​ELLETTSVILLE — Shep Jackson and Lauren Thies had a little inspiration behind them as they crested the final hill, turned and came back down to the finish line.The two Bloomington North standouts wanted to make sure the home team had a good day at the first ever Charlie Warthan Classic Hokum Karem Meet on the Cougars’ newly laid out course at the old Creekbend Vinyard property.”So badly,” Eads said. “I told everyone on our team if they got passed on the hill, I was going to get so mad at them because we run this hill so often. And we come out here all the time. And it’s a big deal to coach (Justin Helmer) and of course, Coach Warthan. You don’t want to lose on the first time you have a home meet.”More: VOTE for the Herald-Times Athlete of the Week for Aug. 17-22″Couldn’t let this one get away,” Jackson added. “Had to do it for Coach (Warthan). Had to kind of set the tone for the season.”Taking turns with their partners — Thies with Penny Eads in the girls race and Jackson with Jackson Walker in the boys race — each ran the one-mile loop, handing off the baton until six miles were covered. “The rest is nice, but there’s some serious hills out here,” Eads said. “So I would say, it’s easier in some ways, harder in others. It feels like a four-by-eight (relay) more than a normal 5k, but I really liked it. It was fun.”And I feel like you really don’t get the environment like this anywhere else.”It’s the first time North, Bloomington South, Edgewood and Owen Valley have had a chance to compete head to head in a regular season race since the old Monroe County Meet was done away with five years ago. A big crowd showed up for the inaugural event.”It’s super fun to compete honoring Charlie Warthan,” Jackson said. “Such a great opportunity. Hokum Karem, good competition, Brantley Blair really pushed me there. I was not expecting that. He’s going to be a great Indiana runner.”It was just great to do it in front of all these people I know. We have parents of old teammates out there. It’s been a blast.”More: Bloomington area girls volleyball players to watch in 2026″There was that little bit of pressure, right?” North coach Justin Helmer added. “First one out here. Coach Warthan back. But at the same time, we know it’s part of the process of trying to get where we want to in the season.”The race is also special to long-time South coach Larry Williams.”Back when I first started coaching at South, we did Hokum Karems,” he said. “We went to Pike, but then were started going to Saturday meets and it was every Saturday. This is great, and I’m so thankful that we were able to show Coach Warthan appreciation as a community of runners, not just Bloomington North, but everyone.”Obviously, he’s meant a lot to people throughout the whole state. He’s one of those we all want to push to be. He was one of my coaches in high school. He and Ralph Sieboldt are just dear to me, along with the late John McNichols. I think the kids had a lot of fun with it.”Down to the wire