FORTVILLE — The 15th-ranked Mt. Vernon girls cross country team has a luxury most teams don’t have.
With a list of quality runners longer than a seven-member varsity lineup and with five teams advancing from Saturday’s Mt. Vernon Sectional to this Saturday’s Shelbyville Regional, the Marauders were able to rest some runners in preparation for the meet that will decide which teams and individuals make it to the IHSAA Girls Cross Country State Finals in Terre Haute on Oct. 28.
No. 8 Franklin Central won the meet with 24 points. Mt. Vernon finished second with 68. Cathedral (91), Greenfield-Central (111) and Lawrence North (119) were the other team qualifiers. New Palestine placed sixth with 14o points, but had four individuals qualify for the regional. Both Eastern Hancock runners advanced to the Shelbyville race.
The Dragons and Royals benefited from the top 15 runners not associated with the top five teams earning spots into the next round of the postseason.
“They ran exactly how we wanted them to for this week,” Mt. Vernon coach Lydgia Palmer said. “We need them to be ready next week. Our whole training has been to be prepared for the regional and we made some decisions this week for strategy. We set a couple people out for extra rest that have been hurt or injured and we’re in the middle of our taper.
“We pretty much knew coming in that Franklin Central was going to run away with it so we could take this week to be ready for next week.”
Mt. Vernon’s Makenna Laffey and Kenydi Russell, regulars in the varsity lineup, did not run Saturday.
“We have a chance getting out (of the regional) and getting to state,” Palmer added. “This last month of training has just been, ‘What’s our best strategy to do the best we can there?’ We knew we were going to get out of the sectional. We have a lot of depth, so we’re in a good place. We need this week to be our focus. The girls are mentally there.”
At the sectional race, Hannah Hauser was the top Marauder and Hancock County runner. She placed fifth with a 5K time of 19:32. Teammate Chesnie Willis was ninth (20:02). Emma Gale placed 15th (20:25). Lillian Quinn (17th, 20:32) and Julia Iserloth (22nd, 21:09) rounded out the Mt. Vernon scorers.
Greenfield-Central’s Josie Kinnaman and Lexie Copeland finished seventh and eighth, respectively. Both finished under 20 minutes at 19:45 and 19:56.
The Cougars fourth-place finish tied for the best finish the program has had in a sectional race.
“Josie ran where she was predicted to, if you look at all the websites. She ran a good race,” Greenfield-Central coach Scott Burton said. “Lexie ran a really good race and finished well ahead of where she was predicted to finish and came away with a top 10. I’ve been telling them all week this time of the season it’s not about fast times or getting a fast time, it’s about stepping up and competing and overall we competed pretty well (Saturday).”
Adalyn Cole added an 18th-place finish (20:39) while Kendall Barrett (39th, 22:27) and Taylor Cooksey (43rd, 22:46) also scored.
“This sectional is never easy and with the change they made this year, it made it more difficult,” Burton added. “We’ve always had the Franklin Centrals, Mt. Vernons, New Pals and Warren Central, they took Roncalli out, but added Cathedral and Lawrence North. It made the team depth quite a bit stronger so it’s a pretty good accomplish to get in that top 5 and move on.”
Burton said his top five’s average of 21:06 was 15 seconds better than the previous best average.
New Palestine finished one spot out from advancing its entire team, but the Dragons will be well-represented at the Shelbyville Regional. Courtney Study placed 11th in 20:12. She will race again along with teammates Amelia Stone (21st, 20:54), Addison Uhl (3oth, 21:31) and Camille Massari (36th, 22:03).
Eastern Hancock’s top finisher was Sydney Johnson. She finished 35th in 22:01. Kaylee Swan moves on to the regional after placing 41st in 22:36.
At the regional, like the sectional, the top five teams and top 15 individuals not associated with a top five team will move on to the state finals. At Shelbyville, along with the teams and individuals from the Mt. Vernon race, sectional qualifiers from Noblesville, Connersville, Shelbyville and Southwestern (Hanover) will compete.
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2023 Mt. Vernon Girls Cross Country Sectional
Team scores: Franklin Central 24, Mt. Vernon 68, Cathedral 91, Greenfield-Central 111, Lawrence North 119, New Palestine 140, Warren Central 147, Beech Grove 236
Top 10: Savana Miller, Franklin Central, 18:03; Kylie Cline, Franklin Central, 18:14; Dakota Miller, Franklin Central, 19:07; Lucille Marquart, Cathedral, 19:15; Hannah Hauser, Mt. Vernon, 19:32; Camryn Simons, Franklin Central, 19:41; Josie Kinnaman, Greenfield-Central, 19:45; Lexie Copeland, Greenfield-Central, 19:56; Chesnie Willis, Mt. Vernon, 20:02; Amaya Pittman, Lawrence North, 20:07.
