FORTVILLE — Mt. Vernon won its first boys cross country sectional in nine years and seventh overall on its home course Saturday.
It was a total team effort.
Tied with Franklin Central 42-42 after scoring each team’s first five runners, it came down to which team had the better finish with its sixth runner.
Mt. Vernon’s Austin Baugh’s 16th-place finish proved to be the difference.
Franklin Central had four runners in the top 11, but its fifth and sixth runners placed 18th and 19th, respectively.
“This is a great win for us,” Mt. Vernon coach Bruce Kendall said. “What a fun day. Franklin Central has 3,500 students and are well-coached, so we had to have all the pieces here to pull this one out.”
The Marauders came into the race ranked No. 10 in the final Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches Poll (IATCCC) and Franklin Central was No. 13. The Flashes had won five straight sectional titles prior to Saturday.
Franklin Central’s Evan Farmer won the 5K race in 15:30.8. Mt. Vernon’s Ahmed Saleh was runner-up in 15:45.8.
“This is a big confidence booster,” Saleh said. “[The depth of our team] is why we won. Our sixth, seventh runners, they are all still up there right behind the fifth and that’s the tiebreaker … Every place matters.”
Saleh’s Marauder teammate Xaiden Jenson was fourth in 15:56.1 and Eastern Hancock’s lone regional qualifier, Preston Markley, ran a career-best and school-record time of 16:02.5 to place fifth.
“The beginning of the season, I developed an injury so coming back today and running a PR was great for me because the season hasn’t really gone like I’ve wanted it to,” Markley said. “The plan was just go up there and stick to where I knew I could be and get with those top guys because I know I’m supposed to be there.”
Three Hancock County schools were among the top five teams, which all advance to this week’s regional.
Along with the Marauders, Greenfield-Central placed fourth with 104 points. New Palestine took the last qualifying spot with 139 points, 32 better than sixth-place Warren Central.
All four county schools had all-sectional (top 20) performances.
Caden Cassada added another top 10 spot for the Marauders by placing seventh overall in 16:13.9. Right behind Cassada was New Palestine’s top runner, Jacob Cooper. He was eighth in 16:17.2.
“We knew coming in we might be fifth, but also knew it was going to be kind of a dogfight. Cathedral has a great program and we knew Warren Central would go out real hard,” New Palestine coach Eric Branch said. “Halfway through the race it looked like we were close to where we wanted to be and we finished really well. We put Warren behind us and took off.”
Greenfield-Central’s Bryce Cotterman and Henry Rahe, both sophomores, finished 12th and 13th, respectively, with times of 16:25.7 and 16:26.6.
“We were ready to go today and that’s exciting. Hopefully we’ll continue that next week,” Greenfield-Central coach Aaron Smith said.
Cotterman started a run of five straight county runners. Three Marauders were right behind Rahe.
Landon Willis (16:26.6), Brayden Strantz (16:31.3) and Baugh (16:35.0) kept the Franklin Central’s No. 5 and No. 6 runners behind them.
The same qualifying standards will be in place next week at the Shelbyville Regional. The top five teams and top five individuals not associated with the top five teams will advance to the state meet in Terre Haute.
Along with qualifiers from Mt. Vernon, other runners participated in Shelbyville Saturday are from the Noblesville, Rushville, Shelbyville and Southwestern (Hanover) sectionals.
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2024 Mt. Vernon Boys Cross Country Sectional
Team scores: *Mt. Vernon 42, Franklin Central 42, Lawrence North 79, Greenfield-Central 104, New Palestine 139, Warren Central 171, Cathedral 236, Scecina 263, Eastern Hancock 272, Lawrence Central 284, Purdue Polytechnic 289, Morristown 335, Tech 348.
* won on sixth-runner tiebreaker
All-Sectional (Top 20): Evan Farmer, Franklin Central, 15:30.8; Ahmed Saleh, Mt. Vernon, 15:45.8; Justin Reedus, Franklin Central, 15:56.0; Xaiden Jenson, Mt. Vernon, 15:56.1; Preston Markley, Eastern Hancock, 16:02.5; Conrad Schumacher, Lawrence North, 16:05.5; Caden Cassada, Mt. Vernon, 16:13.8; Jacob Cooper, New Palestine, 16:17.2; Ian Tharp, Franklin Central, 16:18.1; Tyler Lenze, Lawrence North, 16:20.5; Cooper Trout, Franklin Central, 16:21.9; Bryce Cotterman, Greenfield-Central, 16:23.5; Henry Rahe, Greenfield-Central, 16:25.7; Landon Willis, Mt. Vernon, 16:26.6; Brayden Strantz, Mt. Vernon, 16:31.3; Austin Baugh, Mt. Vernon, 16:35.0; Josh Gamble, Lawrence North, 16:40.3; Emilio Leal, Franklin Central, 16:44.4; Andrew Wright, Franklin Central, 16:49.6; Josh Lasley, Franklin Central, 16:52.0
Hancock County Results
Mt. Vernon (42): Ahmed Saleh (2nd, 15:45.8), Xaiden Jenson (4th, 15:56.1), Caden Cassada (7th, 16:13.8), Landon Willis (14th, 16:26.6), Brayden Strantz (15th, 16:31.3), Austin Baugh (16th, 16:35.0), Cooper Hunziker (21st, 16:57.2)
Greenfield-Central (104): Bryce Cotterman (12th, 16:23.5), Henry Rahe (13th, 16:25.7), Peter Hummel (23rd, 17:02.0), John Wait (26th, 17:17.4), David Wasson (30th, 17:40.7), Otto Sickels (42nd, 18:03.2), Benjamin Flora (58th, 18:51.5)
New Palestine (139): Jacob Cooper (8th, 16:17.2), Mike Bauer (25th, 17:14.4), Gavin Smith (29th, 17:38.1), Carson Cooper (31st, 17:41.2), Hayden Flanagan (46th, 18:16.2), Zion Koch (48th, 18:19.1), Gabe Silvey (53rd, 18:40.3)
Eastern Hancock (272): Preston Markley (5th, 16:02.5), Andrew Metz (52nd, 18:38.6), Caden Powers (66th, 19:59.2), Davis Decker (75th, 21:08.2), Jud West (76th, 21:11.8).
