Columbus North’s Brianna Newell, from left, Julie Klaus, Lily Baker and Julia Kiesler compete in the Brown County cross-country sectional Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022 at Eagle Park in Nashville, Ind..
The Republic file photo
An hour-and-a-half before Columbus North and Noblesville battle for the Class 3A boys soccer state title on Saturday, the Bull Dogs and Millers figure to be battling it out for another state crown in girls cross-country.
North and Noblesville have been ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the girls cross-country poll all season, and the defending state champion Bull Dogs hold the top spot going into the state finals, which begin with the girls race at noon Saturday at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross-Country Course in Terre Haute.
“On paper so far, it’s been us and Noblesville, although I will say North Central (Indianapolis) girls ran really well at the (Shelbyville) semistate,” Columbus North girls coach Rick Sluder said. “They weren’t far behind Noblesville, so it will be a three-team race probably with us and Noblesville out front.”
The Bull Dogs look to have an advantage with their top two runners. Seniors Julia Kiesler and Lily Baker have been among the state’s top seven runners all season, and four of the other five will be competing as individuals.
That means Columbus North could start out with two of the top three spots after individuals are displaced.
“That would be our goal,” Sluder said. “There’s a girl from Homestead that is really good, but we’ll be in competition for the top three team spots, so we’re hoping to come out of there with three-to-five points right off the bat. That really puts us in a good driver’s spot for competing against Noblesville.”
Baker and Kiesler both earned All-State honors last year, when they led the Bull Dogs to the team title.
“We’ll have some tough competition, but that’s always the case, and if everyone does what we’re capable of, we’ll be really strong,” Kiesler said.
“I’m excited,” Baker added. “I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can do as a team, and individually, I think it will be a great day. I think we have what it takes to hopefully do it again.”
Kiesler broke her own school record with a 17-minute, 17.3-second clocking in winning Saturday’s Brown County Semistate. Baker finished second, and senior Brianna Newell was seventh.
“We had a really good semistate,” Sluder said. “Our top three ran really well, and then our 4-5-6-7 all kind of ran near each other, so we feel like we’re trending in the right direction right at the perfect time. So we feel pretty confident going in.”
All seven Columbus North runners are seniors. Baker and Newell will be running in their fourth cross-country state finals. Ellen White ran there as a freshman and sophomore, Jessica Meza ran at state as a freshman and Kiesler and Sydney Morlok were part of last year’s championship squad. Julie Klaus will be competing in her first state cross-country meet.
“We have a lot that have experience going in, so that helps us a lot, and it should pay off a lot for us to have six or seven seniors running in the meet,” Sluder said. “That helps us a ton with that experience.”
Columbus North’s Clayton Guthrie (160), Will Russell (180) and Mateo Mendez (173) lead the boys race during the Conference Indiana meet Saturday Sept. 17, 2022 at Ceraland in Columbus.
The Republic file photo
Meanwhile, the Bull Dog boys also will be aiming for a spot on the awards podium. They are ranked No. 4 going into the state meet, which will conclude with the boys race at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
“I think on a good day, maybe we could get second,” Columbus North boys coach Andy Keffaber said. “But getting in the top five this year would be awesome. Carmel, Zionsville and even Center Grove ran really good times this last weekend, and Noblesville has been very good. Then, Brebeuf is very good. It’s so close, and those other teams are all coming out of the same semistate, and we ran purely on position last weekend. We ran great based on position, so we can’t really tell what they can do until we see them Saturday.”
The Bull Dogs are led by the senior trio of Clayton Guthrie, Will Russell and Mateo Mendez. They will be shooting for top-25 individual finishes, which would earn them All-State honors.
“I think they can all do that,” Keffaber said. “I think if we can get two of them in the top 15 and maybe even all three of them in the top 25, I think that would be a really good day.”
Guthrie, Russell and Mendez all ran in last year’s state meet, when Columbus North finished third as a team. They are joined on this year’s top seven by sophomores Neal White and Draven Martinez and seniors Adler Larson and Kellen Hottell.
“I think as a team, if we all have a good day, and if we all run where I know we can, we have great chance to get on the podium, and we have a good shot at getting the best times we have all year,” Guthrie said. “Individually, I think I have potential to be top-five. That’s my goal right now. I want to run up there with the big dogs, and I want to run a personal-best, and I think it’s very possible because my personal-best right now (15:04) is at that same course.”
“I think the goal obviously is to podium,” Russell said. “We have a good group of guys that are going to be racing. We have a lot of room for improvement coming into Saturday, and I think we have a good shot to make the podium.”
Brown County also will have a pair of runners looking to contend for All-State honors. Senior Hadley Gradolf was an All-State girls runner last season and will make her fourth state finals appearance. Senior Chase Austin will be making his second appearance in the boys state meet after qualifying last year.
