BROWNSBURG — It was post-season time for our area cross country runners on Saturday as Crawfordsville and Southmont competed at the Brownsburg sectional. In the end it was a very strong showing for the Athenians as both the boys and girls teams advanced to next week’s Regional with both squads taking home fourth place finishes.
The highlight of the day for CHS came in the boys race as junior Ryan Miller broke the school record with a time of 16:28.3 as he took home a ninth place finish. Senior Roman Contreas also set a personal best time of 17:11.9 to place 24th. Hutton Haas placed 27th, Max Brumett 28th and Peter Kearns 52nd.
“Ryan has matured as a runner and a leader this season,” Crawfordsville coach Megan Craig said. “He doesn’t talk about personal accomplishments and keeps his focus on how he can contribute to the team. Being able to watch that selfless attitude help him achieve a record breaking run was inspiring. His humble attitude and positivity this season has been contagious and we are better because of the way he helps lead. It was also great to see a senior in Roman pr today. His pr last year was 18:30 and he’s worked so hard to be a solid contributor for this team.”
Highlighting the girls race for the Athenians was sophomore Sophia Melevage who took home eighth place overall with a time of 19:52. Freshman Katherine Novak placed 30th, Olivia Biddle 34th, Gabby Warren 37th, and Caroline Novak 38th. At the beginning of the season Crawfordsville set their sights on this meet according to Craig. Every team wants to perform it’s best at the end of the season and CHS is doing just that.
“Both teams knew that if we were going to accomplish those goals their focus had to be on working together and not personal accolades,” Craig said. “The team cohesion, the selflessness and the determination to help each other succeed has been so enjoyable to watch. They understand that pushing themselves to go faster is raising the ceiling for the entire group. Great athletes rise to the level of their competition, that is what they have done. They compete to make themselves better and this team better.”
Southmont had the highest individual finish of any county team over the weekend as senior standout Faith Allen placed fourth in the girls race with a time of 19:14 as she along with senior teammate Heaven Smith, who placed 35th, each qualified for next week’s Regional.
The boys had junior Mason Cass also advance with his 31st place finish in the boys race. Mountie coach Shelley Allen was pleased with not just getting those three individuals out, but the effort of all of her runners.
“It was a really good day all around,” Allen said. “I’m proud of all of our runners for how hard they ran against some tough competition. Our top five boys (Cass, Ryley Mitton, Aaron Evans, Samuel Crum, and Hunter Alesi) all ran sub-19’s and that’s something that’s never happened for us since I’ve been here so I couldn’t be more proud of everyone today.”
For their two girls runners who are both seniors, in Faith and Heaven, Allen knows that at this point in this season, any race could be their last.
“It comes to training and them working really hard,” Allen said. “I know Faith is really determined and focused right now to not let her season end.”
The three Mounties and Athenians will race on Saturday at the Ben Davis Regional. As it was in the sectional, the top five teams and top 10 individuals will qualify for the semi-state two weeks from now.
Chargers and Mustangs run at benton Central
North Montgomery and Fountain Central competed at the Benton Central sectional and both had strong showings. For the Chargers the boys took home a third place finish to qualify for next week’s Regional. The Chargers had four of the top 18 finishers as Paul Lueking raced to a seventh place finish with a time of 18:11. Nolan Yarger placed 14th, Jack Rogers 17th and Blake Welch 18th. Caden Ireland rounded out the top five finishers for the Chargers with his 36th place finish.
The North Montgomery girls also had a pair of advance as juniors Maggie Ireland (32nd) and Jordyn Frommer (33rd) will join the boys on Saturday.
Fountain Central on the boys side will be sending three individuals as Ethan Mellady and Jessie Frazee will join teammate Hayden Kler who earned a second place finish with a time of 17:45.
The FC girls will also be sending three individuals to the Regional as Alydia Mellady and Raley Messinger and Brailey Hoagland (third place overall) all qualified.
North Montgomery and FC will race on Saturday at the Harrison Regional.
