Leffler Invite and had an impressive top 5 finish at New Haven last Saturday. Ellis will look to continue to improve during the most important part of the season as he and his Raider teammates will be at Blue River for the MEC meet on Saturday.
Luke Harber (Yorktown) – ECI’s top returning runner from a year ago finally got to make his season debut at New Haven last week after a lengthy absence due to injury. Harber will definitely be looking to give the Tigers the boost they need as they continue to solidify their top 5 and look to make noise in the weeks ahead. Yorktown is at the HHC meet this weekend.
2 Teams to Watch
Shenandoah Girls- The Lady Raiders are coming off a Henry County championship win this week and will be looking to carry that momentum with them moving forward. Leading the way for the Shenandoah squad is Hope Edwards who ran a PR of 22:22 at the County meet to help preserve the team crown for the Raiders. Not too far away from Edwards are pack runners Abby Buskirk, Madison Cooper and Ava Vining. Shenandoah will be at the Blue River for the MEC on Saturday.
Blue River Boys- This Viking squad is riding some momentum on their own as they captured the Henry County title this week. Blue River is led by sophomores Gabe Sayre and James Cull who both have gone under the 19 minute mark this season. Along with a slew of freshmen competing for the 3-6 spots behind them the Vikings are primed to continue to improve and will be looking for a team regional berth in the weeks ahead. Blue River hosts the MEC meet on Saturday.
1 Meet to Watch
MEC Meet @ Blue River
Blue River
Cowan
Daleville
Monroe Central
Randolph Southern
Shenandoah
Union
Wapahani
Wes-Del
Girls Preview:
It’s conference weekend across ECI with the highest number of teams competing in the MEC Meet. Up front on the girls side will be several girls looking to take top individual honors including Blue River’s freshmen star Sydney Fellers who currently carries the best time this season of everyone in the MEC in this meet. Also in the hunt up front will be another Keesling from Randolph Southern. This year however, it’s the youngest sister, Olivia that has been turning heads as she has been shedding time all season. Other runners looking to throw their hat in the ring for top honors will be Monroe Central’s freshmen duo of Addison Coe and Katie Osborn, Cowan junior Lauren Smith and Wapahani sophomore Kendyl Thrasher. On the team side of things, Monroe Central’s depth will make them the prohibitive favorites to become MEC team champions but the race for 2nd will be something to keep an eye on as Cowan, Wes-Del, Shenandoah and all Wapahani will all be jockeying for position for a runner up finish and to put themselves in a prime spot to advance to Regionals at next week’s Sectional as well.
Boys Race
Last year’s MEC race saw 8 out of the 12 All-MEC runners come from the Wapahani and Monroe Central teams and this year should be no different as many of the teams key runners are back and expected to place at or near the top of the race. The two teams met just last week at New Haven in a meet where the two harrier squads dominated the rest of the 23 team field with Wapahani slipping past the 2nd place Bear team to take home top team honors. In this week’s breakdown, the individual favorite in the race will be Monroe Central’s Tucker Burris who will be looking to win his first individual MEC crown with a herd of Bear teammates and Wapahani runners behind him vying to put themselves in the best spot to take the team crown. As is usually the case in big meets, every spot 1-5 (and possibly more) will matter to determine the MEC team champion this year. Outside of the Wapahani/Monroe Central matchup, many other ECI runners including Blue River’s Gabe Sayre, Wes-Del’s Luke Butler and Daleville’s Khoa Westin will all be looking to put themselves in the thralls of making the All MEC team on Saturday.
WEEK 6
3 Runners to Watch
Carter Miller (Monroe Central) Miller helped lead Monroe Central to the team title at the South Adams Invitational last weekend finishing 2nd behind teammate Tucker Burris in a PR time of 16:38. Miller and his Bear teammates will be looking to continue that momentum at Huntington for the New Haven Classic on Saturday.
Luke Butler (Wes-Del) – The Wes-Del junior is having another impressive season and will look to be getting in peak form as he looks to advance in the postseason in a few weeks. Butler has shown steady improvement across his years of running and is riding a PR of 18:15 that he ran a few weeks ago at the Marion Inv. Butler and his Warrior teammates will be at the New Haven Classic on Saturday.
Makayla Robles (Delta) – Robles is coming off a strong weekend at Flashrock where she became the second girl in ECI to break the 20 minute barrier this season (the other being her teammate Nicki Southerland.) Robles also placed 2nd behind Southerland in the Connersville Inv. this week as the Lady Eagles are looking to solidify its 1-2 punch in the weeks ahead.
2 Teams to Watch
New Castle Girls- The Lady Trojans have found their way into the ECI Top 5 recently and are looking to continue to improve. Leading the way for the New Castle team are the trio of Sydney Matthews, Lydia Harvey and Ella Garvin. These three are as good as any three ECI has to offer. If they can continue to improve their 4-5 they will be able to make a lot of noise come tournament time. New Castle is at Shelbyville on Saturday.
Yorktown Boys- The Yorktown Boys are coming off of their best meet of the year at the Jim Leffler Invite where they had three boys break the 18 minute barrier and two more under 19 minutes. Leading the way for this squad is sophomore Wiley Close who ran a PR of 17:40 at his home invite last week. Along with sub 18 minute teammates Cole Whitehead and Ryan Bade this is a team that is getting better and better each meet and will be looking to make themselves contenders in the weeks ahead. Yorktown is at the New Haven Classic this weekend.
1 Meet to Watch
New Haven Classic @ Huntington
ECI Teams
Division A
Monroe Central
Daleville
Wapahani
Blackford
Wes-Del
Division AA
Yorktown
Delta
Muncie Central
Girls Preview:
With ECI schools competing across two different divisions there will be plenty to pay attention to at Huntington on Saturday. On the team side, the Delta and Yorktown teams will be competing in the same race for the first time since Yorktown narrowly beat Delta at the Delaware County Meet earlier this month. With the HHC and tournament season approaching this will be a good litmus test to see where the two teams are going into the homestretch of the season. An eye to keep on individually will be who ends up being the top ECI individual in the Division A race as MEC runners Addison Coe and Katie Osborne of Monroe Central as well as Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher will be vying for those honors and some momentum as they shift their focus to the conference race next week.
Boys Race
In the Boys A Division look for Monroe Central and Wapahani to continue their season-long rivalry with both teams placing several runners near the front in the 28 team field. Individually, Monroe Central’s Tucker Burris will look to continue his undefeated season trying to continue to outpace some of ECI’s best in Wapahani’s Andrew Shrock, Nick Cook, Brandon Ellis and Griffen Miller as well as his teammate Carter Miller. In the Division AA all three Yorktown, Delta and Muncie Central have shown some pretty big gains the past couple of weeks and against some good competition from outside ECI at this meet could be a recipe for continued improvement for each of these squads. Individually look for Yorktown’s Wiley Close, Delta’s Clay Batio and Muncie Central’s Gabe Reynolds all to lead their respective teams.
Carter Miller (Monroe Central) Miller helped lead Monroe Central to the team title at the South Adams Invitational last weekend finishing 2nd behind teammate Tucker Burris in a PR time of 16:38. Miller and his Bear teammates will be looking to continue that momentum at Huntington for the New Haven Classic on Saturday.
Luke Butler (Wes-Del) – The Wes-Del junior is having another impressive season and will look to be getting in peak form as he looks to advance in the postseason in a few weeks. Butler has shown steady improvement across his years of running and is riding a PR of 18:15 that he ran a few weeks ago at the Marion Inv. Butler and his Warrior teammates will be at the New Haven Classic on Saturday.
Makayla Robles (Delta) – Robles is coming off a strong weekend at Flashrock where she became the second girl in ECI to break the 20 minute barrier this season (the other being her teammate Nicki Southerland.) Robles also placed 2nd behind Southerland in the Connersville Inv. this week as the Lady Eagles are looking to solidify its 1-2 punch in the weeks ahead.
2 Teams to Watch
New Castle Girls- The Lady Trojans have found their way into the ECI Top 5 recently and are looking to continue to improve. Leading the way for the New Castle team are the trio of Sydney Matthews, Lydia Harvey and Ella Garvin. These three are as good as any three ECI has to offer. If they can continue to improve their 4-5 they will be able to make a lot of noise come tournament time. New Castle is at Shelbyville on Saturday.
Yorktown Boys- The Yorktown Boys are coming off of their best meet of the year at the Jim Leffler Invite where they had three boys break the 18 minute barrier and two more under 19 minutes. Leading the way for this squad is sophomore Wiley Close who ran a PR of 17:40 at his home invite last week. Along with sub 18 minute teammates Cole Whitehead and Ryan Bade this is a team that is getting better and better each meet and will be looking to make themselves contenders in the weeks ahead. Yorktown is at the New Haven Classic this weekend.
1 Meet to Watch
New Haven Classic @ Huntington
ECI Teams
Division A
Monroe Central
Daleville
Wapahani
Blackford
Wes-Del
Division AA
Yorktown
Delta
Muncie Central
Girls Preview:
With ECI schools competing across two different divisions there will be plenty to pay attention to at Huntington on Saturday. On the team side, the Delta and Yorktown teams will be competing in the same race for the first time since Yorktown narrowly beat Delta at the Delaware County Meet earlier this month. With the HHC and tournament season approaching this will be a good litmus test to see where the two teams are going into the homestretch of the season. An eye to keep on individually will be who ends up being the top ECI individual in the Division A race as MEC runners Addison Coe and Katie Osborne of Monroe Central as well as Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher will be vying for those honors and some momentum as they shift their focus to the conference race next week.
Boys Race
In the Boys A Division look for Monroe Central and Wapahani to continue their season-long rivalry with both teams placing several runners near the front in the 28 team field. Individually, Monroe Central’s Tucker Burris will look to continue his undefeated season trying to continue to outpace some of ECI’s best in Wapahani’s Andrew Shrock, Nick Cook, Brandon Ellis and Griffen Miller as well as his teammate Carter Miller. In the Division AA all three Yorktown, Delta and Muncie Central have shown some pretty big gains the past couple of weeks and against some good competition from outside ECI at this meet could be a recipe for continued improvement for each of these squads. Individually look for Yorktown’s Wiley Close, Delta’s Clay Batio and Muncie Central’s Gabe Reynolds all to lead their respective teams.
WEEK 5
3 Runners to Watch
Griffen Miller (Wapahani) The four-year varsity runner has dropped some impressive times and finishes every meet he has been to this year, highlighted by a PR at IWU last weekend where Miller ran a 16:56. Things should continue to trend that way for Miller and the rest of the Raiders as they go back to the Muncie Sportsplex this weekend for the Jim Leffler Inv.
Ryan Bade (Yorktown)- No one in ECI has shown the consistency of Bade this season as he always seems to find a way to get his time in the low 18s no matter the course or the conditions. Look for Bade to try to get into that coveted 17-minute air this weekend for his home invite.
Lydia Harvey (New Castle) – Harvey is coming off an individual invite win as she won top honors at her home New Castle Inv. earlier this week beating the rest of the field by 33 seconds in a time of 21:40. Harvey and her Trojan teammates will look to continue to lower times as they will join much of the rest of ECI at the Jim Leffler Inv. on Saturday.
2 Teams to Watch
Muncie Central Boys- Last week the Bearcats made some noise by winning the Randolph Southern Invite over several ECI foes and look to be finding their stride as the season starts to take a turn for some bigger meets ahead. Leading the way for Muncie are Princeton Young and Gabriel Reynolds who both posted top 10 finishes at Randolph Southern last week. The Bearcats will be in action for the Jim Leffler Invite on Saturday.
Monroe Central Girls- The Lady Bears are young, hungry and impressing a lot of people around ECI so far this season. Up front for this squad are freshmen Katie Osborn, Addison Coe and Gracie Baker. Along with sophomore teammate Karly Puckett this team can match up with anybody from ECI 1-4. Look for this team to start piling up some accolades as their county, conference and sectional meets are quickly approaching. The Bears are at the South Adams Invite this weekend.
1 Meet to Watch
Jim Leffler Invite (@Muncie Sportsplex) ***NO FANS WILL BE ALLOWED AT THIS MEET****
ECI Teams
Cowan
Daleville
Jay County
Muncie Burris
Muncie Central
New Castle
Shenandoah
Wapahani
Wes-Del
Yorktown
Girls Meet Preview:
With some cooler temperatures in the forecast for Saturday morning it will be a great opportunity for ECI runners to showcase their talents on the Delta Sectional and Regional course for the Jim Leffler Invitational. On the girls side the race will be a good mix of seeing where the lead runners are in ECI and also who has the depth to post an impressive 1-5 team score. On the individual side of things, 6 of the top 10 runners from the latest ECI rankings will be in the mix of things in this battle for ECI hierarchical power. Jockeying up front for position will be New Castle’s Sydney Matthews, Yorktown’s duo of Grace Huisman and Elizabeth Reece, Jay County’s Lydia Keihn, Cowan’s Lauren Smith, and Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher. On the team side of things look for Yorktown to continue to assert themselves as being a Sectional championship contender and also look out for where the Jay County, Cowan and Wapahani teams stack up against each other as they will be eyeing births for next month’s regional as well.
Boys Meet Preview
On the boys’ individual side, Wapahani’s freshman Nick Cook will look to continue to discover his running superpowers this weekend as he has steadily improved each meet this season and will also get to compete against some of ECI’s best lead runners in New Castle’s Andrew Fewell and Muncie Burris’ Michael Canfield for the first time this season. How those runners match up with Yorktown’s Wiley Close and Ryan Bade as well as Cook’s Raider teammates Andrew Shrock and Griffen Miller will go a long way to determine the ECI rankings for next week. From a team standpoint look for Wapahani’s 1-5 spread to put themselves in a favorable spot in the results as well as other top 5 ECI contenders of Yorktown, Muncie Central, New Castle and Muncie Burris to put together solid races as well.
Griffen Miller (Wapahani) The four-year varsity runner has dropped some impressive times and finishes every meet he has been to this year, highlighted by a PR at IWU last weekend where Miller ran a 16:56. Things should continue to trend that way for Miller and the rest of the Raiders as they go back to the Muncie Sportsplex this weekend for the Jim Leffler Inv.
Ryan Bade (Yorktown)- No one in ECI has shown the consistency of Bade this season as he always seems to find a way to get his time in the low 18s no matter the course or the conditions. Look for Bade to try to get into that coveted 17-minute air this weekend for his home invite.
Lydia Harvey (New Castle) – Harvey is coming off an individual invite win as she won top honors at her home New Castle Inv. earlier this week beating the rest of the field by 33 seconds in a time of 21:40. Harvey and her Trojan teammates will look to continue to lower times as they will join much of the rest of ECI at the Jim Leffler Inv. on Saturday.
2 Teams to Watch
Muncie Central Boys- Last week the Bearcats made some noise by winning the Randolph Southern Invite over several ECI foes and look to be finding their stride as the season starts to take a turn for some bigger meets ahead. Leading the way for Muncie are Princeton Young and Gabriel Reynolds who both posted top 10 finishes at Randolph Southern last week. The Bearcats will be in action for the Jim Leffler Invite on Saturday.
Monroe Central Girls- The Lady Bears are young, hungry and impressing a lot of people around ECI so far this season. Up front for this squad are freshmen Katie Osborn, Addison Coe and Gracie Baker. Along with sophomore teammate Karly Puckett this team can match up with anybody from ECI 1-4. Look for this team to start piling up some accolades as their county, conference and sectional meets are quickly approaching. The Bears are at the South Adams Invite this weekend.
1 Meet to Watch
Jim Leffler Invite (@Muncie Sportsplex) ***NO FANS WILL BE ALLOWED AT THIS MEET****
ECI Teams
Cowan
Daleville
Jay County
Muncie Burris
Muncie Central
New Castle
Shenandoah
Wapahani
Wes-Del
Yorktown
Girls Meet Preview:
With some cooler temperatures in the forecast for Saturday morning it will be a great opportunity for ECI runners to showcase their talents on the Delta Sectional and Regional course for the Jim Leffler Invitational. On the girls side the race will be a good mix of seeing where the lead runners are in ECI and also who has the depth to post an impressive 1-5 team score. On the individual side of things, 6 of the top 10 runners from the latest ECI rankings will be in the mix of things in this battle for ECI hierarchical power. Jockeying up front for position will be New Castle’s Sydney Matthews, Yorktown’s duo of Grace Huisman and Elizabeth Reece, Jay County’s Lydia Keihn, Cowan’s Lauren Smith, and Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher. On the team side of things look for Yorktown to continue to assert themselves as being a Sectional championship contender and also look out for where the Jay County, Cowan and Wapahani teams stack up against each other as they will be eyeing births for next month’s regional as well.
Boys Meet Preview
On the boys’ individual side, Wapahani’s freshman Nick Cook will look to continue to discover his running superpowers this weekend as he has steadily improved each meet this season and will also get to compete against some of ECI’s best lead runners in New Castle’s Andrew Fewell and Muncie Burris’ Michael Canfield for the first time this season. How those runners match up with Yorktown’s Wiley Close and Ryan Bade as well as Cook’s Raider teammates Andrew Shrock and Griffen Miller will go a long way to determine the ECI rankings for next week. From a team standpoint look for Wapahani’s 1-5 spread to put themselves in a favorable spot in the results as well as other top 5 ECI contenders of Yorktown, Muncie Central, New Castle and Muncie Burris to put together solid races as well.
WEEK 4
3 Runners to Watch
Nick Cook (Wapahani) The Raider freshman had a breakout race at the Delaware County Meet earlier this week where he became one of only a few freshmen who can say they were an individual county champ. Cook ran a PR of 18:03 to lead Wapahani to the team title as well. Look for Cook and his teammates to drop some low times at the speedy IWU course this weekend for the Wildcat Inv.
Grace Huisman (Yorktown)- While there was a lot of deserved noise about various individual performances at the Delaware County Meet earlier this week the most important performance may have come from Huisman who set a PR at a traditionally slower Cowan course to help propel Yorktown to the team county title. Huisman led the Yorktown girls with a very important 3rd place overall finish. Grace seems to be ready to take on a leadership role as the Tigers look at another Sectional championship next month. Yorktown will be at Monroe Central this Saturday for a quad meet.
Michael Canfield (Burris) – Canfield turned some heads in his season debut last week at Marion where he ran a 17:12 ranking him amongst the best in ECI. How Canfield improves throughout the season is anyone’s guess but starting out a season with such a bang is definitely a good place to start. Muncie Burris is scheduled to participate at the RS Invite on Saturday.
2 Teams to Watch
Delta Boys- The Eagles have shown some steady improvement the last couple of races, including a strong runner-up performance at the Delaware County Meet and look to continue that improvement as tournament time approaches. The Delta boys team is led by all-county runners Clay Batio and Lucas Fox who hope to continue to give their team the low numbers they need as their 3-5 continues to improve. Delta runs at Maconaquah on Saturday.
Jay County Girls- The Lady Patriots are looking to get their pieces together as they make another march towards the top of the ECI rankings again this season. Led so far this season by Lydia Keihn and Lindy Wood Jay County will have a great opportunity to see where they stand against some of ECI’s best runners in a quad meet against Cowan, Monroe Central and Yorktown on Saturday.
1 Meet to Watch
Randolph Southern Invite
ECI Teams
Blue River
Randolph Southern
Union
Union City
Winchester
Muncie Burris
New Castle
Wes-Del
Muncie Central
Shenandoah
In an all day affair the Randolph Southern Inv. will certainly look different this year with teams being broken up into 5-6 team divisions with races being run starting at 8 am and running through late afternoon with ECI runners scheduled to be racing at all different times of the day.
Meet Preview:
In a meet that will be difficult to track with so many divisions and changing weather throughout the day ECI is scheduled to have 10 teams compete on Saturday. Runners in the ECI top 25 slated to appear for the boys are New Castle’s Andrew Fewell, Muncie Burris’s Michael Canfield and Josh Stephenson, Union City’s Conner Wasler and Muncie’s Gabe Reynolds. On the girls side, New Castle’s Sydney Matthews, Winchester’s Ella Baldwin, Muncie’s Delaney Strange and Maya Coggenshall and Wes-Del’s Emerson Justin will all look to improve their ECI ranking on Saturday.
Nick Cook (Wapahani) The Raider freshman had a breakout race at the Delaware County Meet earlier this week where he became one of only a few freshmen who can say they were an individual county champ. Cook ran a PR of 18:03 to lead Wapahani to the team title as well. Look for Cook and his teammates to drop some low times at the speedy IWU course this weekend for the Wildcat Inv.
Grace Huisman (Yorktown)- While there was a lot of deserved noise about various individual performances at the Delaware County Meet earlier this week the most important performance may have come from Huisman who set a PR at a traditionally slower Cowan course to help propel Yorktown to the team county title. Huisman led the Yorktown girls with a very important 3rd place overall finish. Grace seems to be ready to take on a leadership role as the Tigers look at another Sectional championship next month. Yorktown will be at Monroe Central this Saturday for a quad meet.
Michael Canfield (Burris) – Canfield turned some heads in his season debut last week at Marion where he ran a 17:12 ranking him amongst the best in ECI. How Canfield improves throughout the season is anyone’s guess but starting out a season with such a bang is definitely a good place to start. Muncie Burris is scheduled to participate at the RS Invite on Saturday.
2 Teams to Watch
Delta Boys- The Eagles have shown some steady improvement the last couple of races, including a strong runner-up performance at the Delaware County Meet and look to continue that improvement as tournament time approaches. The Delta boys team is led by all-county runners Clay Batio and Lucas Fox who hope to continue to give their team the low numbers they need as their 3-5 continues to improve. Delta runs at Maconaquah on Saturday.
Jay County Girls- The Lady Patriots are looking to get their pieces together as they make another march towards the top of the ECI rankings again this season. Led so far this season by Lydia Keihn and Lindy Wood Jay County will have a great opportunity to see where they stand against some of ECI’s best runners in a quad meet against Cowan, Monroe Central and Yorktown on Saturday.
1 Meet to Watch
Randolph Southern Invite
ECI Teams
Blue River
Randolph Southern
Union
Union City
Winchester
Muncie Burris
New Castle
Wes-Del
Muncie Central
Shenandoah
In an all day affair the Randolph Southern Inv. will certainly look different this year with teams being broken up into 5-6 team divisions with races being run starting at 8 am and running through late afternoon with ECI runners scheduled to be racing at all different times of the day.
Meet Preview:
In a meet that will be difficult to track with so many divisions and changing weather throughout the day ECI is scheduled to have 10 teams compete on Saturday. Runners in the ECI top 25 slated to appear for the boys are New Castle’s Andrew Fewell, Muncie Burris’s Michael Canfield and Josh Stephenson, Union City’s Conner Wasler and Muncie’s Gabe Reynolds. On the girls side, New Castle’s Sydney Matthews, Winchester’s Ella Baldwin, Muncie’s Delaney Strange and Maya Coggenshall and Wes-Del’s Emerson Justin will all look to improve their ECI ranking on Saturday.
Week 3
3 Runners to Watch
Nicki Southerland (Delta) After some time off between meets look for Southerland to turn some heads at the Marion Invite this weekend. Known for being a traditional fast course, expect Southerland to drop a low time against some quality competition.
Addison Coe (Monroe Central)- The Monroe Central freshman is one of a quartet of solid runners for the Bears this season and was the team’s top finisher at Union County earlier this week breaking the 23 minute barrier for the first time. Coe and the rest of her teammates will be at Marion this weekend.
Andrew Fewell (New Castle) – Junior Andrew Fewell has been the main man for the Trojans so far this year punching impressive performances at Pendleton and Hagerstown. This weekend he will have an opportunity for another one on a fast Marion course.
2 Teams to Watch
Wapahani Boys- This Raider squad has heavily relied on pack running so far this year and so far it has not disappointed as Wapahani has taken home invite trophies from Winchester, Taylor and their home invite. Leading the way for Wapahani are seniors Andrew Shrock and Griffen Miller who each have won an individual race in this young season as well. Along with the two seniors, junior Brandon Ellis, sophomore Colton Boggs and freshman Nick Cook round out their top 5. The Raiders will be at the Union City Invite on Saturday.
Cowan Girls- Led by individual standouts Lauren Smith and McKenna Minton the lady Blackhawks have found themselves in the top 5 ECI rankings again this year. If Cowan can solidify their top 5 behind them will be the key to see if they will have success come tournament time. Cowan will be traveling to Union City on Saturday.
1 Meet to Watch
Marion Invite @ IWU
ECI Teams
Muncie Burris
Wes-Del
Delta
Muncie Central
New Castle
Monroe Central
Girls Meet Preview:
On what is traditionally a speedy course look for a lot of ECI runners to post season or personal best times at this meet. In particular, look for the best of those times to come from freshman phenom Nicki Southerland of Delta as she will be looking to post one of the best times in the entire state in 2020 so far this year. On the team side of things, ECI schools will compete in three different divisions letting them see some competition outside the area but look for strong performances out of Delta, Monroe Central and New Castle in particular.
Boys Meet Preview:
On the boys side look for Monroe Central’s Tucker Burris to continue his stellar season as he gets a crack to lower his PR against some pretty stiff competition from across the state. Also interesting to see will be how Delta stacks up against some fellow ECI teams after a couple of weeks off. The Eagle’s trio of Clay Batio, Lucas Fox and Cody Bivens all ran well in their season opener and will surely be looking for some success on Saturday.
Nicki Southerland (Delta) After some time off between meets look for Southerland to turn some heads at the Marion Invite this weekend. Known for being a traditional fast course, expect Southerland to drop a low time against some quality competition.
Addison Coe (Monroe Central)- The Monroe Central freshman is one of a quartet of solid runners for the Bears this season and was the team’s top finisher at Union County earlier this week breaking the 23 minute barrier for the first time. Coe and the rest of her teammates will be at Marion this weekend.
Andrew Fewell (New Castle) – Junior Andrew Fewell has been the main man for the Trojans so far this year punching impressive performances at Pendleton and Hagerstown. This weekend he will have an opportunity for another one on a fast Marion course.
2 Teams to Watch
Wapahani Boys- This Raider squad has heavily relied on pack running so far this year and so far it has not disappointed as Wapahani has taken home invite trophies from Winchester, Taylor and their home invite. Leading the way for Wapahani are seniors Andrew Shrock and Griffen Miller who each have won an individual race in this young season as well. Along with the two seniors, junior Brandon Ellis, sophomore Colton Boggs and freshman Nick Cook round out their top 5. The Raiders will be at the Union City Invite on Saturday.
Cowan Girls- Led by individual standouts Lauren Smith and McKenna Minton the lady Blackhawks have found themselves in the top 5 ECI rankings again this year. If Cowan can solidify their top 5 behind them will be the key to see if they will have success come tournament time. Cowan will be traveling to Union City on Saturday.
1 Meet to Watch
Marion Invite @ IWU
ECI Teams
Muncie Burris
Wes-Del
Delta
Muncie Central
New Castle
Monroe Central
Girls Meet Preview:
On what is traditionally a speedy course look for a lot of ECI runners to post season or personal best times at this meet. In particular, look for the best of those times to come from freshman phenom Nicki Southerland of Delta as she will be looking to post one of the best times in the entire state in 2020 so far this year. On the team side of things, ECI schools will compete in three different divisions letting them see some competition outside the area but look for strong performances out of Delta, Monroe Central and New Castle in particular.
Boys Meet Preview:
On the boys side look for Monroe Central’s Tucker Burris to continue his stellar season as he gets a crack to lower his PR against some pretty stiff competition from across the state. Also interesting to see will be how Delta stacks up against some fellow ECI teams after a couple of weeks off. The Eagle’s trio of Clay Batio, Lucas Fox and Cody Bivens all ran well in their season opener and will surely be looking for some success on Saturday.
2020 - Week 2
3 Runners to Watch:
Conner Walser (Union City) The freshman runner has been a bright spot for the Indians in this young season propelling himself amongst the top of ECI. Most recently at the Arabian Roundup, Walser posted a 14th place finish and was the second ECI runner after Yorktown’s Wiley Close to cross the line. Walser and the rest of his Union City teammates will be at the Muncie Sportsplex for the Wapahani Inv. on Saturday
Tucker Burris (Monroe Central)- Burris opened a lot of eyes last week as he came out in a blistering pace in a home meet against Mt. Vernon and Winchester establishing himself as the guy to beat in the early part of the season. Tucker will see if he can go two for two for individual wins on Saturday at the Wapahani Inv.
Lauren Smith (Cowan)- The race is on to see who will be the top runner in the MEC this year and Smith figures to be right in the middle of it. The junior standout already medaled this week at the Arabian Roundup and will be looking to collect some more hardware at the Sportsplex this weekend.
2 Teams to Watch:
Daleville Boys- After coming off a bye week last weekend the Broncos will be looking to come out of it gate strong this weekend. This formidable Daleville team is led by Senior Khoa Weston and aided by underclassmen Dawson Brooks and Ethan Colvin who each has respectable races in their season opener at Union. If the Broncos can develop a solid 5th man around their already present core they could also find themselves in the top 5 of the ECI rankings very soon.
Yorktown Girls- One thing that is always exciting about a Yorktown girls squad is that they never shy away from competition and that will definitely be the case this weekend as they travel back up to Taylor to see where they stack up against some quality teams. At Pendleton earlier this week Elizabeth Reece and Grace Huisman both placed in the top 7 individually to lead the Lady Tigers to an ECI best 4th place finish and Yorktown will be looking for even more success at Taylor on Saturday.
1 Meet to Watch:
Wapahani Inv. @ the Muncie Sportsplex
ECI Teams Competing
Cowan
Daleville
Monroe Central
Shenandoah
Union
Union City
Wapahani
Wes-Del
Winchester
Girls Meet Preview:
With few meets on the schedule this week the Wapahani Invitational will have some eyes on it with 9 of the 10 teams competing being ECI localities. On the individual side of things Winchester’s Ella Baldwin is looking to be the girl to beat with the likes of Cowan’s Lauren Smith, Monroe Central’s Addison Coe and Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher eyeing a top finish as well. On the team side of things is where this meet will get fun for many schools, as they will be looking for an invitational win. How the 2-5 runners for Monroe Central, Cowan and Wapahani shake out will be what determines who gets to smile behind a mask with a team trophy on Saturday.
Boys Meet Preview:
On the boys side, Monroe Central’s Tucker Burris will be the one with the target on his back as other runners look to push themselves to the rare air that comes with running in the low 17’s. Making a bid to do so will be the aforementioned freshman phenom Conner Walser from Union City, Wapahani’s trio of Andrew Shrock, Griffen Miller and Brandon Ellis and Tucker’s teammates Carter Miller and Caden Landis. On the team side of things it looks like to be a two horse race with Wapahani and Monroe Central upfront. These harrier squads combined to squeeze 8 into the top 12 spots at last year’s MEC meet and every single one of those runners are back this year so look for the two Windsor Road rivals to run well against each other on Saturday.
Conner Walser (Union City) The freshman runner has been a bright spot for the Indians in this young season propelling himself amongst the top of ECI. Most recently at the Arabian Roundup, Walser posted a 14th place finish and was the second ECI runner after Yorktown’s Wiley Close to cross the line. Walser and the rest of his Union City teammates will be at the Muncie Sportsplex for the Wapahani Inv. on Saturday
Tucker Burris (Monroe Central)- Burris opened a lot of eyes last week as he came out in a blistering pace in a home meet against Mt. Vernon and Winchester establishing himself as the guy to beat in the early part of the season. Tucker will see if he can go two for two for individual wins on Saturday at the Wapahani Inv.
Lauren Smith (Cowan)- The race is on to see who will be the top runner in the MEC this year and Smith figures to be right in the middle of it. The junior standout already medaled this week at the Arabian Roundup and will be looking to collect some more hardware at the Sportsplex this weekend.
2 Teams to Watch:
Daleville Boys- After coming off a bye week last weekend the Broncos will be looking to come out of it gate strong this weekend. This formidable Daleville team is led by Senior Khoa Weston and aided by underclassmen Dawson Brooks and Ethan Colvin who each has respectable races in their season opener at Union. If the Broncos can develop a solid 5th man around their already present core they could also find themselves in the top 5 of the ECI rankings very soon.
Yorktown Girls- One thing that is always exciting about a Yorktown girls squad is that they never shy away from competition and that will definitely be the case this weekend as they travel back up to Taylor to see where they stack up against some quality teams. At Pendleton earlier this week Elizabeth Reece and Grace Huisman both placed in the top 7 individually to lead the Lady Tigers to an ECI best 4th place finish and Yorktown will be looking for even more success at Taylor on Saturday.
1 Meet to Watch:
Wapahani Inv. @ the Muncie Sportsplex
ECI Teams Competing
Cowan
Daleville
Monroe Central
Shenandoah
Union
Union City
Wapahani
Wes-Del
Winchester
Girls Meet Preview:
With few meets on the schedule this week the Wapahani Invitational will have some eyes on it with 9 of the 10 teams competing being ECI localities. On the individual side of things Winchester’s Ella Baldwin is looking to be the girl to beat with the likes of Cowan’s Lauren Smith, Monroe Central’s Addison Coe and Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher eyeing a top finish as well. On the team side of things is where this meet will get fun for many schools, as they will be looking for an invitational win. How the 2-5 runners for Monroe Central, Cowan and Wapahani shake out will be what determines who gets to smile behind a mask with a team trophy on Saturday.
Boys Meet Preview:
On the boys side, Monroe Central’s Tucker Burris will be the one with the target on his back as other runners look to push themselves to the rare air that comes with running in the low 17’s. Making a bid to do so will be the aforementioned freshman phenom Conner Walser from Union City, Wapahani’s trio of Andrew Shrock, Griffen Miller and Brandon Ellis and Tucker’s teammates Carter Miller and Caden Landis. On the team side of things it looks like to be a two horse race with Wapahani and Monroe Central upfront. These harrier squads combined to squeeze 8 into the top 12 spots at last year’s MEC meet and every single one of those runners are back this year so look for the two Windsor Road rivals to run well against each other on Saturday.
2020 - WEEK 1
3 Runners to Watch:
Elizabeth Reece (Yorktown)- The Lady Tigers will be looking to Reece’s senior leadership all season long as they gear up for another season near the top of the ECI team rankings. They will get their first chance to see where they stand against other ECI teams this weekend at the County Clash Meet at Taylor.
Lucas Fox (Delta)- After dealing with an injury for much of last season Fox will be looking to reestablish himself as one of the elite runners in ECI this Saturday at Taylor.
Ella Baldwin (Winchester)- Baldwin started her season off strong earlier this week with a 2nd place individual finish at her home Winchester Inv. She will and the rest of the cast of Falcons will face Randolph County rival Monroe Central in a triangular meet at Monroe Central on Saturday.
2 Teams to Watch:
Monroe Central Boys- Coming off a Sectional Championship (and without a race in five months) the Monroe Central boys squad will be eager to get their season going this Saturday in a triangular meet with Winchester and Mt. Vernon. The Bears return 5 of their top 7 from last year’s team and will be looking to establish themselves as one of the best teams in the area.
Wapahani Girls- The Lady Raiders came out of the gate victorious in their first meet earlier this week at the Winchester 4K Invite. Led by Sophomore Kendyl Thrasher (who finished 3rd individually at Winchester) and new comers Lilly Neal and Maddie Felton this girl’s squad is looking to make itself contenders in the MEC this season. Wapahani will be at the County vs County Inv. on Saturday.
1 Meet to Watch:
County Clash Meet @ Taylor University
ECI Teams Competing
Delta
Muncie Central
Wapahani
Wes-Del
Yorktown
Girls Meet Preview:
After months of uneasiness, anticipation and excitement it’s finally Racing Season! This week’s premiere meet features many of ECI’s heavy hitters vying to see where they stack up against perennial foes. At the top of the list of things to watch for will be how the Yorktown and Delta girl’s teams match up against each other. The two teams have gone back and forth at the top of the ECI rankings for several years and this year should be no different. Expect both new and old faces to be making a big impact for their respective squads this weekend. Individually, look for strong runs from every ECI team in this field as there is quality talent on every team. Specifically, look for Yorktown’s Elizabeth Reece, Delta’s Nicki Southerland, Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher, Wes-Del’s Jaci Knott and Muncie Central’s Maya Coggeshall to lead the way up front for their respective teams.
Boys Meet Preview:
With the two top ECI runners from last season in Matthew Mitsch and Isaiah Strong gone due to graduation the race is on to see who can establish themselves as the area’s top runner. In this race the likes of Yorktown’s Luke Harber, Delta’s Lucas Fox and Wapahani’s Andrew Shrock will look to prove that they can challenge for that number one spot. Team wise, 4 out of the 5 teams (Wapahani, Yorktown, Muncie Central and Delta) who qualified for regional at the Delta Sectional last season will all be seeing who has the best combination of top runners and depth thus far in this early season meet.
Elizabeth Reece (Yorktown)- The Lady Tigers will be looking to Reece’s senior leadership all season long as they gear up for another season near the top of the ECI team rankings. They will get their first chance to see where they stand against other ECI teams this weekend at the County Clash Meet at Taylor.
Lucas Fox (Delta)- After dealing with an injury for much of last season Fox will be looking to reestablish himself as one of the elite runners in ECI this Saturday at Taylor.
Ella Baldwin (Winchester)- Baldwin started her season off strong earlier this week with a 2nd place individual finish at her home Winchester Inv. She will and the rest of the cast of Falcons will face Randolph County rival Monroe Central in a triangular meet at Monroe Central on Saturday.
2 Teams to Watch:
Monroe Central Boys- Coming off a Sectional Championship (and without a race in five months) the Monroe Central boys squad will be eager to get their season going this Saturday in a triangular meet with Winchester and Mt. Vernon. The Bears return 5 of their top 7 from last year’s team and will be looking to establish themselves as one of the best teams in the area.
Wapahani Girls- The Lady Raiders came out of the gate victorious in their first meet earlier this week at the Winchester 4K Invite. Led by Sophomore Kendyl Thrasher (who finished 3rd individually at Winchester) and new comers Lilly Neal and Maddie Felton this girl’s squad is looking to make itself contenders in the MEC this season. Wapahani will be at the County vs County Inv. on Saturday.
1 Meet to Watch:
County Clash Meet @ Taylor University
ECI Teams Competing
Delta
Muncie Central
Wapahani
Wes-Del
Yorktown
Girls Meet Preview:
After months of uneasiness, anticipation and excitement it’s finally Racing Season! This week’s premiere meet features many of ECI’s heavy hitters vying to see where they stack up against perennial foes. At the top of the list of things to watch for will be how the Yorktown and Delta girl’s teams match up against each other. The two teams have gone back and forth at the top of the ECI rankings for several years and this year should be no different. Expect both new and old faces to be making a big impact for their respective squads this weekend. Individually, look for strong runs from every ECI team in this field as there is quality talent on every team. Specifically, look for Yorktown’s Elizabeth Reece, Delta’s Nicki Southerland, Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher, Wes-Del’s Jaci Knott and Muncie Central’s Maya Coggeshall to lead the way up front for their respective teams.
Boys Meet Preview:
With the two top ECI runners from last season in Matthew Mitsch and Isaiah Strong gone due to graduation the race is on to see who can establish themselves as the area’s top runner. In this race the likes of Yorktown’s Luke Harber, Delta’s Lucas Fox and Wapahani’s Andrew Shrock will look to prove that they can challenge for that number one spot. Team wise, 4 out of the 5 teams (Wapahani, Yorktown, Muncie Central and Delta) who qualified for regional at the Delta Sectional last season will all be seeing who has the best combination of top runners and depth thus far in this early season meet.
2019 - WEEK 7 - CONFERENCE WEEKEND
3 Runners to Watch
Brandon Ellis (Wapahani) Ellis has really picked up the pace the last couple of weeks setting multiple PR’s and has been challenging teammate Andrew Shrock as the team’s top runner. In last weekend’s meet at New Haven, Ellis torched the course with a personal best time of 17:29 to finish 3rd individually and also helped lead his team to win the Class A Division of the New Haven Classic. Ellis and the Raiders are at the MEC Championship Meet at Blue River on Saturday.
Lydia Harvey (New Castle)- Harvey is one of the few ECI ladies to go sub 20 so far this year and getting there again will definitely be on her mind these next couple of weeks. Going into this weekend Harvey is coming off a 2nd place finish at Delta’s Eagle Inv. and an individual win at her home New Castle Inv. The freshman has been turning eyes all season long and as championship season approaches look for Lydia to continue her success that she has had thus far. The Trojans are at Pendleton on Saturday for the HHC Meet.
Lydia Keihn (Jay County) – ECI has gotten to learn a lot about the Lady Patriots the last couple of weeks and what has been found out is that Jay County is GOOD and their freshman front runner Lydia Keihn is on the short list on any ECI ranking you would want to make. In the last two meets Keihn has put together top 10 finishes at the Jim Leffler Inv. and the Eagle Inv. while going sub 21 for each one. Look for Keihn and the rest of her Jay County squad to continue their impressive season this weekend at the ACAC Meet.
2 Teams to Watch
Delta Boys- Delta has been piecing it’s team together all season long after being bitten by the injury bug for most of the season, but as the tournament quickly approaches the Eagles are as formidable foe as any across ECI land. The biggest reason for Delta’s competitiveness this season has been its depth. This group has had an ECI best 9 runners crack the 20-minute threshold this year, and even without lead runner Lucas Fox for most of the year, runners Cody Bivens, Sam Campbell, Clay Bragg, Riley Brand and Jarren Haggard have been steadily improving and look for them to make some noise in the upcoming weeks.
Yorktown Girls- The Lady Tigers have been out in front of the rest of ECI most of the season and look for them to try to continue that has tournament season approaches with teams like Delta and Jay County also vying for that top ECI spot. Leading the charge for Yorktown is senior Amberleigh Sorensen. This proven runner’s leadership will be key as she looks to lead her teammates to success in the week’s ahead. Aside from Sorensen, one can find quality runners all over the place on this Yorktown squad. Starting with the 2-4 of Elizabeth Reece, Natalie Moulton and Sara Barnhizer the team also has a cluster competing for the coveted 5th spot, which includes Alison Smith and Rachel and Maddy Stagge. Yorktown runs at the HHC Meet this weekend.
1 Meet to Watch
MEC Championship @ Blue River
ECI Teams:
Blue River
Cowan
Daleville
Shenandoah
Union
Wes-Del
Randolph Southern
Monroe Central
Wapahani
Girls Preview:
INDIVIDUAL: The ECI Bold Prediction of the Week is that Leah Keesling will race out to the front of the pack in the Girls' MEC race but behind her will be a plethora of girls fighting for a top 5 finish. Among these harriers will be Cowan’s dynamic duo of Lauren Smith and McKenna Minton, Wapahani’s Lexi Wulff, Monroe Central’s Gabby Beckham, Shenandoah’s Stormie Finch and Wes-Del’s Jaci Knott.
TEAM: It appears to be a three horse race in who could become MEC team champion this year between Cowan, Randolph Southern and Monroe Central. The Lady Blackhawks have been a top 5 ECI team all season long and until recently appeared to be the clear favorites to win the MEC but after a dominating performance by Randolph Southern this week to win the Randolph County Meet the Lady Rebels have definitely thrown their hat in the ring as a clear contender. The aforementioned Lady Bears will definitely have something to say about this meet as well with senior Gabby Beckham leading the Monroe Central charge.
Boys Preview:
INDIVIDUAL: Who the individual champion will be at the MEC Championship meet is as big of a toss up as it has been in quite some time with no clear number one runner to claim the top spot. Wapahani sophomore Brandon Ellis is the only runner out of the MEC to break 17:30 this season (Ellis did it last week at New Haven running while running a 17:29), but Cowan’s Ezra Daniel Wright has won most of the matchups against his MEC counterparts this season. Monroe Central’s Caden Shumaker and Wapahani’s Andrew Shrock and Griffen Miller have also gone sub 18 this season with Monroe Central's Tucker Burris and Shenandoah's Borru Kishpaugh right in the figuring to be in the mix up front as well.
TEAM: Look for Wapahani and Monroe Central to contend for the team championship with multiple Raiders and Bears near the front claiming all-conference honors. Each team is coming off good performances at New Haven this past weekend and the Bears have went on to win the Randolph County Championship this week to build some momentum going into this weekend’s race. What kind of separation Wapahani and Monroe Central’s pack can get from each other will in all likelihood be what determines who gets the conference crown between these squads.
Brandon Ellis (Wapahani) Ellis has really picked up the pace the last couple of weeks setting multiple PR’s and has been challenging teammate Andrew Shrock as the team’s top runner. In last weekend’s meet at New Haven, Ellis torched the course with a personal best time of 17:29 to finish 3rd individually and also helped lead his team to win the Class A Division of the New Haven Classic. Ellis and the Raiders are at the MEC Championship Meet at Blue River on Saturday.
Lydia Harvey (New Castle)- Harvey is one of the few ECI ladies to go sub 20 so far this year and getting there again will definitely be on her mind these next couple of weeks. Going into this weekend Harvey is coming off a 2nd place finish at Delta’s Eagle Inv. and an individual win at her home New Castle Inv. The freshman has been turning eyes all season long and as championship season approaches look for Lydia to continue her success that she has had thus far. The Trojans are at Pendleton on Saturday for the HHC Meet.
Lydia Keihn (Jay County) – ECI has gotten to learn a lot about the Lady Patriots the last couple of weeks and what has been found out is that Jay County is GOOD and their freshman front runner Lydia Keihn is on the short list on any ECI ranking you would want to make. In the last two meets Keihn has put together top 10 finishes at the Jim Leffler Inv. and the Eagle Inv. while going sub 21 for each one. Look for Keihn and the rest of her Jay County squad to continue their impressive season this weekend at the ACAC Meet.
2 Teams to Watch
Delta Boys- Delta has been piecing it’s team together all season long after being bitten by the injury bug for most of the season, but as the tournament quickly approaches the Eagles are as formidable foe as any across ECI land. The biggest reason for Delta’s competitiveness this season has been its depth. This group has had an ECI best 9 runners crack the 20-minute threshold this year, and even without lead runner Lucas Fox for most of the year, runners Cody Bivens, Sam Campbell, Clay Bragg, Riley Brand and Jarren Haggard have been steadily improving and look for them to make some noise in the upcoming weeks.
Yorktown Girls- The Lady Tigers have been out in front of the rest of ECI most of the season and look for them to try to continue that has tournament season approaches with teams like Delta and Jay County also vying for that top ECI spot. Leading the charge for Yorktown is senior Amberleigh Sorensen. This proven runner’s leadership will be key as she looks to lead her teammates to success in the week’s ahead. Aside from Sorensen, one can find quality runners all over the place on this Yorktown squad. Starting with the 2-4 of Elizabeth Reece, Natalie Moulton and Sara Barnhizer the team also has a cluster competing for the coveted 5th spot, which includes Alison Smith and Rachel and Maddy Stagge. Yorktown runs at the HHC Meet this weekend.
1 Meet to Watch
MEC Championship @ Blue River
ECI Teams:
Blue River
Cowan
Daleville
Shenandoah
Union
Wes-Del
Randolph Southern
Monroe Central
Wapahani
Girls Preview:
INDIVIDUAL: The ECI Bold Prediction of the Week is that Leah Keesling will race out to the front of the pack in the Girls' MEC race but behind her will be a plethora of girls fighting for a top 5 finish. Among these harriers will be Cowan’s dynamic duo of Lauren Smith and McKenna Minton, Wapahani’s Lexi Wulff, Monroe Central’s Gabby Beckham, Shenandoah’s Stormie Finch and Wes-Del’s Jaci Knott.
TEAM: It appears to be a three horse race in who could become MEC team champion this year between Cowan, Randolph Southern and Monroe Central. The Lady Blackhawks have been a top 5 ECI team all season long and until recently appeared to be the clear favorites to win the MEC but after a dominating performance by Randolph Southern this week to win the Randolph County Meet the Lady Rebels have definitely thrown their hat in the ring as a clear contender. The aforementioned Lady Bears will definitely have something to say about this meet as well with senior Gabby Beckham leading the Monroe Central charge.
Boys Preview:
INDIVIDUAL: Who the individual champion will be at the MEC Championship meet is as big of a toss up as it has been in quite some time with no clear number one runner to claim the top spot. Wapahani sophomore Brandon Ellis is the only runner out of the MEC to break 17:30 this season (Ellis did it last week at New Haven running while running a 17:29), but Cowan’s Ezra Daniel Wright has won most of the matchups against his MEC counterparts this season. Monroe Central’s Caden Shumaker and Wapahani’s Andrew Shrock and Griffen Miller have also gone sub 18 this season with Monroe Central's Tucker Burris and Shenandoah's Borru Kishpaugh right in the figuring to be in the mix up front as well.
TEAM: Look for Wapahani and Monroe Central to contend for the team championship with multiple Raiders and Bears near the front claiming all-conference honors. Each team is coming off good performances at New Haven this past weekend and the Bears have went on to win the Randolph County Championship this week to build some momentum going into this weekend’s race. What kind of separation Wapahani and Monroe Central’s pack can get from each other will in all likelihood be what determines who gets the conference crown between these squads.
WEEK 6:
3 Runners to Watch
Ella Baldwin (Winchester) Baldwin has been having another successful season for the Lady Falcons this fall as she has placed in the top 8 in every meet she has ran this year. Baldwin’s best performance to date came with a runner-up showing at the Union County Inv. where she dropped a personal best time of 20:53 (on a traditionally slower Union County course at that.) Look for Baldwin to continue her success this Saturday at Delta’s Eagle Invite.
Karly Puckett (Monroe Central)- In a year where several freshmen girls are having impressive seasons across ECI, Puckett has been among the best. Currently Karly is riding a PR of 22:27 that she ran recently at the Randolph Southern Inv. Puckett has showed steady improvement all year long and will look for her time to continue to drop as cooler weather and fast courses approach in the week’s ahead. Puckett and the Lady Bears are at New Haven this weekend.
Khoa Weston (Daleville) – Khoa has steadily been finding his stride this cross-country season and is aiming to return to the times that helped make him a regional qualifier a season ago. Last weekend Weston ran a season best time of 19:11 at the Jim Leffler Inv. at Yorktown, a time over 30 seconds better than his previous season best and was also a mark that made him the top finisher for his Bronco team. Look for Weston to continue his quest for another Regional opportunity as he and the rest of his Bronco teammates are at Delta this weekend.
2 Teams to Watch
Muncie Central Boys- As championship season quickly approaches the Bearcats will have hopes to start peaking at the right time to give them some postseason success. At the front of Muncie Central’s pack to lead the charge are ECI Top 25 Runners and Seniors Isaiah Strong, Robert Thomma, and A.J. Martinez. Along with Dylan Bradford, who is beginning to return to form and emerging freshmen Princeton Young, Jonathon Jones and Del’shaun Johnson look for the Bearcats to make a move. They are at the New Haven Inv. on Saturday.
Wapahani Girls- Led by lone senior and ECI standout Lexi Wulff this young Raider team has been getting lots of race experience this season and is starting to capitalize with lower times and improved finishes. Among the Raiders young guns, first year runner Kendyl Thrasher has emerged as a formative number two runner for the Raiders as shown by her All-County performance earlier this year in the Delaware County Meet. Sophomores Summer Leatherman, Khloe Felton and Freshman Abby Sewell are also showing improvement of what should be a solid core for Wapahani in the next couple years as well. Wapahani is at New Haven this weekend.
1 Meet to Watch
Eagle Invite @ The Muncie Sportsplex
ECI Teams
Blackford
Blue River
Cowan
Daleville
Delta
Jay County
New Castle
Shenandoah
Union
Union City
Wes-Del
Winchester
Girls Meet Preview:
After Yorktown and others had a good look at the Jay County squad a week ago, it will be Delta’s turn this week to see how they stack up against the Lady Patriots this weekend for the Eagle Inv. The Delta girls are coming off an impressive performance at Connersville where front-runners Makayla Robles and Shannyn Cox went 1-2 overall to help lead the Lady Eagles to a dominating win. How these two along with Ashley Brelage and Camryn Eldridge stack up against the impressive Jay County foursome of Lydia Keihn, Raven Weaver, Sophia Fugiett and Lindy Wood will be will in all likelihood what will determine who the top ECI team will be at the Eagle Inv. On the individual side of things look for New Castle’s Lydia Harvey and Winchester’s Ella Baldwin to continue their impressive campaigns and for Cowan’s Lauren Smith and McKenna Minton to flex a lot of muscle in the small school division race in what should be another impressive race for the Blackhawks.
Boys Meet Preview:
On the boys side look for Cowan’s Ezra Daniel Wright to show out on the same Sectional and Regional course where he hopes to have a lot of success in the upcoming weeks. Wright will be competing with New Castle’s Andrew Fewell for top ECI time coming out of the Eagle Inv. (they will however will be in separate race divisions.) On the team side of things look for Delta’s pack to try to close the gap on an improving New Castle team as they vie to return to the ECI’s top 5 team rankings. Also, watch out for the 7 MEC schools in this meet (including ECI schools Cowan, Daleville, Blue River, Union, Shenandoah and Wes-Del) to really go after each other with the all important MEC Conference Meet only one week away.
Ella Baldwin (Winchester) Baldwin has been having another successful season for the Lady Falcons this fall as she has placed in the top 8 in every meet she has ran this year. Baldwin’s best performance to date came with a runner-up showing at the Union County Inv. where she dropped a personal best time of 20:53 (on a traditionally slower Union County course at that.) Look for Baldwin to continue her success this Saturday at Delta’s Eagle Invite.
Karly Puckett (Monroe Central)- In a year where several freshmen girls are having impressive seasons across ECI, Puckett has been among the best. Currently Karly is riding a PR of 22:27 that she ran recently at the Randolph Southern Inv. Puckett has showed steady improvement all year long and will look for her time to continue to drop as cooler weather and fast courses approach in the week’s ahead. Puckett and the Lady Bears are at New Haven this weekend.
Khoa Weston (Daleville) – Khoa has steadily been finding his stride this cross-country season and is aiming to return to the times that helped make him a regional qualifier a season ago. Last weekend Weston ran a season best time of 19:11 at the Jim Leffler Inv. at Yorktown, a time over 30 seconds better than his previous season best and was also a mark that made him the top finisher for his Bronco team. Look for Weston to continue his quest for another Regional opportunity as he and the rest of his Bronco teammates are at Delta this weekend.
2 Teams to Watch
Muncie Central Boys- As championship season quickly approaches the Bearcats will have hopes to start peaking at the right time to give them some postseason success. At the front of Muncie Central’s pack to lead the charge are ECI Top 25 Runners and Seniors Isaiah Strong, Robert Thomma, and A.J. Martinez. Along with Dylan Bradford, who is beginning to return to form and emerging freshmen Princeton Young, Jonathon Jones and Del’shaun Johnson look for the Bearcats to make a move. They are at the New Haven Inv. on Saturday.
Wapahani Girls- Led by lone senior and ECI standout Lexi Wulff this young Raider team has been getting lots of race experience this season and is starting to capitalize with lower times and improved finishes. Among the Raiders young guns, first year runner Kendyl Thrasher has emerged as a formative number two runner for the Raiders as shown by her All-County performance earlier this year in the Delaware County Meet. Sophomores Summer Leatherman, Khloe Felton and Freshman Abby Sewell are also showing improvement of what should be a solid core for Wapahani in the next couple years as well. Wapahani is at New Haven this weekend.
1 Meet to Watch
Eagle Invite @ The Muncie Sportsplex
ECI Teams
Blackford
Blue River
Cowan
Daleville
Delta
Jay County
New Castle
Shenandoah
Union
Union City
Wes-Del
Winchester
Girls Meet Preview:
After Yorktown and others had a good look at the Jay County squad a week ago, it will be Delta’s turn this week to see how they stack up against the Lady Patriots this weekend for the Eagle Inv. The Delta girls are coming off an impressive performance at Connersville where front-runners Makayla Robles and Shannyn Cox went 1-2 overall to help lead the Lady Eagles to a dominating win. How these two along with Ashley Brelage and Camryn Eldridge stack up against the impressive Jay County foursome of Lydia Keihn, Raven Weaver, Sophia Fugiett and Lindy Wood will be will in all likelihood what will determine who the top ECI team will be at the Eagle Inv. On the individual side of things look for New Castle’s Lydia Harvey and Winchester’s Ella Baldwin to continue their impressive campaigns and for Cowan’s Lauren Smith and McKenna Minton to flex a lot of muscle in the small school division race in what should be another impressive race for the Blackhawks.
Boys Meet Preview:
On the boys side look for Cowan’s Ezra Daniel Wright to show out on the same Sectional and Regional course where he hopes to have a lot of success in the upcoming weeks. Wright will be competing with New Castle’s Andrew Fewell for top ECI time coming out of the Eagle Inv. (they will however will be in separate race divisions.) On the team side of things look for Delta’s pack to try to close the gap on an improving New Castle team as they vie to return to the ECI’s top 5 team rankings. Also, watch out for the 7 MEC schools in this meet (including ECI schools Cowan, Daleville, Blue River, Union, Shenandoah and Wes-Del) to really go after each other with the all important MEC Conference Meet only one week away.
Week 5:
3 Runners to Watch
Caden Shumaker (Monroe Central)- Shumaker is coming off two monster races at the Randolph Southern Inv. and Muncie Central “Bearcat” Inv. and will be looking to find another gear as championship season approaches in the coming weeks. There, Caden will be looking to lead the Bears in achieving both individual and team success. Shumaker and his Monroe Central team will be at the South Adams Inv. on Saturday.
Andrew Shrock (Wapahani)- Amongst the top runners for the Raiders this season no one has showed the consistency up front from race to race like Andrew Shrock has. His accolades so far this year includes an individual invite win at Winchester, a top 5 performance at the Delaware County Meet and he has dipped under the 18 minute threshold twice in this young season. Shrock and the Raiders will look to continue to improve this weekend at Yorktown.
Elizabeth Reece (Yorktown) – Reece has solidly been a top 5 ECI runner all season long and rightfully so. Thus far this season she has grabbed top 3 performances at the County Challenge and the Delaware County Meet and finished 5th at the Marion Inv. Reece hasn’t finished lower than 14th individually all season and that meet coincidentally was where she ran her season best time of 20:38. Look for Elizabeth to continue her tear on her home course this Saturday for the Jim Leffler Inv.
2 Teams to Watch
New Castle Boys- The New Castle Boys have been picking up steam the last couple of weeks and they have emerged as a legitimate threat to enter into the coveted ECI Top 5 Rankings in the near future. Leading the way for the Trojans are the strong 1-2 punch of emerging sophomores’ Andrew Fewell and Skyler Dickey. New Castle is at the Jim Leffler Inv. on Saturday.
Wes-Del Girls- Led by frontrunner Jaci Knott the Lady Warriors have seen some drastic improvements from their squad in the first half of the season. Most notably from sophomores’ Alleigh Swift and Meg Carlson who have both already lowered their times by more than two minutes this season to assert themselves as number three and four runners on this Warrior team. Along with lone senior Kamyrn McGlothlin, look for the Wes-Del girls to continue their upward trend this weekend at Yorktown.
1 Meet to Watch
Jim Leffler Inv. @ Yorktown
ECI Teams
Cowan
Daleville
Jay County
Muncie Burris
Muncie Central
New Castle
Shenandoah
Wapahani
Wes-Del
Yorktown
Girls Meet Preview:
With nearly half the ECI field traveling to Yorktown this weekend this gives yet another opportunity for area runners to see how they stack up against one another. One strong point of interest in the girls’ race will be to see how Jay County stacks up against the likes of Cowan, Muncie Central and Yorktown. This will serve as the first time this season many ECI schools have seen this very good and talented Jay County team featuring ECI Top 25 runners Lydia Keihn, Raven Weaver and Sophia Fugiett.
Boys Meet Preview:
A place to pay attention to in the Boys’ race will be up front. Not only with Yorktown’s Matthew “Money” Mitsch as he continues his stellar season but other area runners including Mitsch’s teammates Luke Harber and Gannon Crosser, Cowan’s Daniel Wright, Muncie’s Isaiah Strong, New Castle’s Andrew Fewell and Syler Dickey, Shenandoah’s Borru Kishpaugh and Wapahani’s quartet of Andrew Shrock, Griffen Miller, Brandon Ellis and Colton Boggs will have a great opportunity to turn some times against very good ECI outsider competition coming in from Lawrence North, Greenfield Central and Pendleton Heights.
Caden Shumaker (Monroe Central)- Shumaker is coming off two monster races at the Randolph Southern Inv. and Muncie Central “Bearcat” Inv. and will be looking to find another gear as championship season approaches in the coming weeks. There, Caden will be looking to lead the Bears in achieving both individual and team success. Shumaker and his Monroe Central team will be at the South Adams Inv. on Saturday.
Andrew Shrock (Wapahani)- Amongst the top runners for the Raiders this season no one has showed the consistency up front from race to race like Andrew Shrock has. His accolades so far this year includes an individual invite win at Winchester, a top 5 performance at the Delaware County Meet and he has dipped under the 18 minute threshold twice in this young season. Shrock and the Raiders will look to continue to improve this weekend at Yorktown.
Elizabeth Reece (Yorktown) – Reece has solidly been a top 5 ECI runner all season long and rightfully so. Thus far this season she has grabbed top 3 performances at the County Challenge and the Delaware County Meet and finished 5th at the Marion Inv. Reece hasn’t finished lower than 14th individually all season and that meet coincidentally was where she ran her season best time of 20:38. Look for Elizabeth to continue her tear on her home course this Saturday for the Jim Leffler Inv.
2 Teams to Watch
New Castle Boys- The New Castle Boys have been picking up steam the last couple of weeks and they have emerged as a legitimate threat to enter into the coveted ECI Top 5 Rankings in the near future. Leading the way for the Trojans are the strong 1-2 punch of emerging sophomores’ Andrew Fewell and Skyler Dickey. New Castle is at the Jim Leffler Inv. on Saturday.
Wes-Del Girls- Led by frontrunner Jaci Knott the Lady Warriors have seen some drastic improvements from their squad in the first half of the season. Most notably from sophomores’ Alleigh Swift and Meg Carlson who have both already lowered their times by more than two minutes this season to assert themselves as number three and four runners on this Warrior team. Along with lone senior Kamyrn McGlothlin, look for the Wes-Del girls to continue their upward trend this weekend at Yorktown.
1 Meet to Watch
Jim Leffler Inv. @ Yorktown
ECI Teams
Cowan
Daleville
Jay County
Muncie Burris
Muncie Central
New Castle
Shenandoah
Wapahani
Wes-Del
Yorktown
Girls Meet Preview:
With nearly half the ECI field traveling to Yorktown this weekend this gives yet another opportunity for area runners to see how they stack up against one another. One strong point of interest in the girls’ race will be to see how Jay County stacks up against the likes of Cowan, Muncie Central and Yorktown. This will serve as the first time this season many ECI schools have seen this very good and talented Jay County team featuring ECI Top 25 runners Lydia Keihn, Raven Weaver and Sophia Fugiett.
Boys Meet Preview:
A place to pay attention to in the Boys’ race will be up front. Not only with Yorktown’s Matthew “Money” Mitsch as he continues his stellar season but other area runners including Mitsch’s teammates Luke Harber and Gannon Crosser, Cowan’s Daniel Wright, Muncie’s Isaiah Strong, New Castle’s Andrew Fewell and Syler Dickey, Shenandoah’s Borru Kishpaugh and Wapahani’s quartet of Andrew Shrock, Griffen Miller, Brandon Ellis and Colton Boggs will have a great opportunity to turn some times against very good ECI outsider competition coming in from Lawrence North, Greenfield Central and Pendleton Heights.
WEEK 4:
3 Runners to Watch
Ryan Bade (Yorktown)- On a day where there were lots of good days for Tiger runners at Tuesday’s Delaware County Meet Bade’s 7th place performance may have been the most impressive. Bade has showed steady improvement already lowering his PR twice in this young season and also ran an impressive 18:47 on a hot Cowan course to solidify himself an All-County nod. Bade and the Tigers will attack the Randolph Southern Inv. on Saturday.
McKenna Minton (Cowan)- McKenna Minton had herself a day at Tuesday’s Delaware County Meet while placing 9th and only missing a personal best by .2 seconds in a race where the heat was definitely a factor. The freshman Blackhawk runner will continue to try to move herself up the ECI rankings this weekend at Randolph Southern.
Paris Turner (Muncie Central) – Don’t look now but Paris Turner is developing into a legitimate number one runner for the Bearcats. This past weekend Turner crushed her PR from a season ago 47 seconds to run a 21:46 at the Marion Inv. Turner will look to continue her momentum this Saturday at Randolph Southern.
2 Teams to Watch
Wapahani Boys- After losing County by a single point earlier this week to Yorktown the Wapahani Boys will look to bounce back as they get their crack at the usually fast IWU course on Saturday for the Wildcat Inv. The Raiders starting five of Andrew Shrock, Griffen Miller, Brandon Ellis, Colton Boggs and Joey Dickinson have been impressive so far and will be looking to see their times to continue to drop this weekend.
Randolph Southern Girls- This small but ferocious team is starting to pick up steam across ECI and will be looking for a breakout meet this weekend on their home turf. Perennial front runner Leah Keesling will be leading the way for the Rebels and look for the pack of Harley Shinn, Olivia Keesling, Olivia Walker and Mattie Hale to continue their march as they eye Randolph County and MEC Championships in the coming weeks.
1 Meet to Watch
Randolph Southern Inv. @ Randolph Southern
ECI Teams
Cowan
Monroe Central
Muncie Central
Muncie Burris
New Castle
Randolph Southern
Shenandoah
Union
Winchester
Yorktown
Girls Meet Preview:
With half of the ECI field running in Lynn this weekend it makes for a good meet to measure area teams with one another. Where this might be most evident during this race is how current Top 5 ECI teams Muncie Central, Cowan and Top 5 hopeful Randolph Southern stack up against each other. It is easy to predict that Keesling will be up front for the Rebels but where the pack runners from each of these three schools fall will be the posing question and could be the difference not only in this meet but who could qualify for Regional next month as well.
Boys Meet Preview:
The focus of the Boy’s Meet will be more upfront as runners from Yorktown, Muncie Central, Monroe Central and New Castle will all be battling each other for top team spots. Individually, Yorktown’s Matthew Mitsch and Muncie’s Isaiah Strong will lead the charge but how the cluster of Yorktown’s Luke Harber, Cowan’s Daniel Wright, New Castle’s Andrew Fewell and Skyler Dickey and Monroe Central’s Caden Shumaker finish will be interesting to see. In a race where 15 of the top 25 runners in ECI will be running we could see a shuffle in next week’s in this highly competitive race.
Ryan Bade (Yorktown)- On a day where there were lots of good days for Tiger runners at Tuesday’s Delaware County Meet Bade’s 7th place performance may have been the most impressive. Bade has showed steady improvement already lowering his PR twice in this young season and also ran an impressive 18:47 on a hot Cowan course to solidify himself an All-County nod. Bade and the Tigers will attack the Randolph Southern Inv. on Saturday.
McKenna Minton (Cowan)- McKenna Minton had herself a day at Tuesday’s Delaware County Meet while placing 9th and only missing a personal best by .2 seconds in a race where the heat was definitely a factor. The freshman Blackhawk runner will continue to try to move herself up the ECI rankings this weekend at Randolph Southern.
Paris Turner (Muncie Central) – Don’t look now but Paris Turner is developing into a legitimate number one runner for the Bearcats. This past weekend Turner crushed her PR from a season ago 47 seconds to run a 21:46 at the Marion Inv. Turner will look to continue her momentum this Saturday at Randolph Southern.
2 Teams to Watch
Wapahani Boys- After losing County by a single point earlier this week to Yorktown the Wapahani Boys will look to bounce back as they get their crack at the usually fast IWU course on Saturday for the Wildcat Inv. The Raiders starting five of Andrew Shrock, Griffen Miller, Brandon Ellis, Colton Boggs and Joey Dickinson have been impressive so far and will be looking to see their times to continue to drop this weekend.
Randolph Southern Girls- This small but ferocious team is starting to pick up steam across ECI and will be looking for a breakout meet this weekend on their home turf. Perennial front runner Leah Keesling will be leading the way for the Rebels and look for the pack of Harley Shinn, Olivia Keesling, Olivia Walker and Mattie Hale to continue their march as they eye Randolph County and MEC Championships in the coming weeks.
1 Meet to Watch
Randolph Southern Inv. @ Randolph Southern
ECI Teams
Cowan
Monroe Central
Muncie Central
Muncie Burris
New Castle
Randolph Southern
Shenandoah
Union
Winchester
Yorktown
Girls Meet Preview:
With half of the ECI field running in Lynn this weekend it makes for a good meet to measure area teams with one another. Where this might be most evident during this race is how current Top 5 ECI teams Muncie Central, Cowan and Top 5 hopeful Randolph Southern stack up against each other. It is easy to predict that Keesling will be up front for the Rebels but where the pack runners from each of these three schools fall will be the posing question and could be the difference not only in this meet but who could qualify for Regional next month as well.
Boys Meet Preview:
The focus of the Boy’s Meet will be more upfront as runners from Yorktown, Muncie Central, Monroe Central and New Castle will all be battling each other for top team spots. Individually, Yorktown’s Matthew Mitsch and Muncie’s Isaiah Strong will lead the charge but how the cluster of Yorktown’s Luke Harber, Cowan’s Daniel Wright, New Castle’s Andrew Fewell and Skyler Dickey and Monroe Central’s Caden Shumaker finish will be interesting to see. In a race where 15 of the top 25 runners in ECI will be running we could see a shuffle in next week’s in this highly competitive race.
Week 3:
3 Runners to Watch
Ezra Daniel Wright (Cowan)- Wright has been the model of consistency so far this season running within five seconds of the 18:30 minute mark in each of his three meets this year. Look for Wright to up near the front at Union City this Saturday.
Shannyn Cox (Delta)- Cox started her freshman campaign a couple weeks ago with an impressive 21:52 at the County Clash. After some time off now (because of the rain out in last Saturday’s Rushville Inv.) Cox could be primed to run very well on a speedy IWU course for the Marion Inv. this weekend.
Chloe Wyatt (Union City) – Wyatt has always ran well at her home invite and should be eyeing a medal spot as she has been in the top 10 each year she has ran the Union City Inv. Coupled with going down the famous Union City Inv. slip-and-slide, Wyatt should make a splash on Saturday.
2 Teams to Watch
Muncie Central Boys- The Bearcats are steadily improving and heading in the right direction as the meat of the season is quickly approaching. The quartet of Isaiah Strong, Dylan Bradford, Robert Thomma and A.J. Martinez who have been staples of the Muncie Central team for sometime now will lead a sea of young runners to Marion this week for what they hope will be the breakout race they have been building towards.
Monroe Central Girls- Lead girl Gabby Beckham had her season debut on Tuesday and she started the season in fine form running a 22:14 on the Cowan course. With Beckham back in the fold look for her to lead her Bear squad up the ECI rankings this weekend at Union City.
1 Meet to Watch
Marion Invitational @ IWU
ECI Teams
Winchester
Randolph Southern
Yorktown
Muncie Central
New Castle
Delta
Muncie Burris
Girls Meet Preview:
The Marion Inv. has become a showcase meet not only for ECI but the entire state of Indiana as runners and teams have been attracted to the fast times that the course traditionally brings. On the girl’s side, Randolph Southern’s Leah Keesling will make her season debut and will be hopeful to start her season with a strong performance. At a meet where every runner will be looking to set a PR also look for Winchester’s Ella Baldwin, Yorktown’s Amberleigh Sorensen, Delta’s Makayla Roble’s and New Castle’s Lydia Harvey to lead their teams in what should be a speedy day for ECI.
Boys Meet Preview:
The boys’ races will be filled with runners chasing times and places throughout the day on Saturday with three different divisions hosting the various ECI teams. Yorktown’s Matthew Mitsch will have a lot of eyes on him going in, especially since he is coming off a school record setting performance last week at Taylor posting a time of 15:54. Other familiar faces that should have impressive days in the respective races are Delta’s Lucas Fox, New Castle’s Skyler Dickey and Delta’s Lucas Fox.
Ezra Daniel Wright (Cowan)- Wright has been the model of consistency so far this season running within five seconds of the 18:30 minute mark in each of his three meets this year. Look for Wright to up near the front at Union City this Saturday.
Shannyn Cox (Delta)- Cox started her freshman campaign a couple weeks ago with an impressive 21:52 at the County Clash. After some time off now (because of the rain out in last Saturday’s Rushville Inv.) Cox could be primed to run very well on a speedy IWU course for the Marion Inv. this weekend.
Chloe Wyatt (Union City) – Wyatt has always ran well at her home invite and should be eyeing a medal spot as she has been in the top 10 each year she has ran the Union City Inv. Coupled with going down the famous Union City Inv. slip-and-slide, Wyatt should make a splash on Saturday.
2 Teams to Watch
Muncie Central Boys- The Bearcats are steadily improving and heading in the right direction as the meat of the season is quickly approaching. The quartet of Isaiah Strong, Dylan Bradford, Robert Thomma and A.J. Martinez who have been staples of the Muncie Central team for sometime now will lead a sea of young runners to Marion this week for what they hope will be the breakout race they have been building towards.
Monroe Central Girls- Lead girl Gabby Beckham had her season debut on Tuesday and she started the season in fine form running a 22:14 on the Cowan course. With Beckham back in the fold look for her to lead her Bear squad up the ECI rankings this weekend at Union City.
1 Meet to Watch
Marion Invitational @ IWU
ECI Teams
Winchester
Randolph Southern
Yorktown
Muncie Central
New Castle
Delta
Muncie Burris
Girls Meet Preview:
The Marion Inv. has become a showcase meet not only for ECI but the entire state of Indiana as runners and teams have been attracted to the fast times that the course traditionally brings. On the girl’s side, Randolph Southern’s Leah Keesling will make her season debut and will be hopeful to start her season with a strong performance. At a meet where every runner will be looking to set a PR also look for Winchester’s Ella Baldwin, Yorktown’s Amberleigh Sorensen, Delta’s Makayla Roble’s and New Castle’s Lydia Harvey to lead their teams in what should be a speedy day for ECI.
Boys Meet Preview:
The boys’ races will be filled with runners chasing times and places throughout the day on Saturday with three different divisions hosting the various ECI teams. Yorktown’s Matthew Mitsch will have a lot of eyes on him going in, especially since he is coming off a school record setting performance last week at Taylor posting a time of 15:54. Other familiar faces that should have impressive days in the respective races are Delta’s Lucas Fox, New Castle’s Skyler Dickey and Delta’s Lucas Fox.
WEEK 2:
3 Runners to Watch
Lexi Wulff (Wapahani)- The Wapahani frontrunner has been on a tear so far this season collecting medals at the Winchester Inv. (2nd), the County Clash (4th) and the Arabian Roundup (18th). Look for Wulff to be eyeing another top five finish at Rushville this weekend.
Gabe Sayre (Blue River)- This freshmen phenom is off to a great start this season and his posted back to back sub 19-minute performances in the last week making him one of the best freshmen in the area in this early part of the season. Watch for Sayre to make some noise this Saturday at Rushville.
Tucker Burris (Monroe Central)- This Monroe Central standout has solidified himself into the vaunted Monroe Central lead pack that we have come accustomed to over the years from the Bears. After missing most of XC season last year, look for Burris to continue to improve as he runs at Rushville on Saturday
2 Teams to Watch
Yorktown Boys- What a difference a meet makes for a Yorktown Boys team that saw the return of their pole runner Matthew Mitsch at the Arabian Roundup on Wednesday to help pace the Tigers to an ECI best 6th place finish in a very competitive race. Along with the tandem of Luke Harber and Gannon Crosser the Tigers will definitely be a team to keep an eye on as they go back up to Taylor University on Saturday for the annual Taylor Inv.
Shenandoah Girls- The Shenandoah girl’s team is quietly improving in a year where it looks like the MEC team championship is up for grabs. Led by senior leaders Stormie Finch and Madi Jenkins look for the Raider girls to continue to step up as they run at the Rushville Inv. on Saturday.
1 Meet to Watch
Rushville Inv @ Rushville, IN
ECI Teams Competing;
Division III: Wapahani, Monroe Central, Blue River, Muncie Burris, Cowan, Daleville, Randolph Southern
Division II: Delta, Winchester, Shenandoah
Division I: Muncie Central, New Castle
Girls Meet Preview:
With over half the ECI field competing at Rushville and with fair weather in the forecast it could mean there will be some fast times for some of the area runners this week. In the Division III race (which features the most ECI schools) look for MEC rival’s Monroe Central, Cowan, Randolph Southern and Wapahani to battle each other to be the top representative of ECI. As for the other races, look for Delta to make a lot of noise in the Division II race with Makayla Robles being on the shortlist as one of the favorites for the race. The Division I race, which features both Muncie Central and New Castle will battle competitive fields but look for freshman Lydia Harvey to make some noise as she had an impressive high school debut at Pendleton on Wednesday with a top 10 finish.
Boys Meet Preview:
Like the girls race, the Division III race will have a plethora of ECI teams competing but look for the team from Wapahani and their strong 1-5 pack to make a bid to challenge other favorites for the team crown. In the Division II race look for Lucas Fox of Delta and Shenandoah’s Borru Kishpaugh to be in middle of medal contention. Finally, the Division I boy’s race will feature a solid Muncie Central team competing with lead man Isaiah Strong running with plenty of race competition to possibly post another impressive time on this young season.
Lexi Wulff (Wapahani)- The Wapahani frontrunner has been on a tear so far this season collecting medals at the Winchester Inv. (2nd), the County Clash (4th) and the Arabian Roundup (18th). Look for Wulff to be eyeing another top five finish at Rushville this weekend.
Gabe Sayre (Blue River)- This freshmen phenom is off to a great start this season and his posted back to back sub 19-minute performances in the last week making him one of the best freshmen in the area in this early part of the season. Watch for Sayre to make some noise this Saturday at Rushville.
Tucker Burris (Monroe Central)- This Monroe Central standout has solidified himself into the vaunted Monroe Central lead pack that we have come accustomed to over the years from the Bears. After missing most of XC season last year, look for Burris to continue to improve as he runs at Rushville on Saturday
2 Teams to Watch
Yorktown Boys- What a difference a meet makes for a Yorktown Boys team that saw the return of their pole runner Matthew Mitsch at the Arabian Roundup on Wednesday to help pace the Tigers to an ECI best 6th place finish in a very competitive race. Along with the tandem of Luke Harber and Gannon Crosser the Tigers will definitely be a team to keep an eye on as they go back up to Taylor University on Saturday for the annual Taylor Inv.
Shenandoah Girls- The Shenandoah girl’s team is quietly improving in a year where it looks like the MEC team championship is up for grabs. Led by senior leaders Stormie Finch and Madi Jenkins look for the Raider girls to continue to step up as they run at the Rushville Inv. on Saturday.
1 Meet to Watch
Rushville Inv @ Rushville, IN
ECI Teams Competing;
Division III: Wapahani, Monroe Central, Blue River, Muncie Burris, Cowan, Daleville, Randolph Southern
Division II: Delta, Winchester, Shenandoah
Division I: Muncie Central, New Castle
Girls Meet Preview:
With over half the ECI field competing at Rushville and with fair weather in the forecast it could mean there will be some fast times for some of the area runners this week. In the Division III race (which features the most ECI schools) look for MEC rival’s Monroe Central, Cowan, Randolph Southern and Wapahani to battle each other to be the top representative of ECI. As for the other races, look for Delta to make a lot of noise in the Division II race with Makayla Robles being on the shortlist as one of the favorites for the race. The Division I race, which features both Muncie Central and New Castle will battle competitive fields but look for freshman Lydia Harvey to make some noise as she had an impressive high school debut at Pendleton on Wednesday with a top 10 finish.
Boys Meet Preview:
Like the girls race, the Division III race will have a plethora of ECI teams competing but look for the team from Wapahani and their strong 1-5 pack to make a bid to challenge other favorites for the team crown. In the Division II race look for Lucas Fox of Delta and Shenandoah’s Borru Kishpaugh to be in middle of medal contention. Finally, the Division I boy’s race will feature a solid Muncie Central team competing with lead man Isaiah Strong running with plenty of race competition to possibly post another impressive time on this young season.
WEEK 1:
3 Runners to Watch:
Matthew Mitsch- Mitsch is the top returning boys runner in ECI this year and will kick off his season on Saturday at the annual County vs. County Inv. Mitsch should have some competition in this race, but will be in contention to take home top individual honors.
Leah Keesling- Keesling starts her 2019 campaign at the Meister Memorial Inv. at Monroe Central. Keesling will be hoping to carry the momentum she has from the end of cross country a season ago to lead the 19 team field on Saturday.
Isaiah Strong- Strong has shown consistent improvement the last few seasons and will now be firmly in a leadership role as he hopes to guide the Muncie Central Bearcats to another successful season. Strong’s season starts Saturday at the County vs. County Inv.
2 Teams to Watch:
Blackford Boys- The Blackford Boys kicked off what they hope will be a renaissance season for them as they won the Early Bird Blue River Inv. last Saturday. The Bruins are taking their talents to Monroe Central this week where there will be more teams and more competition for this young, improving team.
Delta Girls- The Delta Girls are returning the bulk of their Sectional Championship team from a season ago and have to have high ambitions for this season as well. In their way however will be one of the deeper girl fields ECI has seen in a long time, most notably from a talented and cross-county rival Yorktown squad. Delta kicks off its season at the County vs. County on Saturday.
1 Meet to Watch:
County vs County Inv @ Taylor University
Girls Meet Preview:
Going into the first week of the season every team has high hopes for a successful season but it’s during the actual meets where those hopes are realized. Delaware County will be well represented in this race with six schools competing including Delta, Muncie Central, Yorktown, Wapahani, Daleville and Wes-Del. Familiar faces that should make some noise at this meet include Delta’s Makayla Robles, Yorktown’s Amberleigh Sorensen and Wapahani’s Lexi Wulff.
Boys Meet Preview:
With many seniors graduating last season in the ECI area the boys field seems to be wide open this year for many runners to possibly step up show what they can do. The boy’s field includes the top 3 returning teams out of the Delta Sectional from a season ago including champion Yorktown, Delta and Muncie Central. An improved Wapahani team (which won the Winchester 4K on Wednesday) will also be in the mix as well. Look for Seniors Matthew Mitsch from Yorktown and Muncie Central’s Isaiah Strong to assert themselves in this early season meet with underclassmen Lucas Fox from Delta, Muncie Central’s Dylan Bradford, Wapahani’s Andrew Shrock, Daleville’s Khoa Weston and Wes-Del’s Luke Butler all battling one another for a potential top 10 finish.
Matthew Mitsch- Mitsch is the top returning boys runner in ECI this year and will kick off his season on Saturday at the annual County vs. County Inv. Mitsch should have some competition in this race, but will be in contention to take home top individual honors.
Leah Keesling- Keesling starts her 2019 campaign at the Meister Memorial Inv. at Monroe Central. Keesling will be hoping to carry the momentum she has from the end of cross country a season ago to lead the 19 team field on Saturday.
Isaiah Strong- Strong has shown consistent improvement the last few seasons and will now be firmly in a leadership role as he hopes to guide the Muncie Central Bearcats to another successful season. Strong’s season starts Saturday at the County vs. County Inv.
2 Teams to Watch:
Blackford Boys- The Blackford Boys kicked off what they hope will be a renaissance season for them as they won the Early Bird Blue River Inv. last Saturday. The Bruins are taking their talents to Monroe Central this week where there will be more teams and more competition for this young, improving team.
Delta Girls- The Delta Girls are returning the bulk of their Sectional Championship team from a season ago and have to have high ambitions for this season as well. In their way however will be one of the deeper girl fields ECI has seen in a long time, most notably from a talented and cross-county rival Yorktown squad. Delta kicks off its season at the County vs. County on Saturday.
1 Meet to Watch:
County vs County Inv @ Taylor University
Girls Meet Preview:
Going into the first week of the season every team has high hopes for a successful season but it’s during the actual meets where those hopes are realized. Delaware County will be well represented in this race with six schools competing including Delta, Muncie Central, Yorktown, Wapahani, Daleville and Wes-Del. Familiar faces that should make some noise at this meet include Delta’s Makayla Robles, Yorktown’s Amberleigh Sorensen and Wapahani’s Lexi Wulff.
Boys Meet Preview:
With many seniors graduating last season in the ECI area the boys field seems to be wide open this year for many runners to possibly step up show what they can do. The boy’s field includes the top 3 returning teams out of the Delta Sectional from a season ago including champion Yorktown, Delta and Muncie Central. An improved Wapahani team (which won the Winchester 4K on Wednesday) will also be in the mix as well. Look for Seniors Matthew Mitsch from Yorktown and Muncie Central’s Isaiah Strong to assert themselves in this early season meet with underclassmen Lucas Fox from Delta, Muncie Central’s Dylan Bradford, Wapahani’s Andrew Shrock, Daleville’s Khoa Weston and Wes-Del’s Luke Butler all battling one another for a potential top 10 finish.