Fishers took top team honors on the girls side of Saturday’s 11-team Western Invitational at Oakbrook Valley Park with 31 points. Eastbrook was a distant second with 92, and Eastern took third with 93. Oak Hill (101) and Northwestern (124) rounded out the top five, while the host Panthers finished sixth with 131. Maconaquah took eighth, Tipton was ninth, and Kokomo placed 11th.

Comet sophomore Bethany Neeley finished the course in 19 minutes, 40 seconds to take top individual honors, coming from behind to do so. Eastbrook freshman Sophie Seward was leading for much of the race, but finished second in 20:07, while Fishers’ Emily Kuhn (20:13) and Audrey Ramos (20:19) and Oak Hill’s Jenna Norris (20:23) rounded out the top five individuals. Eastern’s Brittany Neeley took sixth in 20:27.

Also for Eastern, Sarah Wagner was 18th (21:44), Ari Rinaldo was 29th (22:44), and Bailey Pressey took 43rd (24:30).

“I thought we did a very good job for our first 5k of the season,” Eastern coach Brandon Mink said. “It was kind of a sectional preview in a lot of ways, and we also got a chance to run on the [Mid-Indiana Conference] course. It was a nice outing for us. We had some excellent times, and it was a good early indicator of where we were.

“Bethany ran an outstanding race, and got a PR her first time out on a full 5k. The girl from Eastbrook was leading the entire race and Bethany caught her with 800 [meters] left and ended up putting 27 seconds on the girl in the last 800, so she did a super job of closing strong.”

Gretchen Catron led Northwestern with a 17th-place showing in 21:41, and Heidi Freeman followed in 21st at 22:06. Britanny Jocius (26th, 22:37), Hannah Ault (32nd, 22:57) and Karly Sprouse (35th, 23:05) rounded out the top five for the Purple Tigers.

“We’ve had some illnesses and injuries early that we’re working through,” Northwestern coach Dave Stevens said. “Overall, I was very pleased as far as how well they ran. I had four girls running in their first 5K. They have a lot of improvement left in them, and we’ll get there as we get well. I’m pleased with a fifth-place finish, considering how we’ve been able to practice in the last week or so.”

For Western, Corianne Myer grabbed a top-10 finish, taking 10th in 21:02. Krissy Durr crossed in 22:42 for 28th, while Erin Weber (31st, 22:52), Gina Jakubowicz (34th, 23:02) and Cara Love (36th, 23:24) all added better times from a year ago.

“We did improve from last year,” coach Joni McCracken said. “If you look at our placing right now, we have a ways to go before tourney time as far as placing with other teams. We keep improving — our girls continue to drop one to three minutes from last year’s times. We are going to keep shaving off a little time as we go, and see where that puts us.”

Peru was led by Emilie Hobbs, who finished 18th in 21:44. Keyia McConahay added a 24th-place showing for the Bengal Tigers in 22:16.

Kierra Bronson (50th, 25:33), Anika Taber (51st, 25:33), Morgan Kemper (25:49), Briel Robinson (68th, 28:31) and Brooke Wininger (69th, 28:38) all competed for the Wildkats.

Boys race

On the boys side, Zionsville topped the field with 28 points, while Maconaquah (65) and the host Panthers (93) finished well behind in second and third, respectively.

Kokomo (7th, 154), Peru (8th, 245), Northwestern (9th, 245) and Tipton (11th, 314) also competed.

Jacob Bingham led Maconaquah in fourth place (16:39), Chad Gregory was 13th (17:32), Austin Wise was 15th (17:36), Bryce Comp was 18th (17:57), and Devin Shaffer was 19th (17:58).

Chris Love led Western with a ninth-place finish (17:00), Matt Grider was 10th (17:15), Braxton Bagwell was 20th (18:00), Christopher Nunan was 26th (18:14), and Kyle Starich was 33rd (18:33).

“Three of our top seven guys ran personal bests and three others ran their home course bests so I’m pretty happy with that,” Western coach Gary Jewell said. “I’m really pleased with my second and third runners Matt Grider and Braxton Bagwell, both ran personal bests.

“Some of our guys need to understand that in order to run faster times they can’t go out and run an unrealistically fast time in the first mile and then hope to hang on. The time that you lose in the last two miles is always a lot more than you gain in that fast first mile.”

Kokomo’s Adrian Glover paced the field with a winning time of 16:16, just four seconds off the course record. Brent Noll was 24th (18:11), Nolan Arnold was 39th (18:50), Matt Scharenbroch was 46th (19:13), and Waylon Coulter was 50th. (19:40) .

Sam Freeman was 25th to lead NW (18:13), followed by Charlie Neher 51st (19:40), Nolan Cockrell was 52nd (19:49), Jacob Heredos was 64th (21:12), and Hayden Jarvis was 66th (21:16).

“I’m really excited for the boys,” said Northwestern coach Dave Stevens, who had six runners competing in their first 5K race. “All seven of our varsity boys ran 21:36 or faster, and I’ve never had seven runners that are that fast. I’m proud of our guys, we ran as a pack, and that helped each other. I look forward to them getting stronger and stronger as the season goes on.”

Peru was led by Jordan Garretson, who took 27th in a time of 18:19. Evan Tansy led Tipton in 53rd at 19:57.

Eastern did not have a complete team, but Ryan Horner took eighth overall in a time of 16:57, Lewis Duke was 44th (19:09), Luke Kimmel was 60th (20:42) and Quinn Connolly was 62nd (20:58).

“Ryan Horner, our senior, did a super job,” Eastern coach Brandon Mink said. “He was just really consistent and paced himself very, very well. He got up toward the lead pack, and stuck with some guys near the front. He had been trying to get under 17 [minutes] all last year and didn’t quite get it, and this year he got it in his first race out of the gates, and got a PR. He’s really excited, and we’re happy for him.”

Jordan Garretson led Peru with a 27th-place finish in 18:19.

Girls Cross Country

Lou Baker Invitational

Tri-County earned top honors at Saturday’s Lou Baker Invitational at Carroll High School with 30 points. Cass took second with 36, the host Cougars took third with 73, and Wabash rounded out the top four with 84. Five of the nine teams competing did so with incomplete teams.

Tri-County’s Michaela Sheldon paced the field in a time of 21:13, and Cass’ Ashley Baber took second in 21:31.

Sharaya Woodmansee (6th, 22:13), Breanna Robertson (7th, 22:44), and Jenna Yeakley (8th, 22:49) each added top-10 finishes for the Kings.

Bridgett Peden led Carroll with a fourth-place finish in 21:45, while Maria Lewis (13th, 23:43) and Kaira Ragan (17th, 25:28) both placed in the top 20 for the Cougars.

Clinton Central ran incomplete, and was led by Leilah Miller (9th, 23:04) and Maisley Strange (10th, 23:05).

Boys Cross Country

Lou Baker Invitational

Host Carroll placed four runners in the top 10 to take top team honors Saturday, led by winner Blake Mills (16:59) and second-place finisher Jordan Tooley (17:34).

Tallis Bowers took sixth for the Cougars in 18:24, while Brian Bordner (9th, 18:46) and Cory Ritter (17th, 19:58) rounded out Carroll’s top five.

Wabash took second with 43 points, while Cass was third with 80, and Clinton Central took sixth with 135.

Nate Lewis paced the Kings with a fourth-place showing in 17:52.

Volleyball

Manchester Invitational

Tri-Central dropped a trio of matches Saturday to fall to 3-6 on the year.

The Trojans fell to the host Squires in the opener, 25-16, 25-11, then fell to eventual tournament champion Lakewood Park in the second match, 25-16, 23-25, 15-9. TC finished the day with another tough loss, this time to Tippecanoe Valley, 25-23, 10-25, 15-8.

Since cracking the Class A rankings, the Trojans have fallen on hard times against larger schools.

“We’ve played a lot of good 2A and 3A teams, and have competed well,” TC coach Ron Byram said. “We’re just not getting the wins.”

“Of our six losses, only one has been in straight sets, so we’re competing well and just not winning. That will pay off as the season goes on, playing teams in higher classes.”

Caili Thomas finished the day with 31 service receptions and 28 digs. Taylor Farris ended with 16 digs, 18 assists and 10 kills, and Lacey Dyer added 16 digs and nine kills. Cara Thomas dished out a team-high 23 assists, Cassy Malson added 22 receptions, and Bri Humphries rounded out the TC leaders with a team-best 12 kills.

Boys Soccer

Richmond 3, Kokomo 0

The Wildkats played the Red Devils to a scoreless tie at the end of regulation after missing a clear shot on goal with 20 seconds left in the second half.

Central defenders Blake Brutus and Tony Moses were both injured midway through the second half, and Richmond was able to take advantage of an already sickness-depleted Kokomo squad with three goals in extra time.

“We’ve had five or six guys out this week with all sorts of ailments,” Kokomo coach Kismet Morrison said. “We just had to [play] with what we had, and that essentially cost us the game.

“Essentially, we just couldn’t keep going [after the injuries to Brutus and Moses]. We played our hearts out for 90 minutes.”

Kokomo (3-2-1, 0-1 North Central Conference) goalie Drew Marshall finished with 11 saves.

Girls Soccer

Kokomo 3, Richmond 2

The Wildkats held a 3-0 lead at halftime, and overcame a late “letdown”, according to coach Myles Geary, to hold off the Red Devils and win their NCC opener.

Bre Allen had two goals, one on a free kick, and Madison Waltemath added the other goal for Kokomo (2-1).

Allen added an assist, as did Caroline Harbaugh, and Becca Wade tallied eight saves in goal. Geary also lauded the efforts of defensive players Ciara Johnson and Kendra Ryker, who was making her first varsity start.

“This was a big game for us, to start out with a winning record,” Geary said. “It’s nice to establish some wins for confidence.

“We came out strong in the first half, and until the last 15 minutes were dominating, and had a letdown, which we are notorious for. It’s something we need to work on. It’s tough to maintain a lead for as long as we did and maintain intensity. I’m pleased with the way we come out, we just need to find a way to maintain that throughout the game.”

Frankfort Invitational

Tri-Central pitched a pair of shutouts, defeated Indianapolis Tech 8-0 in the opener and the host Hot Dogs 4-0 in the finals, on its way to claiming top honors in Saturday’s Frankfort Invitational.

Rachel Zickmund led the charge for the Trojans in the opener with four goals and an assist. Addy Takacs added three goals and two assists, while Kortney Butler put a goal into the net to go with her three assists.

Elizabeth Dillman and Trine Arens both added assists in the victory, while Whitney Shaffer had four saves in goal for TC.

Takacs scored a pair of goals on free kicks in the finals, Arens added a goal on a penalty kick and an assist, and Zickmund added another goal to her total.

Shaffer finished with eight saves in her second shutout of the day for the Trojans (2-3), and was aided by a solid defense that included Taylor Richardson, Courtney Zickmund and Aubri Copp.

Boys Tennis

North Central Invitational

Kokomo competed in the Buckley Division of Saturday’s North Central High School Invitational in Indianapolis, finishing seventh overall in the eight-team division. Terre Haute South earned the Buckley Division title, and Bloomington South took second.

At No. 1 singles, Blake Brown finished second for the Wildkats, going 2-1 on the day after reaching the finals. Michael Hilton finished sixth after a 1-2 outing at No. 2 singles. Drew Sale finished fourth at No. 3 singles with a 1-2 record on the day.

In doubles, and the No. 2 duo of Drew Sawyer and Luke Alexander took sixth with a 1-2 record.

“We got some good experience with a lot of tough, ranked teams in this tournament,” Kokomo coach Shawn Flanary said. “The highlight of the day was Blake Brown making the finals. That’s a great accomplishment, considering the level of competition we faced [Saturday].”

Logansport Invite

Maconaquah beat Rensselaer and Cass in the invite, and fell to Marion. The Braves topped Rensselaer 4-1 with Cole Shafer winning 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, Ryan Frantz winning 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2, Tanner Christner winning 6-0, 6-2 at No. 3. The No. 2 doubles team of Chris Ayers and Ben Stone took a 6-1, 6-1 win.

Marion topped the Braves 4-1. Frantz won his match 6-1, 4-6, 10-6.

The Braves finished by beating Cass 4-1 with Shaffer wining 8-2, Frantz winning 8-0, Christner winning 8-1 and Ayers and Stone taking a 8-7 (7-4) victory.

“I felt like we gained a lot of valuable experience playing some teams we wouldn’t normally play in the regular season,” Mac coach Tim Maiben said. “I’m proud that our no. 2 singles player Ryan Frantz went undefeated for the day.”

Frantz is now 6-0 on the season, while the Braves are 5-1.

Girls Golf

Western Boone Invitational

Taylor Finished 10th in the 19-team tournament at Cool Lake Golf Club with 383 strokes. Lafayette Jeff was the top team with 317.

Medalist Regan Pittard shot an even-par 72 for the Bronchos.

Amy Lipchik paced Taylor with an 83, and Emily Boyd carded an 88. Vicky Saul (104) and Kaitlyn Marler (108) rounded out the Titan scorecard.

“The girls did a great job,” Taylor coach George Phares said. “This is the first time we’ve had two girls score in the 80s in a match. We’re making steady progress, and [Saturday] was our best score in an 18-hole tournament by 38 strokes, as well as the first time we’ve broken 400 this season.

“I’m excited. We’re starting to do some things right. We have our conference and sectional tournaments ahead, and want to continue this steady improvement.”

Culver Invitational

Peru took second out of three teams in Saturday’s Culver Invite with 422 strokes, behind the host Cavaliers (394) and ahead of John Glenn (512).

Jessie Eckerly led the Bengal Tigers with a 91, which was good enough for medalist honors.

Ariel Edwards added a 104, Lauren Conner carded a 112, Lauren Fields fired a 115, and Maddy Eddy rounded out Peru’s scorecard with a 123.