Northwestern takes boys’ title; Western girls finish second

This article is brought to you by Jeff Lipinski for Howard County Commissioner District 1.

Local runners had a great showing at the IHSAA cross-country sectionals on Oct. 17, with teams and individuals bringing home the hardware. Northwestern proved to be the cream of the crop in the boys’ competition, while Western High School logged the best times in the girls’ race.

Western’s Beck Bennett proved to have the fastest feet in the sectional at Logansport High School. The junior finished the 5,000-meter course in 16:32.59. He was followed by Northwestern’s Mason Broeker, a senior, at 16:41.52. Sophomore Tiger Colen Lechner finished at 16:47,25 to round out the top three.

Other advancing finishers included:

• Western senior Maddox Carver (17:13.74),
• Northwestern senior Bryan Burkhalter (17:15.69),
• Maconaquah sophomore Abel Robinson (17:22.76),
• Northwestern sophomore Mitchell Schmidt (17:23.98),
• Northwestern sophomore Louie Matson (17:26.41),
• Northwestern sophomore Maxwell Mitchell (17:24.94),
• Western junior Avery Franklin (17:35.08),
• Northwestern senior Henry Neher (18:02.89),
• Kokomo junior Maurice Wright (18:05.60),
• Lewis Cass sophomore Samual Vandeburg (18:13.86),
• Kokomo junior Leo Serra (18:20.16),
• Eastern freshman Isaac Matos (18:37.17),
• Eastern senior William Kuntz (18:37.66),
• Kokomo sophomore Monte Bunn (18:39.61),
• Western sophomore Ethan Echelbarger (18:42.37),
• Eastern junior Xander Snow (18:43.77).

Alaina Thompson, a junior from Kokomo, registered the top time among local runners with a 20:06.21 finish; good for second place. She was joined on the podium by Western senior Mary Claire DiPaola (20:13.98), Northwestern sophomore Annabelle Brewster (20:41.84), and Western junior (Lucy Schave (20:52.66).

Other advancing finishers in the girls’ race included:

• Lewis Cass junior Hope Rush (21:14.32),
• Eastern freshman Mallory Condon (21:30.16),
• Northwestern sophomore Vanessa Morrow (21:40.17),
• Maconaquah junior Macie McManus (22:07.24),
• Northwestern sophomore Elle Shoaff (22:12.92),
• Lewis Cass senior Brystalin Gillem (22:41.83),
• Kokomo junior Izabella Riggs (22:47.46),
• Lewis Cass freshman Ellisynn Guy (23:25.43),
• Western junior Gracie Shade (23:41.69),
• Maconaquah’s June Schrock (23:43.74).

The top five qualifying teams and the top 15 individuals from non-advancing teams in each sectional advanced to the regional. This means Northwestern and Western sent their full boys’ teams to the regionals in Brownsburg. On the girls’ side, Western, Northwestern, Lewis Cass, and Kokomo punched team tickets to the regionals.

At the regionals, Western’s Bennett was the top local finisher, placing 37th in the boys’ competition. Kokomo’s Thompson was the top local finisher for the girls’ at 43rd place.

See additional photos from the boys’ and girls’ IHSAA cross-country sectionals, courtesy of Adam Hartsough, on the Lantern’s Facebook page.