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COLLEGE REPORT: Quartet of former Knights open cross country season at Sam Bell Invitational
The number of sectional and regional championships, as well as state championship appearances, over the last decade speaks to how dominant Northview’s cross country programs have been.
But on Friday night at the Sam Bell Invitational hosted by Indiana University, there was another sign of the level in which the Knights have seen their teams rise as four Division I runners – Gnister Grant (Indiana State University), Jcim Grant (Indiana State University), Ellia Hayes (Indiana University) and Halle Miller (Indiana State University) – competed against each other on one of the sport’s biggest stages to open the 2024 season.
In the women’s race, Gnister Grant finished 17th with a time of 14:49. She was followed by her longtime friends and teammates Ellia Hayes who finished 21st with a time of 14:54, marking the first career races for the pair of freshmen, and Halle Miller, who finished 25th with a time of 15:08 to get her sophomore campaign underway.
In the men’s race, Jcim Grant finished 27th with a time of 19:41 in his first career collegiate meet.
The quartet of Hayes, Miller and the Grant siblings were four of several former Clay City and Northview standouts to put together noteworthy performances over the last week. The others can be found below:
Justin Hopkins (SMWC men’s golf)
Justin Hopkins and the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods men’s golf team opened the 2024-25 season at the IU East Invitational over the weekend. There, Hopkins was crowned as the tournament’s individual champion with respective rounds of 67 and 73 to give him a cumulative score of 140 to best a pair of golfers that finished two strokes behind him. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods returns to the course Sunday afternoon against DePauw at Idle Creek Golf Course.
Chase Nuckols (SMWC men’s golf)
Chase Nuckols and the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods men’s golf team opened the 2024-25 season at the IU East Invitational over the weekend. There, Nuckols finished in a tie for 12th with respective rounds of 73 and 76 to give him a cumulative score of 149. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods returns to the course Sunday afternoon against DePauw at Idle Creek Golf Course.
Hunter Martin (SMWC men’s golf)
Hunter Martin and the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods men’s golf team opened the 2024-25 season at the IU East Invitational over the weekend. There, Martin also finished in a tie for 12th place with respective rounds of 76 and 73 to give him a cumulative score of 149. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods returns to the course Sunday afternoon against DePauw at Idle Creek Golf Course.
Brevin Cooper (SMWC men’s golf)
Brevin Cooper and the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods men’s golf team opened the 2024-25 season at the IU East Invitational over the weekend. There, Cooper finished in 25th place with respective scores of 80 and 72 to give him a cumulative score of 152. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods returns to the course Sunday afternoon against DePauw at Idle Creek Golf Course.
Korbin Allen (ISU football)
Korbin Allen and the Indiana State University football team opened the 2024 season at Purdue on Saturday. There, the Sycamores lost by a score of 49-0. In the loss, Allen ran for nine yards on four carries, which included a five-yard run as his longest of the day. Indiana State owns an 0-1 record and visits Eastern Illinois Saturday night.
Tori Schopmeyer (SMWC volleyball)
Tori Schopmeyer and the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods volleyball team hosted the Showdown in the Woods Tournament over the weekend. There, the Pomeroys swept all five of their opponents – Franklin College, Governors State University, Clarke University, Boyce College and Lourdes University – to win the tournament’s title. Schopmeyer played a part in the run for Saint Mary’s as the senior outside hitter appeared in four matches (10 sets altogether) and recorded 21 kills, 10 digs and two assists. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods owns a 9-0 record and returns to action Tuesday against the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis.
Audrey Lee (SMWC volleyball)
Audrey Lee and the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods volleyball team hosted the Showdown in the Woods Tournament over the weekend. There, the Pomeroys swept all five of their opponents – Franklin College, Governors State University, Clarke University, Boyce College and Lourdes University – to win the tournament’s title. Lee played a part in the run for Saint Mary’s as the freshman outside hitter appeared in all five matches (17 sets altogether) and recorded 10 aces and four digs. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods owns a 9-0 record and returns to action Tuesday against the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis.
Faith Tooloose (Lincoln Trail volleyball)
Faith Tooloose and the Lincoln Trail volleyball team opened the 2024 season with six matches – against Waubonsee Community College, Triton College, Olive-Harvey College, Blackhawk Technical College, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (JV) and Frontier Community College – over the last couple of weeks. The freshman defensive specialist appeared in all six matches (12 sets) and recorded 16 digs, one kill, one assist and one ace. Lincoln Trail owns a 5-1 record and visits Southwestern Illinois College on Tuesday.
Kambree Lucas (EKU volleyball)
Kambree Lucas and the Eastern Kentucky University volleyball team opened the 2024 season at the Boston College Invitational over the weekend where the Colonels took on Texas Tech, Iona and Boston College. EKU went 1-2 over the course of the two-day event, which saw the redshirt senior outside hitter, who appeared in all three matches and played in seven sets altogether, record 13 kills, 15 digs, one assist and one ace. Eastern Kentucky owns a 1-2 record and takes part in the Geri Polvino Invitational beginning Friday morning.
Nolan White (Purdue men’s cross country)
Nolan White and the Purdue University men’s cross country team opened the 2024 season at the Winrow Valparaiso Open on Friday. There, White, who was making his debut with the Boilermakers, finished fifth overall with a time of 18:18 to help lead the team to a first-place finish in the team standings. Purdue returns to the course Friday for the Fighting Illini Big Ten Preview.
Other former Clay City and Northview student-athletes scheduled to get their respective seasons underway over the course of the next week include the following: Kassidy Kellett (Lee University women’s soccer), Gabe Stockrahm (University of Indianapolis football), Caelen Bell (Millikin University football), Kyle Cottee (Marian University football), Katie Morrison (Indiana Wesleyan University women’s cross country), Hank Slater (Rose Hulman men’s cross country) and Thomas Chapman (Saint Mary-of-the-Woods men’s cross country).