It had been a long wait, but the Noblesville boys cross country team finally won its second sectional championship on Saturday.
The host Millers dominated Saturday’s sectional at the Chinquapin Ridge course at White River Elementary School. Noblesville scored a near-perfect 16 points, taking five of the top six positions. The Millers will return to Chinquapin Ridge next Saturday for their own regional, along with the other top five teams and top 10 individuals on non-advancing teams.
Noblesville won its first boys cross country sectional in 1986. How long ago was that? Current coach Bill Kenley was a sophomore runner for the Millers, and the recently-retired Kent Graham was in his first year as the Noblesville coach.
Senior Travis Hickner led the Millers, and the entire field for that matter. Hickner won the race in a time of 15 minutes, 46 seconds. Noblesville then swept the entire top four, with Asher Propst taking second, Joel Mumaw third and Cole Kimmel fourth. Billy Gregory finished in sixth place, while freshman Caden Click placed ninth.
Carmel edged out Westfield for runner-up honors. The Greyhounds scored 58 points, while the Shamrocks totaled 62.
Hudson Alden led Carmel by taking fifth, with Quavion Hooks finishing in seventh place. Owen Ferreri led Westfield by placing 10th.
Guerin Catholic scored 114 points to place fourth and join the other county teams in moving to the regional. Ethan Hines placed eighth for the Golden Eagles.
Hamilton Heights finished sixth as a team, but will have six runners advance as individuals to the regional. Those runners are Preston Miller (who placed 36th), Clayton Forrer (37th), Evan Williamson (41st), Landon Hurley (42nd), Nathan Cox (44th) and Andrew Monnin (45th).
Sheridan’s Axel Aleman placed 43rd and will also move on to the regional as an individual.
In the girls meet, Carmel cruised to another sectional title by scoring 22 points. The Greyhounds finished third last year, but had no trouble winning its 36th sectional championship on Saturday.
The Greyhounds’ Jasmine Klopstad was the individual runner, finishing the race in 18:09. Carmel had five runners place in the top seven; joining Klopstad were Alivia Romaniuk (third), Jamie Klavon (fifth), Cara Naas (sixth) and Brooklynn Edwards (seventh).
Noblesville finished second as a team with 61 points and had two runners reach the top 10. Summer Rempe placed ninth and Nadia Perez was 10th.
Westfield finished in third place by scoring 94 points; Sophia Brown led the Shamrocks by taking 14th. Guerin Catholic was fourth as a team, totaling 114 points. Bridget Gallagher placed fourth for the Golden Eagles.
Hamilton Heights was seventh as a team, but will have four runners advance to the regional as individuals. Maria Mitchell led the way, placing second overall. Also qualifying for the Huskies were Teegan Madara (36th), Mary Ella Bichey (37th) and Morgan Guthrie (40th).
At Noblesville
GIRLS MEET
Team scores: Carmel 22, Noblesville 61, Westfield 94, Guerin Catholic 114, Western Boone 138, Lebanon 143, Hamilton Heights 159.
Race winner: Jasmine Klopstad (Carmel) 18:09.
Other Carmel runners: 3. Alivia Romaniuk 18:21, 5. Jamie Klavon 18:38, 6. Cara Naas 18:44, 7. Brooklynn Edwards 18:47, 13. Emersyn Weaver 19:49, 23. Chloe Del Carlo 20:11.
Noblesville runners: 9. Summer Rempe 19:29, 10. Nadia Perez 19:33, 11. Kennedy Applegate 19:46, 15. Mya McGavic 19:53, 16. Paige Hazelrigg 19:56, 24. Bella Sharples-Gordon 20:16, 30. Brooke Lahee 20:40.
Westfield runners: 14. Sophia Brown 19:51, 18. Sophie Porter 20:01, 19. Julia Clark 20:01, 21. Sarah Coates 20:05, 22. Margaret Barnett 20:06, 28. Julia Gabennesch 20:32, 31. Robyn Schemel 20:46.
Guerin Catholic runners: 4. Bridget Gallagher 18:22, 25. Rosie Barrett 20:23, 26. Allison Wozniak 20:27, 27. Raegan Bohbrink 20:32, 32. Joelle Klavon 20:48, 33. Sophia Woods 20:55, 34. Macy Lips 21:08.
Heights runners: 2. Maria Mitchell 18:17, 36. Teegan Madara 21:34, 37. Mary Ella Bichey 21:41, 40. Morgan Guthrie 22:18, 44. Madison Dotlich 22:56, 46. Jordan Springman 23:21, 50. Allyson Dinwiddie 24:53.
BOYS MEET
Team scores: Noblesville 16, Carmel 58, Westfield 62, Guerin Catholic 123, Lebanon 138, Hamilton Heights 199, Tipton 204, Western Boone 241.
Race winner: Travis Hickner (Noblesville) 15:46.
Other Noblesville runners: 2. Asher Propst 16:06, 3. Joel Mumaw 16:12, 4. Cole Kimmel 16:15, 6. Billy Gregory 16:27, 9. Caden Click 16:36, 21. Andrew Anderson 17:01.
Carmel runners: 5. Hudson Alden 16:18, 7. Quavion Hooks 16:32, 13. Will Anderson 16:47, 16. Connor Mallon 16:48, 17. Connor Heagy 16:51, 19. Owen Urtel 16:55, 20. Carter Lindfelt 16:58.
Westfield runners: 10. Owen Ferreri 16:37, 11. Kyler Koning 16:39, 12. Tyler Smith 16:43, 14. Jacob Beene 16:47, 15. Emerson Bostic 16:48, 18. Joshua Barnett 16:53, 22. Josh Springborn 17:12.
Guerin Catholic runners: 8. Ethan Hines 16:34, 25. Evan McNeany 17:29, 29. Ben Grissom 17:44, 30. Jack Weber 17:49, 31. Christian Geary 17:59, 32. Johnny King 18:00, 38. Christian Ward 18:36.
Heights runners: 36. Preston Miller 18:23, 37. Clayton Forrer 18:26, 41. Evan Williamson 18:59, 42. Landon Hurley 19:02, 44. Nathan Cox 19:13, 45. Andrew Monnin 19:36, 48. Landon Day 19:59.
Sheridan runners: 43. Axel Aleman 19:11, 47. Luke Poprik 19:58.
Hamilton Southeastern swept the boys and girls team titles at the Pendleton Heights sectional on Saturday.
In the girls meet, the Royals scored 18 points to claim the program’s 14th sectional title. HSE placed all seven of their runners in the top nine. Maggie Powers won the individual race in a time of 19:49, while Allie Latta was the runner-up. Also finishing strong for Southeastern were Destiney Rose (fourth), Brooke Ratliff (fifth), Katherine Kesler (sixth), Jacqueline Hurlock (eighth) and Ellie Johnson (ninth).
Fishers finished second with 57 points. Elizabeth Barrett led the Tigers by taking third individually.
In the boys meet, Southeastern ended a long drought by winning the sectional title. The Royals scored 21 points, giving them their first sectional since 2005, and seventh overall.
HSE’s Bennett Dubois won the race in a time of 16:14, just edging out his teammate Will Marquardt, who took second. Nolan Satterfield placed fourth, Jack Patrick was sixth and Garrett Hicks finished eighth.
Fishers was second as a team with 34 points. The Tigers had five runners in the top 10: Will Clark (third), Matthew Leppert (fifth), Jaylen Castillo (seventh), Nick Pulos (ninth) and Jonathon Roth (10th).
At Pendleton Heights
GIRLS MEET
Team scores: Hamilton Southeastern 18, Fishers 57, Pendleton Heights 81, Alexandria 127, Frankton 140, Lapel 166, Shenandoah 173.
Race winner: Maggie Powers (HSE) 19:49.
Other Southeastern runners: 2. Allie Latta 20:16, 4. Destiney Rose 20:29, 5. Brooke Ratliff 20:32. 6. Katherine Kesler 20:59, 8. Jacqueline Hurlock 21:15, 9. Ellie Johnson 21:23.
Fishers runners: 3. Elizabeth Barrett 20:24, 11. Mia Yates 21:41, 12. Brynn Urban 21:54, 15. Liberty Hayes 22:27, 18. Megan Mybeck 22:37, 20. Erica Combs 22:43, 22. Alexia Kline 23:13.
BOYS MEET
Team scores: Hamilton Southeastern 21, Fishers 34, Pendleton Heights 89, Frankton 1212, Blue River Valley 185, Anderson 196, Elwood 225, Liberty Christian 228, Alexandria 230, Shenandoah 242, Lapel 256.
Race winner: Bennett Dubois (HSE) 16:14.
Other Southeastern runners: 2. Will Marquardt 16:14, 4. Nolan Satterfield 16:29, 6. Jack Patrick 16:39, 8. Garrett Hicks 16:48, 20. Luke Pfanstiel 18:25, 22. Nolan Pham 18:40.
Fishers runners: 3. Will Clark 16:25, 5. Matthew Leppert 16:32, 7. Jaylen Castillo 16:48, 9. Nick Pulos 17:03, 10. Jonathon Roth 17:17, 11. Colin Simons 17:25, 13. Caden Carpetner 17:37.
Noblesville’s Travis Hickner finished first in the boys race. The Millers scored a near-perfect 16 points on their way to their first sectional championship since 1986. (Kent Graham)