NASHVILLE — Rainy and muddy conditions played havoc with the Brown County cross-country semistate on Saturday.
The Columbus North boys and girls runners weren’t fazed.
North’s third-ranked girls won their first semistate title since 2015, and the ninth-ranked Bull Dog boys fell just two points short of a title in qualifying for the state finals with a runner-up finish at Eagle Park.
“Today is one of those crazy days with the mud and the rain that anything can happen,” North girls coach Rick Sluder said. “So it’s kind of fun for us to have anything thrown at us and still go win. That feels good as a coach that our girls are so prepared.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
The Bull Dog girls finished with 57 points to 76 for No. 5 Bloomington North. No. 8 Floyd Central (124), Northview (154), No. 10 Bloomington South (156) and Edgewood (236) claimed the final three state-qualifying spots.
“Our girls have been working hard since June, and this was one of our big goals,” Sluder said. “We wanted to come in and compete for this. I couldn’t be more proud right now. Right now, I’m just kind of numb. This is what we’ve been working for, and it’s great to achieve it.
Mackenzie Barnett led the Bull Dogs with a third-place finish in 19 minutes, 5.4 seconds for 5,000 meters (3.1 miles).
“It was hard, but it was fun,” Barnett said. “I don’t mind it too much. I think we all just kept our heads in it, even though the weather wasn’t the best, and we really showed what we can do.”
Brianna Newell finished sixth in 19:24.8, while Lily Baker took seventh in 19:24.8 and Olivia Morlok was eighth in 19:26.7. Jessa Meza finished 35th (20:13.0), Ellen White 55th (20:44.9) and Aric Tong 79th (21:29.7).
“Mackenzie ran awesome up front,” Sluder said. “At about 1,000 meters, she just went and grabbed her spot and went for it. Then our 2-3-4 — Bri, Lily and Olivia — they gutted it out together and ran awesome and passed the first three girls from Bloomington North, and that really sealed the deal for us there. Our first four ran phenomenal, and Jessica Meza closed the door with a great performance.”
Brown County freshman Hadley Gradolf qualified for state as an individual after finishing 12th in 19:34.5.
The Columbus East girls finished 18th with 382 points. Jennings County was 19th with 456.
Chloe Krueger finished 64th in 21:04.0 to lead the Olympians. Laurel Knight took 92nd in 21:47.7, while Olivia Linnemann was 102nd (21:53.9), Olivia Shoaf 114th (22:10.5), Elizabeth Stevens 130th (22:38.7), Jordan Spurgeon 147th (23:28.2) and Riley Carothers 154th (24:02.1).
Emma Morrison led the Panthers with a 26th-place finish in 19:53. Halle Franks took 122nd in 22:23, while Liz Wahlman was 148th (23:30.9), Heather Sea 150th (23:43.2), Rilee Hicks 158th (24:26.6), Gabby Wallace 159th (24:26.9) and Zoe Stroud 163rd (26:16.6).
Meanwhile, No. 5 Bloomington South edged the Bull Dogs 77-79 for the boys team title. No. 13 Floyd Central (97), No. 20 Bloomington North (156), No. 22 Jasper (173) and Northview (196) also qualified for state.
“I couldn’t be more proud,” North boys coach Danny Fisher said. “I know we came in here looking to win, but the boys looked forward to running in this, and that’s what I’m most proud about. The elements didn’t become an aliment for them. They looked forward to running in this, where a lot of teams are probably beat before they even get off the bus.”
Matt Newell finished second in 15:56.3 to lead Columbus North. Reese Kilbarger Stumpff took sixth in 16:09.2, while Andy Stohr was 16th (16:24.4), Evan Carr 34th (16:47.2), Collin Pruitt 36th (16:47.8), Austin Pulkowski 49th (17:02.6) and Will Kiel 88th (17:36.6).
Newell recalled running in similar conditions in last year’s Brown County Eagle Classic on the same Eagle Park course.
“I don’t really think it was a big difference,” Newell said. “Everyone was in the same boat, and I don’t think it really mixed things up as much as you would think. I think it was a pretty good day, but going into next week, we’re all eyes on state. What matters now is how we prepare for state next week.”
No. 23 Jennings County missed a return trip to state as a team, finishing eighth with 223 points. But the Panthers did qualify a pair of individuals in Gavin Hendrix, who took 10th in 16:21.3, and Carter Leak, who was 15th in 16:24.2.
Also for Jennings, Drew Stroud finished 59th in 17:10.3, while Lane Elsner was 101st (17:47.8), Logan McIntosh was 110th (17:51.8) and Ian Campbell 126th (18:04.0).
Competing as individuals, Brown County’s Chase Austin finished 44th in 16:58.9, Hauser’s Ryan Ault took 104th in 17:49.2 and East’s Nick Walter was 131st in 18:12.5.
