GREENTOWN - Western made it a clean sweeep for the second straight year, leaving Eastern's Cogdell field with both the boys and girls Howard County Track and Field Championships.

Twenty points in the hurdles and a total of nine first-place finishes sparked Western's boys to their third straight victory in the meet. The Red and Black totaled 97 1/2 points, easily out-distanced runner-up Northwestern's 64 2/3. The host Comets were back two points in third with 62 wiht Taylor scoring 19.

Western's girls, however, had a tougher fight as the Titans narrowed a 12-point deficit to five in the meet's last three events. The Panthers went home with their second straight title with 72 points and the Titans were next at 67. Third went to Eastern with 51 and Northwestern was fourth at 39.

Boys Meet

Panther coach Dana Neer credited his team's ability to score well in every event as the catalyst for its victory. Two athletes scored for Western in nine of the thirteen events.

Sean Holsapple and Kyle Irwin stood out with their 1-2 performances in the hurdles. Holsapple won the highs and Irwin the intermediates.

"That was big to go 1-2 in both," Neer said. "That had to be one of our biggest highlights. Bill Jenkins [hurdles coach] has to be credited for his work with those kids. He's done a mighty job.

"I was happy that we were first or second in 13 events and with two of the others we were third. That was one of our focal points - to put someone in high and score two in as many events as we could."

Western's other victories came from their top performers. Tommy Jenkins swept the 100- and 200-meter dashes while Kyle Walsh won the 1,600 and 800 runs. Blayne Burkholder claimed first in the pole vault - an event that saw a total of seven boys claim points for their schools - and the Panthers' 1,600 relay of Noah Hoover, Brad Speck, Irwin, and Jayson Frazier also won.

Jonathan Brittain grabbed the shot put medal - but not without a bit of excitement. Brittain scratched on two of his first three puts and sat thrid behind Northwesern's Joe Underwood and Seth Walker, who had each surpassed 49 feet. Brittain broke out on his final attempt with a throw of 51-4.5.

"It was nice for our seniors - Kyle, Jim [Jackson], Jonathan, Mike Piekarski, Perry Ramseyer, Tim Torkelson, Noah Hoover, David Aldrich, Pete Adelsen, and Niko Gruber - to finish," Neer said.

Beginning with the shot put, Tiger coach Pete Schroer like what he saw in several areas of his team. The Tigers placed three in the discus and jay young and Jon Gonzales with 1-2 in the high jummp. Sprinters Curtis Stout, Gonzales, Underwood and David Guggina also shined for the Purple and White, going 2-3 in the 100 and 2-4 in the 200 while winning the 400 relay.

"I really liked seeing the finishes in the 100 and they did it again in the 200. The were really ready to go," he said.

Eastern fared well with Jared Hill claiming first in the long jump and Mike Murphy doing the same in the discus. Ryan Kenworthy came through in the 400 dash as did the 3,200 relay team of Brad Dean, Brent Hickman, Johnathon Fansler and Tony Martin.

Christopher Sinnett provided Taylor with its lone first by winning the 3,200 run.

Girls Meet

After 13 events, the Panthers led the Titans 61-49. Danielle Glick got Taylor going by winning the 3,200 run and Titans picked up six points with the winning 1,600 relay team of Jasmine Thomas, Jessica Wininger, Bridget Mendenhall and Jamie Dunlap while Western failed to score.

But the lead that the Panthers built behind the three individual wins from Tiffany Reida and two more by Annina Gruber proved too much to overcome.

"To be within five points of Western in a big meet, I'm proud of the girls," Taylor coach Alan Tunmer said. "I thought Danielle and Jamie performed very well and Dara Minglin came through in the high jump.

"I'm pleased with everyone. Our times weren't as good as they've been, but we still did well."

Minglin won the high jump with Thomas and Shavon Smith claiming third and fifth for Taylor. Minglin finished third in the long jump and was second to Western senior Kristi Irwin in the exhibition pole vault. Irwin cleared 8-0 to win.

Dunlap took first in the 400 dash, but ran second to Reida in the 100 and 200 dashes. Glick was second to Gruber in the 1,600.

Reida's third individual first came in the long jump and she anchored the winning 400 relay that included Hannah Thieke, Rachael A. Smith, and Rachael L. Smith. The victor in the 800, Gruber added a third win by running the final two laps of the 3,200 relay on the team that included Anna Hurlock, Megan Clearwaters, and Becky Elliott.

"We thought it would be close. We've been watching the paper and knew it would be close,"Western coach Peggy Obermeyer said. "We did better in the field events as a whole."

The Panthers also benefited from depth, placing twice in seven events to just four for the Titans.

Ann Bedwell turned in two victories for Eastern, running away with the 100 hurldes and taking a narrow win over Northwestern's Brooke Johnson and Western's Liz Hoppes in the 300's. Rachel Voorhis turned in the night's best throw in the discus and Kasey Kemp matched that in the shot put.