Zionsville Girls, Carmel Boys Win Cross Country Championships
Greencastle’s Emma Wilson, Hamilton Southeastern’s Gabe Fendel claim Individual Crowns
The third-ranked Zionsville girls team and top-ranked Carmel boys team both earned their respective team titles during the annual IHSAA Cross Country State Finals festivities at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute.
Zionsville, with 118 points, was led by two top seven finishers in senior Sophia Rigg in 18:19.8 who grabbed fourth place and sophomore Katelyn Wasson in 18:25.7. Sophomore Margaret Allen (18:40.4) in 19th, sophomore Anna Settle (19:09.6) in 40th, and senior Annie Pappas (19:15.1) in 48th were the other scoring runners for the Eagles.
It was the first team title for a Zionsville cross country team of either gender with last year’s fourth place finish its previous best showing. The Eagles were coached by Suzanne Rigg.
Carroll (Fort Wayne) claimed the runner-up spot with 129 points, and seven-time defending state champion Carmel placed third with 169 points.
Junior Emma Wilson, running as an individual, became the first Greencastle runner to win a cross country state championship in her school’s history. She covered the rolling 5,000 meter course in 17:45.9 well ahead of the nearest competitors. She was followed by Carmel sophomore Phoebe Bates who finished in 18:00.0 and defending state champion Tyler Schwartz, a DeKalb senior, in 18:07.9.
On the boys side, Hamilton Southeastern senior Gabe Fendel took top honors in 15:17.2, the first Royals runner to earn the crown since Justin Roeder won in 2004, the first year at this course.
Fendel was followed by junior Cole Hocker of Indianapolis Cathedral in 15:19.5, and senior Skylar Stidam of Christian Academy of Indiana in 15:23.8.
The Carmel boys had their first four runners place among the top 19 and snagged the team crown with 94 points. It was the school’s second title in three years under coach Colin Altevogt.
Senior Keelan Grant (15:45.9) finished 10th, classmate Colin Murphy (15:53.1) was 13th, sophomore Ben Myers (16:07.6) was 18th and junior Calvin Bates (16:07.8) was right behind in 19th. Senior Ben Miller (16:18.4) in 34th was the Greyhounds fifth runner.
Fishers ended as the state runner-up for the second time in three years with 152 points and was followed by third-ranked Westview which enjoyed its highest finish ever with 171 points.
Connor Goetz of Carroll High School in Fort Wayne and Katherine Modrall of Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School were announced as the winners of the respective mental attitude awards by the IHSAA Executive Committee following the races.
The IHSAA Executive Committee, on behalf of Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, awarded a scholarship for $1,000 to Carroll High School in the name of Connor Goetz and to Brebeuf Jesuit in the name of Katherine Modrall. Since 1989, almost $900,000 in college scholarships has been presented to deserving high school students in Indiana thanks for Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance.