It was a four-win-night for Crawfordsville cross country at the County meet.
The girls and boys varsity, along with the middle school girls and boys, took top team honors as runners circled the Athenian campus.
Southmont had the individual girls champion, as Faith Allen won her third county title in a row. Crawfordsville’s Ryan Miller was the boys champ.
The Athenians, though, had four of the top five finishers in both races, allowing them to run away with the titles.
“We had solid races from both teams,” seventh-year Crawfordsville coach Megan Craig said. “It speaks so highly to how much work each of these runners has put in during the offseason and up to today. We had good group efforts from both teams. The middle school winning both of their events also shows us a look into our future.”
It was also Senior Night for both South and Crawfordsville. North Montgomery doesn’t have a senior this season.
GIRLS RACE
While Allen set the pace from the opening gun, and won the girls race by :42 for her third straight county title, it was four blue and gold jersies across the finish line next and then three of the next five after that to give Crawfordsville the team title with 21 points and their fifth straight county title..
One of those C’ville seniors caught the attention of the coach.
“It was great to see Olivia Biddle run so well,” Craig said. “She is coming off an early-season injury, and her last three races especially have been really solid.
Biddle finished fourth, behind Sophia Melevage in second and Katherine Novak in third.
“Sophia led our girls right from the start and set a good pace,” Craig said of the sophomore. “Novak is a freshman and had a great start and ran a really aggressive race.”
Junior Gabrielle Warren was in fifth place for the Athenians.
But all were unable to catch Allen, who won the race in 19:57.3, the only sub 20-minute performance on the girls side.
“She’s amazing,” a proud coach but even more proud mom Shelley Allen said. “She just ran so well, but I’m super-proud of how well we ran as a team. We had a lot of season-best times.”
South senior Heaven Smith finished in sixth place, while freshman Darby Cottrell came in ninth. The Mounties finished second in the team standings with 42 points.
The girls race started out with Allen and Melevage putting some early distance on the field, but after a kilometer behind the school, and including a nasty hill, Allen had stretched her lead.
The top Chargers runner was Maggie Ireland, as the junior came in 12th, followed by Jordyn Frommar and Payton Kunz.
“We had some really good times,” North coach Tim Leuking said. “A handful were personal or season best times. The girls have been training hard, and we see the improvement as times are getting better. I’m really pleased with their efforts.”
Biddle for C’ville, Allen and Smith for Southmont were the seniors honored after the meet.
BOYS RACE
The boys match turned out along the same lines, as the Athenians had five of the first six runners across the timing line on the way to 19 points, very close to a perfect team score.
Miller stretched out his lead during the 5K event, pulling away from Southmont’s Mason Cass, last year’s county champ, to win the title with a time of 17:09.5, a half-minute ahead of Cass. “Ryan deserves that win,” Craig said of the junior. “He has put himself in that position.”
The next four times registered to Athenians runners, and they locked up the title.
Sophomore Max Brummett paced with the leaders the whole way, and came in third, only a second behind Cass. Roman Contreras, Hutton Haas and Tyson Fuller were in spots 4 - 6.
“It was great to see our guys run as a pack,” Craig said. “This is as good a group of guys as I’ve ever had here. Their hard work and talent are taking them far. All that effort pays off on nights like tonight.
They put in the time and effort - they deserve the win. It is also that group of guys just behind the leaders that allow us to score well. These guys are all team-first.”
Aaron Evans was the next Southmont runner to finish, as the senior was seventh.
North had the next four finishers, as Paul Leuking, Nolan Yarger, Jack Rogers and Blake Welch in the 8 - 11 spots. That grouping got the Chargers only six points from taking second place away from the Mounties, who were in second with 48 points.
“That is such a huge key for us,” Coach Leuking said. “When we run in a pack, we improve our times, and improve our scores. Just like the girls, we had some personal or season best times, and I’m proud of the guys. This is a season-long thing for us. We are looking to get better each week, and take those improved times to conference and sectional competition.”
The Mounties had finishers in 12th - 14th to secure the second-place finish. Ethan Keck, Ryley Mitton and Hunter Aleal took those spots.
“It was really nice to see some of the guys running as a pack,” Allen said of her Southmont runners. “That pack racing really can help with scoring, and with improving times. We are looking to improve from tonight’s times as we head into the rest of the season. The guys ran really well.”
Peter Kerns, who finished 15th, and Contreras were the two C’ville seniors honored after the match, while South honored Evans, Mitton and Skyler Wood.
