NEW MARKET — The hills and humidity were the biggest challengers in Southmont’s ‘Leap into September’ cross country meet on Tuesday night, but plenty of local flavor was on the leaderboard, including the Mounties’ Faith Allen who placed second in the girls’ race with a time of 20:12.
“I felt like it was a lot slower of a race, it was really nice weather, but the hills made it dificult,” Allen said. “A lot of the courses in Indiana are super flat, so you come here and there’s a bunch of hills and times slow down a lot.”
Western Boone’s Audrey Knoper was in the individual champion with a time of 20:52, while Lebanon won the team title with 46 points. Crawfordsville was fourth with 87, led by Halle Smith’s 13th place finish in 24:22. North Montgomery and Southmont were incomplete.
Claire Bonwell led the Chargers with a 35th place finish in a time of 28:21, while Lydia LaChance was 43rd in 32:05 and Hannah Littell 48th in 36:23.
Southmont’s Rachel Rhoads was 34th in 28:15 and Grace Simpson was 39th in 30:20. On the boys’ side, Mason Cass led the Mounties with a 16th place finish in 20:41, while Aaron Evans was 18th in 20:50. Brett Keller was 39th in 22:28 and Connor Keller was 50th in 24:30. Toby Casteel was 60th in 27:51.
“We ran pretty good,” Southmont coach Shelley Allen said. “Times were a litle bit slow for some, but we had some hit some really good PRs.”
Shelby Greene filed in behind Smith for the Athenians, placing 15th in 24:30, while Elyse Widmer was 17th in 24:39, and Skylah Strawser 23rd in 25:52. Karla Fernandez was 24th with a time of 26:05, while Olivia Biddle was 29th in 26:34 and Gabby Warren 30th in 27:18. Olivia Fichter finished 46th in 35:13.
The Athenians, who are the defending Sagamore Conference champions, are gradually working into form.
“This summer we were apart, so there wasn’t much in the way of speed, so I can see that they can sustain an average pace for the whole race,” Crawfordsville coach Megan Craig said. “but we have no kick and that’s what we’ve really got to work on.”
Hunter Hutchison continued to shine for the Athenians in the boys’ race by placing second with a time of 19:04, helping Crawfordsville to a second place finish with 74 points, behind Lebanon’s 19. The Tigers’ Zachary West was the individual champion with a time of 18:29.
“I think he felt good at the start and went out,” Craig added about Hutchison. “and just kind of looking at the field for conference and how it is. I think these races are good for preparing him for big races, and being able to learn from it.”
Ryan Miller was 13th with a time of 20:03, while Roman Contreras was 20th in 20:59, and Nathan Million 21st in 21:06. Ian Hensley was 22nd in 21:08. Peter Kearns placed 24th in 21:19. Arthuer Ruano was 36th in 22:05, and Drake Burris 48th n 23:54. Antonion Sanchez was 62nd in 29:09 and Raul Gonzalez was 63rd in 34:41.
Elijah McCartney led North Montgomery with an 11th place finish in a time of 19:48, while Kylin White was 59th in 27:14.
