LINDEN — Crawfordsville swept the county championships on Wednesday. Crawfordsville’s depth was on full display in both meets.
The Athenian girls placed three runners in the top five. Katherine Novak won with a time of 21:13 and teammate Melanie Dowd came in second with a time of 23:32. Coming in fourth place for Crawfordsville was Remy Swinford who ran the course in 23:51.
Southmont’s Darby Cottrell finished in third place with a time of 23:39 and Jaysa Crull completed the course in 23:39 to claim fifth place.
North Montgomery’s top runner was Sarah Hopper who ran a 24:09 for sixth place. The Chargers also claimed places seven and eight by Zoey McFarland (24:34) and Katelyn Woolwine (25:05).
The girls’ team scoring was Crawfordsville 26, North Montgomery 45, and Southmont 49.
In the boys’ race Crawfordsville’s Hutton Haas was crowned county champion with a time of 17:20. The Athenians also placed Jantzen Thayer (18:18) in third place and Max Brummett (18:25) in fifth place.
Haas earned praise from first-year Crawfordsville coach Jared McMurry.
“Hutton has worked hard all season, including pushing the pace tonight,” McMurry said. “He benefited from an unfortunate situation that led to his victory. But make no mistake, his work ethic and drive to succeed helped put him at the top.”
Rounding out other Athenian top 10 finishers were Crawfordsville’s Alex Sanchez (19:08) in ninth and Colton Custer (19:25) in 10th place.
Southmont had three top 10 runners led by Ethan Keck who finished second with a time of 18:06. Finishing sixth for the Mounties was Trent Reeves (18:45) and Sam Crum (18:52) placed seventh.
Southmont coach Shelley Allen was pleased with both of her teams’ performances.
“The boys and girls placed, had great times, and I could not ask for anything any better,” Allen said.
The Chargers, who were the host for the meet, were led by Jack Roger’s time of 18:23 which placed him fourth. Drew Dark placed eighth with a time of 18:57.
North Montgomery coach Tim Lueking, who also acted as the meet administrator, said his teams are continually improving.
“I am proud of all of our kids because they gave a great effort,” Lueking said. “Jack Rogers was close to his personal best and Zoey McFarland did run a personal best and everything is coming together for her. Our top two girls’ runners, Sarah Hopper and Katelyn Woolwine, did great tonight. Our freshman Drew Dark is such a great athlete with a great attitude and Nolan Yarger is always putting forth a lot of effort.”
Team scores for the boys’ meet were Crawfordsville 28, Southmont 47, and North Montgomery 48.
All three coaches were pleased with their team performance.
McMurry was excited for the sweep. He said he has seen his teams bond with a different attitude than early in the year.
“The last couple of weeks our kids have competed better than they have all season,” McMurry said. “I think early they were running for more individual times instead of running as a unit. I couldn’t be prouder of how our varsity runners ran and competed.”
The event did have some drama as meet officials disqualified the top Crawfordsville runner, Josh Inskeep and Southmont’s top finisher Vince Reimondo.
No coach appeared upset with the ruling, in fact, McMurry saw it as a testament to his team’s depth.
“When you lose a runner, it’s literally next man up in this sport, and our guys down the line did that tonight like they have all season,” McMurry said.
Traditionally the county meet serves as senior night for all three county schools and fans gather in the football bleachers to watch as the seniors and their parents are introduced and recognized.
