The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Fall Sports Preview Wednesday, August 16, 2017 E-9 Charger cross country opens at Cedar Crest August 17 By James Capozella Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net Second year Pike Central Charger head coach Josh Roach has returners that should bolster the boys team and must fill the shoes of those standouts lost to graduation. Gone are Reid Craig, Torin Shover and Blake Car- roll. Both Reid and Torin were on the sec- tional team and now have gone on to Oak- land City University in the field of manag- ing the Oakland City University basketball team. Roach said he is "excited to see the mid- dle school boys and girls join the high school team and adjust to the distance." He said they know one another fairly well and take to the idea of dedicating themselves to individual and team success. Coach said, "I think they can make it as far as any team in Pike Central history. They make for a close knit team and are capable of going to the regional and beyond. We have made it a point to make trips such as to the semi state course and the Go Ape Zip line in Indy." He said the trips and exposure to oth- er courses is a boost and adds to the support systems in place for the runners. Roach said the family connections for Ca- den and Colt Armstrong and Brittany and Lauren Young help tie the team together from the freshmen to the seniors, Seniors in the mix this year include Ca- den Armstrong, Jacob Bohnert, Garrett Manges and Lane Ridao. Draven Huff is the only junior and sophomores include A.J. Hill, Sam Theising and Nate Woolery. New to the team are freshmen Colt Armstrong, Ijaa Chambers, Sam Jones and Lane Potts. Caden Armstrong just missed going to semi-state by one spot at the regional. He was Pocket Athletic Conference All Confer- ence Honorable Mention and had a region- al time of 17:09, just three seconds betting to semi state. Jacob Bohnert is also a fourth year Char- ger runner with a best time of 20 :33. Garrett Manges is another four year cross country runner, just missing regional with a time of 20 :11. Lane Ridao is the fourth part of the senior group starting his fourth year of ex- perience with a best time of 21:30. Draven Huff was the number two Charger runner last year making the regional with an 18:10 best time. Huff was also named PAC All Conference Honorable Mention. Sophomore Nate Woolery just missed regional last year as a freshmen clocking 18:39. Woolery suffered a stress fracture last year but has a very strong work ethic according to coach Josh Roach. Another sophomore runner this year is Sam Theising who was the best sprinter in track last according to coach. Theising shows great potential with a 21:00 best time on the course. A. J. Hill is another sopho- more showing improvement already from his 23:08 best time last year with a 22:31 on the Prides Creek Course. He, like the others on the team have benefited from putting the miles on this summer according to coach. Five freshmen make up the new comers to the high school team, but bring with them talent and speed that put them at the top of their game at the middle school level. Colt Armstrong, Caden's Armstrong's brother, set the middle school record for the 200 and is a sprinter on the team that is making the adjustment to distance. He was the number two runner on the middle school team last year according to coach Josh Roach. Ijaa Chambers was the number one mid- dle school runner last year and set the Pike Central middle school record for the 800 meter run. Coach has high hopes for Cham- bers who transferred from Tell City as a sev- enth grader and was a top five runner there at that time. Sam Jones is another freshman, running third for the middle school team last year. He has shown improvement this year al- ready and is also a wrestler according to coach. Lane Potts is the other freshman showing potential having run lower five minutes in the mile last year. He has been a long time runner and is capable accord- ing to coach. Following the August 17 season open- er at Cedar Crest, both teams compete in the Southridge High School Invitational on Tuesday, August 22. The Chargers host North Knox on August 29 and then travel to Gibson Southern on August 31 for the Al- an Hopewell Class Invitational. September starts out with a quad meet at home with North Daviess, Washington Catholic and South Knox on the fifth. The Princeton Invitational is September 12 and then the South Knox Invitational on the 16th. The Bar-Reeve Invitational comes up next on Sep. 19 followed by the Pike Cen- tral Invitational on Sep. 23. The Pocket Ath- letic Conference championships are next at Southridge prior to the sectional at South Knox on October 7 and then regional on Oc- tober 14. GIRLS' XC BOYS' XC The Pike Central High School boys' cross country team will begin its season on Thursday, Aug. 17, in the Forest Park Invitational. The members of the team are, first row (l to r): Garrett Manges, Jacob Bohnert, Caden Armstrong and Lane Ridao. Second row: A.J. Hill, Sam Theising, Draven Huff and Nate Woolery. Third row: Samuel Jones, Lane Potts, Ijaa Chambers and Colt Armstrong. Fourth row: Head Coach Josh Roach, Assistant Coach Wil Teague and Man- ager Quin Bailey. Andy Heuring photo The Pike Central High School girls' cross country team will begin its season on Thursday, Aug. 17 in the Forest Park Invitational. The members of the team are, first row (l to r): Manager Quin Bailey, Cailey Furman, Brittany Young and Halley Powers. Second row: Jenna Meyer, Charlotte Dudenhoeffer, Lauren Young and Erin Craig. Head Coach Josh Roach and Assistant Coach Wil Teague. Not pictured: Lillie Pancake. Andy Heuring photo See XC on E-11 Lady Chargers' XC team opens at Cedar Crest By James Capozella Press-Dispatch Sports sports@pressdispatch.net Both the Pike Central High School boys' and girls' cross country teams will trav- el to Cedar Crest on Thursday, Aug. 17, to open the season for second-year head coach Josh Roach. Returners will bolster the girls' team this year, but several noteworthy cross country competitors – Abby Hillard, Kai- tlyn Foster, Marissa Harrison and Selena Carpenter – were lost to graduation that got the team to regional. Foster was All- Conference for the Lady Chargers and Harrison has moved up to running cross country for Cincinati Christian, accord- ing to Roach. Roach added that Carpen- ter plans to walk onto the swim team at the University of Evansville. Roach is pleased that the transition to high school distance for the freshmen has been successful and that the girls are func- tioning as a team of three seniors, two ju- niors and three freshmen. Considering the success the girls had last year, Roach said, "I think the kids can make it as far as any Pike Central team in history. Both the boys and the girls have made a good, close-knit team and are capable of going to the re- gional again." Last year's regional produced seven personal best times in the boys' and girls' competition. Caden Armstrong, Kaitlyn Foster, Draven Huff, Cailey Furman, Lil- lie Pancake and Erin Craig all posted sea- son bests, according to Roach. Both Huff and Armstrong "get to come back and do it again," according to Roach, after their finishes at regional. Furman placed 33rd overall with a 21:48 with a previous personal course record time of 22:45. Powers placed 62nd over- all, clocking 23:14, which was 42 seconds better than her previous personal course record time. Pancake was 70th with a sea- son-best time of 23:52, which improved a great deal over her previous season-best time of 25:28. Craig was 84th at regional with a personal record time of 25:07, bet- tering her previous PR time by 18 seconds. At that time coach thought "Kaitlyn had gotten in and we thought Cailey had a chance." Roach was upset for Kaitlyn in her last year but is hopeful for Cailey and Halley, who had good seasons that will drive them to get there this season. The girls have made the regional three of the last four years and with that record of back to back, Roach is really encouraged for this year. The girls have to take up for Foster, Harrison, Hillyard and Carpenter, who have since graduated. Seniors this year include Halley Pow- ers, Cailey Furman and Brittany Young. Erin Craig and Lillie Pancake are the two juniors and Charlotte Dudenhoeffer, Jen- na Meyer and Lauren Young make up the freshman contingent. Halley Powers was named first team all conference last season along with gradu- ate Kaitlyn Foster. Foster missed the cut by one with a time of 21:32. Powers had a best time of 21:16 at the Alan Hopewell Invite.