DANVILLE — The Crawfordsville boys cross country team is once again back on top of the Sagamore Conference. Saturday at the Sagamore Conference meet held at Danville, CHS brought home its third SAC title in the last four seasons (no meet in 2020 due to COVID). The Athenians won the meet with 45 points holding off second place Lebanon who ended with 58. Danville was third with 60, Southmont boys placed 5th with 147 and North Montgomery finished in sixth with 161.
Ryan Miller led CHS with a third place finish with a time of 16:47.5, as the senior is rounding into form in the season’s final weeks., Hutton Haas took sixth (17:15), Max Brumett ninth (17:36), Thayer Jantzen (17:47), and Tyson Fuller rounded out the top five for the Athenians with a 16th place finish (18:03).
The Athenians are always training for the big meet success and last season they missed out on the SAC crown by just a few points. This year, CHS sees themselves once again as champions.
“I think as a coaching staff we try to learn and adapt our style of coaching in these big events. Last year we fell short of a conference championship by only a few points,” Crawfordsville coach Megan Craig said. “The varsity runners were a part of that group last year and our goal was to change the approach in hopes of a better outcome. Each group is different and being able to motivate them in those moments is the difference maker. Our athletes have the ability, but we knew they must also have the mindset. This year we chose to focus on taking that champion mindset to the line, with the hopes that they would step into their full potential.”
The Mounties were boys were led by senior Mason Cass’s fifth place finish with a time of 17:12. Sam Crum (18:24) took 18th, Trent Reeves (19:33) 35th, while Brett Keller (43rd) and Clay Allen (46) rounded out the Mounties top five finishers. Mountie coach Shelley Allen noted how there were some great things that her team was able to accomplish on Saturday.
“We had some really good performances today out of both the boys and girls teams,” Allen said. There were several PR’s today too. With the post-season now the focus. We’ll be increasing turnover and pushing off the ground more for the boys and form for the girls. Mason had a season best time and Sam Crum continues to drop times every race he competes in. The closeness of the boys pack is always encouraging for low points.”
North Montgomery boys were led by Paul Leuking’s 14th place finish. The Charger senior raced to a time of 17:55. Jack Rogers (18:35) placed 21st, Kale Mitchell (19:43) 37th Nolan Yarger (20:32) 41st and Connor Laws (21:10) took 48th to round out the top five for the Chargers.
In the girls race Crawfordsville took fifth with 122 points, Southmont sixth with 128 and North Montgomery seventh with 189.
Remy Swinford (17th) and Skylah Strawser (19th) were the top finishers for the Athenians. Lennon Woods was the top finisher for the Mountie girls with a 16th place finish and Darby Cottrell placed 18th. The Chargers were led by Payton Kunz who took 30th overall and Maggie Ireland’s 37th place finish
The Athenians have continued to build a tradition of success as they have maintained the high standards for the program year in and year in and year out. Cville has been a staple in the XC scene and once again they can say they’ve added another championship to the mantle.
“Achieving success in the program validates the athletes’ dedication and effort,” Craig said. “Whether it’s during the season or in their offseason training. The athletes took great pride in securing the victory for Crawfordsville as they competed in the Sagamore Conference meet. These big moments serve as a reminder and a catalyst for the runners to continue what we have started as champions.”
All three Montgomery County schools will now have a week off before preparing for the sectional which is now a week later due to the IHSAA removing semi-state this year. All three school will compete in the sectional hosted by Harrison on Oct. 14. The top five teams form each sectional and top 15 individuals from non-advancing teams will qualify for the Regional on Oct. 21.
