The Bloomington North girls cross country team made the most of its opportunity, one that's been few and far between of late.
The Bedford North Lawrence cross country sectional almost always comes down to a battle between North and South. The Cougars completed the team sweep on Saturday, Oct. 17, while the Panthers claimed both individual prizes.
For the North girls, it was a pleasant surprise. The Cougars have gone the year without a true front runner, depending on the pack to keep the score low. That's made it tough to pick up much in the way of team titles, but they got the job done this time for the first time since 2021, beating South 35-45 and BNL third at 74.
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"This group, they haven't won anything like that," North coach Justin Helmer said. "We've not been in position to win trophies like that the last few years. It's been, 'Let's make the state meet' as our big accomplishment. Even last year, we made it and we were last.
"Next week, it'll be harder for us. We don't have that low No. 1. The bigger the meet, it gets scarier, so we wanted to just focus on this weekend and worry about regional when we get there."
Helmer thought his team had a chance to snap South's four-year streak; it was just a matter of it all falling into place. North went 7-9-10-11-12-13 behind Penny Eads (20:16.87), Ana Lopez (20:51.89), Margaret Sui (20:57.66), Piper Reed (21:00.86), Lauren Thies (21:02.40) and Adelyn Walker (21:07.16).
"We knew if we could get packed up, that's kind of our strength," Helmer said. "But you couldn't tell from week to week who our No. 2 is on down. So there's no reason why they can't just be in one big pack together.
"That's probably the best job we've done of working together and being close."
South's Lexi Kollbaum won the race in 18:41.35, holding off BNL's Voigtschild twins, with Paige second (19:09.72) and Claire third (19:19.00) while South's Brooklyn Vogel was fourth (19:36.96). Annie Bruggeman was 15th (21:22.01) then came the Panther pack, all within 14 seconds of each other, led by Sophia Trcka (19th in 21:49.93).
"We've excited for Lexi to win," South coach Larry Williams said. "She's been running much better the last couple of weeks. She took control right away and just stayed strong.
"Brooklyn did a great job, running a PR on that course. She's just getting stronger and was right there with the twins, staying with them for 3½ k and by that time, they had gapped the field. From there, North's pack was solid, about 20-30 seconds up on our pack. But Annie did a nice job sticking her nose in there and Sophia did a tremendous job. She was not in our varsity group and has worked her way up."
Eastern Greene, led by Cheyenne Bahr in 22nd, made it out as a team, placing fifth at 132 to finish above Mitchell (141).
Seven Oaks will be represented at regional for the first time as Sydney Bush was 14th in 21:16.95 while Lighthouse Christian's Elanor Farnam advanced after running to 29th in 22:38.25. Mitchell sent three on:
The boys race saw South put all seven runners in the top 14, including champion Chase Norris (16:04.44). The math went North's way by a slim 31-34 margin as the Cougars put four in the top eight, including three — Jackson Walker (16:13.26), Tucker Inman (16:35.20) and Shep Jackson (16:40.44) — finishing 2-3-5 ahead of South's Ricky Eakin (16:41.94).
North's Alex Stosberg was eighth ahead of South's Oliver Moore (16:57.63) and Luke Reinhart (17:00.43), battling illness. North had a runner drop out, leaving Lucas Sinn Truelock as the No. 5 in 16th.
"We knew going in (South) had a very strong seven," Helmer said. "They're deep and interchangeable, where I thought they had the upper hand being a little bit better up front with Chase there. I thought if we could put four in front of their No. 2, we had a chance. We didn't quite do it, but we did just enough to beat them."
South knows it truly has to be at its best next week to have a chance at state.
"I saw a very competitive team," Williams said. "North has been better than us. They have four strong runners. I thought Chase had a chance to be in front, but he's had only one or two meets where he's really gone after it. We've been taking a controlled manner with him where early on, it's not important to win more just how to compete and be in certain places.
"Behind him, Ricky did a fantastic job as a sophomore. (The race went out fast) and Oliver struggled in the last 1,500 or so. He was feeling it but he never gave up. Luke's been sick. He knows he can be with Ricky, but he gave all he had. With James (Rice) and Jake (Xiao), the race got to them and they struggled in the last mile but finished well."
Eastern Greene was third, winning a sixth runner tiebreaker over Orleans after both had 120 points. The T-Birds' Aaron Hudson (18:02.38) led the top five across with just 53 seconds between them, while Dylan Kirkwood beat Orleans' sixth man.
BNL was sixth (159), but sent Hayden Rich, Eli McFarland, Sam Strauser and Linkin Guthrie on while Seven Oaks was eighth (196), qualifying Boaz Ewer (15th in 17:36.90) and Mak Bollhorst. Lighthouse Christian's Corban Jackson qualified as did Bentley Rayhill and Jacob Ritchison of Mitchell.
BOYS RESULTS
Top 5 teams advance: 1. Bloomington North 31; 2. Bloomington South 34; *3. Eastern Greene 120; 4. Orleans 120; 5. Salem 138. Bedford North Lawrence 159; Loogootee 175; Seven Oaks 196; Brownstown Central 229. Lighthouse Christian, NTS.
Top 10 individuals: 1. Chase Norris, BS 16:04.44; 2. Jackson Walker, BN 16:13.26; 3. Landon Lundy, White River Valley, 16:22.25; 4. Tucker Inman, BN 16:35.20; 5. Shep Jackson, BN 16:40.44; 6. Ricky Eakin, BS 16:41.94; 7. Knox Jeffers, Loo 16:44.29; 8. Alex Stosberg, BN 16:49.70; 9. Oliver Moore, BS 16:57.63; 10. Luke Reinhart, BS 17:00.43.
Individual qualifiers (15): 3. Lundy, WRV; 7. Jeffers, Loo; 15. Boaz Ewer, SO 17:36.90; 18. Mason Rathgeber, North Daviess 17:51.52; 20. Hayden Rich, BNL 17:53.72; 21. Eli Crockett, BC 17:56.63; 29. Eli McFarland, BNL 18:36.89; 34. Bentley Rayhill, Mitchell 19:12.10; 36. Sam Strauser, BNL 19:22.93; 37. Mosby Jones, Loo 19:24.24; 39. Mak Bollhorst, SO 19:25.69; 42. Linkin Guthrie, BNL 19:42.10; 43. Jaxson Haywood, Bloomfield 19:48.76; 45. Corban Jackson, LCA 19:55.64; 46. Jacob Ritchison, Mitchell 20:04.62.
Other Bloomington North: 16. Lucas Sinn Trulock, 17:45.01; 19. Chase Heins, 17:53.20. Other Bloomington South: 12. James Rice, 17:06.33; 13. Jake Xiao, 17:08.11; 14. Weston Matthews, 17:13.56. Eastern Greene: 22. Aaron Hudson, 18:02.38; 23. Dillan Williams, 18:23.55; 25. Jacob Crites, 18:24.29; 27. Elijah Jordan, 18:29.42; 33. Evan Pate, 18:53.37; 35. Dylan Kirkwood, 19:16.77; 63. Zayvier Wise, 21:52.39. Other Seven Oaks: 49. Jaden Davison, 20:12.07; 57. Ira Weaver, 20:58.71; 73. Carter Whaley, 23:09.48; 74. Micah Sprague, 23:17.32; 84. Noah Bault, 29:54.70. Other BNL: 48. Tate McFarland, 20:11.95; 56. Jasper Baurichter, 20:55.22; 66. Koltyn Evans, 22:15.41. Other Mitchell: 70. Aiden Swartz, 22:42.85; 71. Logan Stillions, 22:45.43.
GIRLS RESULTS
Top 5 teams advance: 1. Bloomington North 35; 2. Bloomington South 45; 3. Bedford North Lawrence 74; 4. Linton 113; 5. Eastern Greene 132. Mitchell 141. Lighthouse Christian, NTS; Seven Oaks, NTS.
Top 10 individuals: 1. Lexi Kollbaum, BS 18:41.35; 2. Paige Voigtschild, BNL 19:09.72; 3. Claire Voigtschild, BNL 19:19.00; 4. Brooklyn Vogel, BS 19:36.96; 5. Katherine Hauner, Eastern (Pekin), 19:46.76; 6. Abbigail Denien, Salem 20:00.10; 7. Penny Eads, BN 20:16.87; 8. Kaylee Steward, Brownstown Central 20:39.27; 9. Ana Lopez, BN 20:51.89; 10. Margaret Sui, BN 20:57.66.
Individual qualifiers (15): 5. Hauner, Eastern (Pekin); 6. Denien, Salem; 8. Stewart, Brownstown; 14. Sydney Bush, SO 21:16.95; 18. Kate Linneweber, White River Valley 21:32.01; 25. Rilynn Fountain, M 22:26.57; 27. Ava Jeffers, Loogootee 22:32.29; 29. Sara Van Der Aa, Bloomfield 22:36.98; 29. Elanor Farnam, LCA 22:38.25; 30. Marlee Chase, West Washington 22:46.35; 34. Abby Gulley, Orleans 23:19.63; 36. Kendall Pischel, Bloomfield, 23:32.97; 40. Eleanor Fountain, M 23:56.45; 41. Josie Shoup, North Daviess, 24:00.23; 44. Rhilyn Slaughter, M 23:39.65.
Other Bloomington North: 11. Piper Reed, 21:00.86; 12. Lauren Thies, 21:02.40; 13. Adelyn Walker, 21:07.16; 16. Romey Wright, 21:25.90. Other Bloomington South: 15. Annie Bruggeman, 21:22.01; 19. Sophia Trcka, 21:49.93; 20. Reese Jones, 21:56.51; 21. Maddie Markley, 22:01.41; 23. Ella Sturdevant, 22:03.63. Eastern Greene: 22. Cheyenne Bahr, 22:02.26; 32. Caroline Roberts, 23:10.42; 35. Avery Fuller, 23:26.73; 46. Madison Shimkus, 25:07.56; 49. Jordis Eads, 25:42.87. Other BNL: 26. Ashlynn York, 22:28.25; 31. Maggie Minton, 22:46.40; Genevieve Walker, 23:51.79; 50. Addison Rope, 25:57.87; 51. Sophie Guthrie, 26:02.83. Other Seven Oaks: 54. Zoe Jane Hill, 27:30.67; 55. Lilly Pursell, 27:34.58; 63. Avonleigh Easton, 33:23.32. Other Mitchell: 45. Brinley Slaughter, 25:07.32; 47. June Kerns, 25:32.44; 48. Khloe Cline, 25:39.53; 60. Meridyth Beyers, 29:56.20.
Brown County Sectional
The Edgewood boys and girls both took third place as Columbus North dominated both races.
Monte Kester had a career best race to lead the Mustang boys. With No. 1 Columbus North going 1-2-3, Kester was fourth in 15:44. Noah Gallagher took 15th (16:55) and Davin Norris was 25th in 17:40. Ezra Grile was 46th.
The Bull Dogs scored 18 points to top Brown County (110) and Edgewood (141) just nipped Jennings County (142) and Columbus East (152). Martinsville (223) was ninth. Jennings County had four in the top 30, but Matthew Rouker beat JC's No. 5 man by five spots, taking 51st.
The lone Artesian to advance was Henry Barco, 14th in 16:46 while Jacob Williamson of Monrovia (24th in 17:34) also moved on.
The Columbus North girls posted a perfect 15, followed by Greensburg (77), Edgewood (80), Seymour (95) and Brown County (144). Monrovia was ninth (253) and Martinsville (284) was 10th.
The Mustangs had a group effort, with the top five finishing within two minutes of each other, led by Avi Grile, 11th in 19:42, Maggie McCormack (14th in 19:59), Nerissa Zelhof-Arriaga (15th in 20:10), Josie Buckley (18th in 21:14) and Greta Vagedes (22nd in 21:40).
Martinsville had two qualifiers, Eden Ennis (45th in 23:11) and Matilyn Hayes (51st in 23:36) and Monrovia had three: Isabelle Fox (33rd in 22:33), Lidia Tonner (47th in 23:22) and Keely Nees (54th in 23:41).
Qualifiers will run at the Crawford County Regional next Saturday.
Terre Haute Sectional
Owen Valley moved on both of its squads, making history in the process as the boys qualified for regional for the first time since 1999.
The boys were fifth with 141 points, topping South Putnam (166) for the last spot at regional. Terre Haute South won a sixth-runner tiebreaker over Northview for the title after both finished with 32 points. South Vermillion (114) and Clay City (117) went 3-4.
Liam Hogan was sixth for the Patriots in 17:06.8, followed by Gabriel Hasselberg (17th in 17:56.4), Evan Murray (39th in 19:25.7), Darren O'Brien (41st in 19:31.0) and Dane Stahl (46th in 19:41.7).
The girls had just four runners but all of them advanced individually. Payton Lukowski was fourth (20:13.1) Aubrey Mangia was 22nd (22:26.6), Isabelle Sylvester was 25th (22:37.8) and Kendall Freeman was 39th (24:36.1).
OV runners will head to the Brownsburg Regional.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington North sweeps cross country sectional titles at Bedford