Two weeks after its podium finish in the Girls Cross Country State Finals, Columbus North put two more girls teams on the podium at the Nike Midwest Cross Country Regional on Saturday in Terre Haute.
The Bull Dogs finished 10th in the Girls Championship race out of 72 teams from Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Missouri. North also was runner-up and was the top Indiana team in the Girls Freshman-Sophomore race.
“Both teams ran well,” North girls coach Rick Sluder said. “Admittedly, we didn’t continue 100 percent of our training. We were a little banged up after the state meet, but our varsity ran nearly the same times as the state meet.”
Mackenzie Barnett led the varsity with a 101st-place finish in 19 minutes, 4.4 seconds for 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) at the same LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course that hosted the state finals. Brianna Newell took 106th in 19:07.6, while Lily Baker was 118th (19:15.5), Olivia Morlok 120th (19:16.0), Jessica Meza 247th (20:30.7) and Kennedy Kerber 265th (20:45.1).
In the Freshman-Sophomore race, Ellen White led with way with a 15th-place finish in 20:24.5. Julie Klaus took 19th in 20:32.7, while Sydney Morlok was 30th (20:58.6) Abby Jacobi 32nd (20:59.9), Katherine Rumsey 53rd (21:30.0), Claire Wisler 66th (21:45.6), Madysin Perry 69th (21:49.6) and Megan Saeger 88th (22:21.1).
Meanwhile, the North boys finished 32nd in the Boys Championship race and 17th in the Boys Freshman-Sophomore race. The Bull Dogs competed without top runner Matt Newell.
Reese Kilbarger-Stumpff led North with a 112th-place finish in the Championship race in 16:20.5. Andy Stohr took 178th in 16:43.0, while Evan Carr was 233rd (17:02.9), Austin Pulkowski 263rd (17:21.9) and Will Kiel 293rd (17:50.6).
Sam Hobbeheydar finished 48th in the Freshman-Sophomore race in 17:38.5. Clayton Guthrie took 84th in 17:56.9, while Carter Howell was 176th (18:40.7), Charlie Smith 263rd (19:38.8), Kellen Hottell 284th (19:57.9), Ethan Lax 290th (20:01.3), Luke Chandler 355th (21:40.8) and Dylan Sluys 372nd (22:34.7).
Cougars earn All-Star status
Hannah Sabotin, who led Trinity Lutheran to the Class A Volleyball State Finals, and Hauser senior Kylie Lock have been named to the Class A/2A Indiana Senior All-Stars.
Sabotin and Lock will play for the South in the Indiana High School Volleyball Coaches Association North-South Senior All-Star Game at 3 p.m. Sunday at Lawrence North.
Trinity’s Bailey Reynolds has been named an Indiana Junior All-Star. She will play for the South in the 1 p.m. Junior All-Star Game, also at Lawrence North.
Olympians make All-HHC
Seven members of the Hoosier Hills Conference champion Columbus East football team have made the All-HHC squad.
Offensive selections include senior quarterback Cole Gilley, senior wide receiver Dalton Back, junior running back Mark McDonald and senior running back/receiver Lance Greiwe. Defensive selections are senior defensive end Seth Chandler, senior defensive back Tyler Settle and junior linebacker Parker Harrison.
Junior receiver/defensive back/quarterback Malachi Parks, senior offensive lineman Jake O’Connor and junior linebacker Malachi Parks are honorable mention selections.
Senior selected East MVP
Senior Zach Roberts, who helped lead Columbus East the boys soccer final four in Class 3A, has been named the team’s MVP.
Sophomore Branson Young won the Olympian Award. Sophomore Korbin Hatcher won the ISCA Top Team Player Award.
Carlos Casados Mendoza was named junior varsity MVP.
Senior is North football MVP
Senior tight end/defensive end Mitchell Collier has been named MVP of the Columbus North football team. Collier also was selected as the team’s top offensive lineman/tight end.
Junior Blake Huffman was named the top offensive back/receiver, senior Montez Mitchell was picked as the top defensive lineman and senior Landon Robbins was chosen as the top linebacker/defensive back. Senior Hunter Huser won the Bull Dog Award, senior Luke McDonald took the Tom Orr Award and senior Daveed Jolley won the John R. Skobel Memorial Scholarship.
Collier, Huser, Robbins and senior Jackson Payne were recognized as team captains.
Junior Luke Bless won the JV Bull Dog Award, and Will Davis captured the Freshman Bull Dog Award. Tyler Blythe won the Freshman Team Scholar-Athlete Award.
North selects top runners
Sophomore Matt Newell has been named MVP of the Columbus North boys cross-country team, and junior Mackenzie Barnett and freshman Brianna Newell are co-MVPs of the North girls cross-country squad.
Junior Austin Pulkowski and senior Olivia Morlok won the boys and girls Bull Dog Awards. Junior Andy Stohr was named Most Improved for the boys.
Senior Carson Littrell, junior Jackson Davis and sophomores Evan Carr and Reese Kilbarger-Stumpff were recognized as boys team captains. Seniors Morlok, Kate Falkner, Kennedy Kerber and Karla Perez were cited as girls team captains.
Senior picked as North MVP
Senior Gabby Genth has been selected MVP of the Columbus North volleyball team.
Sophomore Sarah Bennett won the Bull Dog Award, junior Madison White was named Most Improved and senior Lauren Opalka won the Perseverance Award. Juniors Emma Derringer and Kathryn Rayburn shared the Jolie Crider Award for Upperclassmen Mental Attitude.
Sophomore Grace Chapman was named JV MVP. Sophomore Nya Davis won the JV Most Improved Award, and freshman Emma Burns won the Casey Cooley Award for Underclassmen Mental Attitude.
Sophomore named Jets MVP
Sophomore Caleb Walker has been named MVP of the Hauser boys soccer team.
Franco Avilla was recognized as the High Scorer, Diego Vazquez was honored for Most Assists andCaitono Fracasso and Ben Essex shared the Best Defender Award. Cody Vincent was named Most Improved and Emily Harler won the Mental Attitude Award.
Boys set for hoops scrimmages
Most of the area’s boys basketball teams will compete in preseason scrimmages today and Saturday.
Columbus North will visit Bedford North Lawrence at 6 p.m. today. Also today, Brown County visits Monrovia at 6 p.m., and Edinburgh hosts Jac-Cen-Del at 6:30 p.m.
Columbus East will host Roncalli at noon Saturday, and Hauser will host Central Christian Academy at 2 p.m. Saturday. Also Saturday, Jennings County hosts Brownstown Central at 5 p.m., and Trinity Lutheran will host Southwestern (Hanover) at 6 p.m.
Crusaders game rescheduled
Columbus Christian’s home girls basketball game against Medora that was postponed on Saturday has been rescheduled for 6 p.m. Dec. 20.
Ted Schultz is sports editor for The Republic. He can be reached at [email protected] or 812-379-5628.
