The Columbus North boys cross-country team won the Nike Midwest Regional Sunday in Terre Haute. Team members include, from left, Justin Reckers, Logan Vanzant, Joseph Day, Denton Sluder, Jace Works, Graham Pumphrey, Sam Steinmetz and Rohan Norris.
The Columbus North boys cross-country team is headed to the sport’s premier high school national team championship.
The Bull Dogs ran away with the Nike Midwest Regional Sunday at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, the same site where they captured the state title two weeks earlier. That qualified them for the Nike Cross Nationals Dec. 6 in Portland, Oregon, for the third time in program history.
Columbus North scored 131 points to 189 for runner-up Plainfield North (Illinois) and 203 for Noblesville in a meet that included top teams from Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri.
“We were ranked No. 1 going in, and we had already raced Noblesville and Plainfield North and Plainfield South and Rock Bridge (Missouri), and we had felt we were one of the top teams coming in, so we knew we had a really good chance,” North coach Rick Sluder said. “We just had to go in and take care of our racing strategy, and that’s what they did. With our depth, we ended up running away with it.”
Senior Jace Works finished 13th in 15 minutes, 8.69 seconds for 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) to earn second-team All-District honors. Denton Sluder took 18th in 15:13.55 to make third-team All-District.
“They both ran outstanding to lead us,” Rick Sluder said.
Junior Justin Reckers finished 60th in 15:35.85. Sophomore Joseph Day took 71st in 15:41.10, while junior Graham Pumphrey was 93nd (15:48.88), senior Sam Steinmetz 107th (15:54.58), senior Logan Vanzant 140th (16:03.12) and sophomore Rohan Norris 198th (16:21.25).
“They ran as well as they did at Twilight and the state meet, if not even better, so it was really impressive,” Rick Sluder said. “It was kind of a slower, windy day, and the course wasn’t in as good of shape as it was for those meets, so we were excited about our times.”
North finished third in the 2010 Nike Cross Nationals and ninth in 2011. The Bull Dogs are only the ninth boys team from Indiana to qualify in the event’s history.
Meanwhile, the North girls finished 22nd Sunday. Sophomore Kodi Smith led the Bull Dogs with a 151st-place finish in 19:12.19, while freshman Sydney Madden was 167th (19:20.24), junior Tristan Works 173rd (19:24.47), junior Emma Lowther 199th (19:36.79), senior Maria Gaggiano Camargo 212th (19:43.91), junior Adira Sluder 230th (19:52.00) and sophomore Hazel Sasse 293rd (20:59.30).
The Columbus North girls cross-country team finished 22nd in Sunday’s Nike Midwest Regional in Terre Haute. Team members include, from left, Maria Gaggiano Camargo, Kodi Smith, Adira Sluder, Emma Lowther, Tristan Works, Sydney Madden and Hazel Sasse.
