LINDEN — All the area cross country teams were in action Thursday night at the 51st Annual Charger Classic at North Montgomery.
Crawfordsville’s Ryan Miller paced the local runners with a third-place finish in the boys’ race in a time of 17:45.
“He (Miller) ran an excellent race,” Crawfordsville coach Megan Craig said. “I think Ryan is finally running with more confidence and where he needs to be. He’s not afraid to go out and go out to face, he understands racing a little bit more at this distance.”
North Montgomery’s Elijah McCartney was fourth in 18:04 and Fountain Central’s Hayden Kler was seventh in 18:17. Southmont’s Mason Cass led the Mounties with an eighth-place finish in 18:22.
Crawfordsville placed third on the boys’ side with 78 points, while North Montgomery was fifth with 108 and Southmont seventh with 159.
Hutton Haas placed 16th for Crawfordsville in 18:58, while Tyson Fuller was 18th in 19:04 and Ian Hensley was 19th in 19:07. Arthur Ruano placed 26th in 19:46 and Roman Contreras was 28th in 19:57. Jackson Walters placed 50th in 22:27.
Tim Lueking fell in behind McCartney for the Chargers, placing 11th in 18:47. Paul Lueking was 23rd in 19:30. Nolan Yarger was 36th in 20:36, Jack Rogers was 47th in 22:12 and Wil Campbell was 48th in 22:22. Conner Hankins was 65th in 33:20.
“Our guys have been working really hard,” North Montgomery coach Cassie Hicks said. “Taking a week off, the ones who want to keep progressing are the ones who are going to continue to train whether we are all together or not and that really shows in their performance.”
Southmont’s Hunter Alesi placed 34th in 20:29, Clayton Allen 44th in 21:33, Brett Keller was 46th in 22 minutes. Skyler Wood was 52nd in 22:37.
Fountain Central’s Nathan Summers was 35th in 20:34 and Maddox Carson 66th in 38:22.
On the girls’ side, Faith Allen led Southmont with a fourth-place finish in 19:57, while Crawfordsville’s Sophia Melevage was seventh in 20:50, Fountain Central’s Brailey Hoagland 10th in 21:36 and North Montgomery’s Claire Bonwell 34th in 24:11.
Crawfordsville finished fourth with 91 points, while Fountain Central was seventh with 194 and Southmont fifth with 209. Seeger won with 64.
Elyse Widmer placed 14th for the Athenians in 22:23, while Shelby Greene was 17th in 22:35, and Karla Fernandez 25th in 23:23. Olivia Biddle placed 29th in 23:52, Gabby Warren 40th in 24:38, and Guinevere Smitzer-Torber 45th in 24:52.
Heaven Smith placed 51st for Southmont in 25:31, Rachel Rhoads 54th in 26:41, Kylee Reeves 59th in 28:49 and Tomoko Greiner 60th in 28:51. Tiffany Dittmer was 64th in 30:09.
“The girls, every single one of them had a season-best time,” Southmont coach Shelley Allen said. “I’m really happy with their progress. She (Allen) ended up fourth, but went sub-20 for the first time this year.”
Fountain Central’s Hadlee McBride was 38th in 24:35, Courtney Sims was 44th in 24:47, Alydia Mellady was 58th in 28:19, and Madisyn Morgan was 61st in 29:12.
North Montgomery’s Nichole Hoffman placed 66th in 33:56.
