2018-2019 Varsity Cross Country



Coaches: Ricke Stucker (Boys Head Coach), Chad Salinas (Girls Head Coach); Jayne Stucker (Asst. Coach)

Seniors	Juniors	Sophomores	Freshmen
Julian Wallace Liesl Elkin	Nathaneal Elkin Ethan Poole Josilyn McNeil Brook Reaves	Madison Collins Marina Magdalena Soler	Israel Burlingame Travarion Corbin Isaac Elkin Isaiah Marden Eva Gonzalez Julynne Spidell

Date	Opponent	Time	Score
Aug. 14	Northwestern Combo - Girls Only (T)	5:00 pm	The young Lady Kats cross country team ran in the Northwestern Combo on Tuesday evening at Oakbrook Valley. The Lady Kats gained valuable experience as this was the first cross country meet of the season; this race was 3K in length and a nice way to get ready for the competitive season to come. Kokomo's top finisher was freshman Julynne Spidell with a time of 13:07 finishing in 9th place. This was Julynne’s first high school cross country meet. She is a strong runner that shows much potential to grow in the season to come. Julynne’s times will only become faster as she improves physically and mentally as a young runner. The remaining two Lady Kat runners finished within two minutes of each other; they pushed themselves and competed throughout the tough, humid race. Madison Collins was first in this pair for the Kats in 16th place with a time of 18:41. Liesl Elkin finished 21st with a time of 20:28. They will look to gain strength and confidence this season. - Coach Salinas
Aug. 18	Logansport Invite (T)	9:00 am	In our first meet of the season, the Logansport Jacob Graf Invitational, we had an incomplete team, running without three of our harriers. All three Wildkat harriers that did run competed well. Senior Julian Wallace placed 12th in 18:46, junior Nat Elkin placed 48th with a 21:09, and freshman Isaiah Marden crossed the line in 92nd spot at 23:52. Elkin, team captain, was our Runner-ofthe-Week, and we also set a KHS Cross Country record of 100 cross country alumni contacting us since last season. - Coach Stucker Kokomo's top finisher was freshman Julynne Spidell with a time of 22:21 for 15th place. I was pleased to see her moving in the right direction with her time. There will be a huge breakthrough for her over the next two weeks. The sky is the limit for Julynne, and I know that she will continue to do everything to compete at her highest level. Sophomore Marina Magdelena finished next with a time of 25:45 for 51st place. This was Marina’s first cross country meet and I expect great things to come from her this season. Sophomore Madison Collins ran the race in 32:09 for 100th place. Our gap time between our second and third finishers was 6:24; we should be able to cut out gap time by a few minutes over the course of the next few meets. - Coach Salinas
Aug. 25	McCutcheon Invite (T)	9:00 am	Halted due to lightening
Sept. 1	Marion Invite (T)	9:00 am	The Kokomo boys cross country team placed 10th in the Purple Race in the Marion Invitational at Indiana Wesleyan University. Leading the Wildkats was senior Julian Wallace in 18th place with a time of 19:08. Junior Nat Elkin placed 52nd in 21:03, frosh Travarion Corbin crossed the line in 73rd with a 22:40, junior Ethan Poole was 85th at 23:38, frosh Isaac Elkin recorded a 23:50 for 86th spot, and frosh Isaiah Marden finished 88th in 23:55. - Coach Stucker The young Lady Kats finished eighth of the nine teams in our race. We pushed through the heat and humidity, persevered, and finished with multiple season bests. Kokomo's top finisher was freshman Julynne Spidell with a time of 22:32 for 16th place. She ran very well and passed a lot of girls over the last half of the race. Julynne is on the verge of a breakout meet; she is right where we want her to be at this point in the season as she is racing with heavy legs. Sophomore Marina Magdelena finished next for the Lady Kats with a time of 24:32 for 38th place. This was her season best by 1:13, and I expect great things from this first-year runner during the rest of the season. Our next finisher was junior Josilynn McNeil with a time of 25:42 for 48th place. This was Josilynn’s first cross country meet of the season, and I was pleased with how hard she competed with the limited amount of practices that she has had. - Coach Salinas
Sept. 8	Maconaquah Invite (T)	9:00 am	Kokomo's boys placed 13th of 17 entered teams on a muddy, water-filled course that was approximately 60 seconds slower than last week's Indiana Wesleyan University course. It rained the entire meet. Nat Elkin placed 57th in 21:48 to lead the Wildkat harriers. Next was Travarion Corbin with a 23:52 and 88th placing. Isaiah Marden finished 93rd at 24:39, Ethan Poole recorded a 24:59- good for 96th spot, and Isaac Elkin crossed the line in 99th , clocking a 25:20. Marden was Runner-of-theWeek. - Coach Stucker Leading the way for the Lady Kats was freshman Julynne Spidell with a time of 23:34. We had a rough race as a team and only had two of our seven ran well; freshman Eva Gonzales and junior Brook Reaves set personal bests’ on the season, and I am proud of how these two first-year runners responded to the adverse conditions. - Coach Salinas
Sept. 15	New Prairie Invite (T)	8:00 am	In the boys' AAA race, the Kokomo Wildkat harriers placed 32nd at New Prairie. Julian Wallace placed 138th in 18:55, Travarion Corbin ran 22:04 for 201st , Ethan Poole was 205th with a 23:39, Isaiah Marden crossed the line next in 206th at 23:40, and Isaac Elkin finished 207th , clocking a 24:16. Marden was named our Runner-of-the-Week. - Coach Stucker The Kokomo High School Lady Kats placed 30th out of the 31 schools entered in the class AAA (large school) race at New Prairie on Saturday. The top finisher for the Lady Kats was freshman Julynne Spidell with a time of 22:41 for 112th place. We didn't run very well as a team in the unseasonably hot/humid race, and we were also missing one of our top runners, Marina Magdelena. Our girls attacked the hilly second mile of the course and had very little left to finish the second half of the race. Our second finisher for the Lady Kats was Eva Gonzales with a time of 31:26 for 203rd place. Madison Collins finished with a time of 32:32 for 205th place with Liesl Elkin not far behind in 206th place with a time of 32:49. Our final runner was Brook Reaves with a time of 36:40 for 208th place; this was Brook’s second cross country meet and her times are expected to improve notably over the next few meets. - Coach Salinas
Sept. 22	Culver Invite (T)	8:45 am	The Kokomo boys' harriers placed 18th in the Open Division on the best weather day of the season. The course by the lake was fast. Three of our five guys ran well. Julian Wallace placed 58th in 18:21, Nat Elkin was 123rd with a 20:22, Ethan Poole finished 149th at 22:51, Isaiah Marden crossed the line 151st in 23:30, and Isaac Elkin recorded a 24:03 for 152nd . The Runner-of-the-Week is Nat Elkin. - Coach Stucker The Kokomo High School Lady Kats placed 19th at the Culver Invitational Open Division (Large School) on Saturday. The Lady Kats ran well with every runner achieving a season best. We will see our young team really start to drop time over the next two weeks (conference and sectional). The top finisher for Kokomo was freshman Julynne Spidell with a time of 22:10 for 58th place. Julynne finished this race with a season best by cutting 11 seconds off her prior best. We will see her times really start to drop over her next few races, and I am excited to see how she finishes this season. The second finisher for the Lady Kats was Marina Magdelena with a time of 24:02 for 115th place. Madison Collins finished next with a time of 29:15 for 151st place, and Eva Gonzales not far behind with a time of 29:37 for 155th place. Brook Reaves finished with a time of 30:50 for 156th place with Liesl Elkin close on her tail in 157th place with a time of 31:08. - Coach Salinas
Sept. 29	North Central Conference @ IWU	10:00 am	Under ideal weather conditions and on a flat, rock solid course, the KHS boys ran their best meet of the season and placed ninth in the North Central Conference meet. Harrison won the team competition with an amazing 21 points and the Raiders' Caleb Williams won individually in 16:19.2. The Wildkat harriers had five of six runners set all-time personal records and the team set season bests in team time by 73 seconds and in gap time by 16 seconds. Julian Wallace placed 34th in 18:56. Nat Elkin was 40th at 19:30, cutting 52 seconds from his season best. Travarion Corbin finished 50th with a 20:55, bumping 69 seconds from his PR. Ethan Poole crossed the line in 54th at 21: 29, slicing 82 seconds from his PR. Isaiah Marden placed 60th in 22:12, honing 78 seconds from his PR. Isaac Elkin was 62nd with a 22:24, reducing his PR by 86 seconds. Nat Elkin was chosen runner-of-the-week. - Coach Stucker The Kokomo Lady Kats compete d Saturday at the North Central Conference meet at Indiana Wesleyan in Marion, bringing home a seventh place finish. The Lady Kats ran well with all of our runners achieving a season best. We will hopefully see our young team continue to drop their times at sectional next weekend. The top finisher for the Lady Kats was freshman Julynne Spidell with a time of 22:04 for 17th place; she just missed all-conference by two places. Julynne ran a terrific first two and a half miles, but struggled to finish the last half mile of the race. There are a lot of positive takeaways from this meet, and she is very close to putting everything together. Our second finisher for Kokomo was Marina Magdelena with a time of 22:59 for 27th place. Eva Gonzalez finished in 53rd place with a time of 27:58. Madison Collins finished next with a time of 28:26 for 55th place. Our final three runners were able to run season best times to help our team: Madison Cleaver (29:10) in 58th place, Liesl Elkin (29:56) in 60th place, and Brook Reaves (30:00) in 62nd place. - Coach Salinas
Oct. 6	Sectional		Only two of the five Wildkat harriers ran w ell and we placed 11th of 12 entered teams. Our #1 runner was injured and did not compete. This was only the third time in the last 50 years that no one advanced to the regional. Nat Elkin ran 20:29 and placed 42nd. Travarion Corbin clocked a personal best 20:54 which was good for 48th spot. Isaiah Marden recorded a 22:30 in 67th, and Ethan Poole crossed the line at 23:15 in 68th. Isaac Elkin was timed in 23:47 and was 72nd. Corbin garnered Runner-of-the-Week laurels. - Coach Stucker The top finisher for the Lady Kats was freshman Julynne Spidell with a season best time of 22:02 for 12th place and was one of ten individuals to qualify for the regional meet at Culver next Saturday. I am happy with the way Julynne competed today; she passed a lot of girls during the last mile of the race. Our second finisher for the Lady Kats was Marina Magdelena with a time of 24:54 for 40th place. Brook Reaves finished next with a time of 31:56 for 66th place with Liesl Elkin right behind her in 67th place with a time of 31:57. I am very proud of all these girls and the progress they have made over the entire season; they have worked hard, persevered, and gained valuable experience over the past few months. - Coach Salinas
Oct. 13	Regional		Julynn Spidell finished 49th of 88 runners in the IHSAA Regional. - Coach Salinas

Boys Season Review: A record 102 alumni contacted our cross country family in the last 12 months. Coach Jayne Stucker completed her 11thand last year with the program. Coach Ricke Stucker completed his 50thand last year with the program - a Kokomo High School, Howard County, and North Central Conference record for head coaches. It's been a great run! We had only two veterans returning this season. The others were all rookies and had to learn our program. Our team included: • Freshman Travarion Corbin ran 20:54, cutting 1:46 off his time during the season. • Freshman Isaac Elkin ran 22:24 and cut 1:38 during the season. • Freshman Isaiah Marden ran 22:12 and cut 1:22 during the season. • Sophomore Bre Gallaher proved invaluable in her second year as manager. • Junior Ethan Poole ran 21:29 and cut off 2:10 during the season. • Captain Nat Elkin ran 19:30 and cut 1:20 during the season. He earned our Most Valuable, Most Improved, and Mental Attitude awards. Nat also won the Booster Club Highest GPA award and was named Academic All-State Honorable Mention. • Senior Julian Wallace ran 18:21 and cut 25 seconds during the season. He was named Academic All-NCC and also Academic All-State Honorable mention. Julian's speed will be missed next year. With running more summer miles and more meets, next year's team will improve dramatically. Good luck to next year's harrier squad! Coach Stucker Girls Season Review: The 2018 Lady Kats cross country team finished the season with each runner cutting minutes off their initial 5k times throughout the season. I am proud of the improvements that each runner has made. Kokomo freshman Julynne Spidell was a vital part of our team and her leadership, experience, and positive attitude were extremely beneficial throughout the season. She finished her initial high school cross country season advancing to the regional meet. Julynne has so much potential; I believe she can be one of the top runners in the area for this upcoming track season. I am looking forward to the next three seasons with her on our team. We were lucky to have sophomore international student Marina Magdalena join our team from Spain. She is one of the most determined and focused runners that I have ever had. Marina began the season having never competed in cross country and ended the season as our number two runner. We had a duo of sophomore Madison Collins and freshman Eva Gonzales who were the backbone of our team. They really provided a competitive edge and exciting spark to our team. It was a lot of fun watching these two grow over the season. This was a valuable year for these two ladies; growing more confident and competitive with each meet. Madison and Eva both pushed through nagging injuries and showed a tremendous amount of toughness over the course of the year. We had also had Liesl Elkin (senior) and Brook Reaves (junior) who ran together and pushed each other throughout the season. These two young ladies were the other two members of our varsity team and they cut off over five minutes apiece from their 5k times throughout the season. I am proud of both of these girls and the perseverance they displayed. The focus for our program will be building toward the future; the focus for these young ladies now shifts toward the track and field season. Hopefully they have a great winter of training and are ready to go for track. Our girls need to build a cardiovascular base and run competitive races over next summer to accomplish our team goals for next season. Coach Salinas