If history was an indicator, the champions at the Shelbyville boys cross country semi-state were not a surprise.
Carmel won the boys team championship at the meet, which took place Saturday at Blue River Park. The Greyhounds are one of two Hamilton County boys team to finish in the top six, and thus qualify for next week’s state meet at Terre Haute. Fishers is the other team; the Tigers’ third-place result will send them back to the big meet.
The individual champion was Hamilton Southeastern’s Gabe Fendel. The Royals senior turned the tables on Cathedral’s Cole Hocker, who beat Fendel at last week’s Noblesville regional. At the semi-state, Fendel paced the Shelbyville course in a time of 15:08.2, seven seconds ahead of Hocker.
Meanwhile, Carmel had two runners land in the top 10 to help out its team title cause. Colin Murphy placed fourth, while Keelan Grant was ninth. The Greyhounds won with 48 points, ahead of Cathedral’s 64.
Fishers placed third with 102 points. Samuel Kuhn led the Tigers with a third-place finish.
In addition to Fendel, two other county individuals qualified for state. Guerin Catholic’s Quinn Gallagher placed sixth. Westfield’s Nicholas Leahy took 11th; the Shamrocks finished seventh and just missed advancing as a team, but Leahy was one of the top 10 individuals not on an advancing team, thus giving him a place at state.
In the girls meet, Brebeuf Jesuit and Zionsville finished first and second respectively. County schools occupied the next three spots, all going to state: Carmel was third, Southeastern fourth and Fishers fifth.
The Greyhounds’ Phoebe Bates was the top county individual, taking second place in a time of 17:52.3, second only to Greencastle’s Emma Wilson, the winner in 17:41.4. Maddie Dalton also helped Carmel by taking fourth.
Lulu Black was the top HSE finisher by taking 10th, while Deborah Shera finished 16th for Fishers.
Noblesville placed seventh as a team, but will have one individual advance to state: Abi Little finished 12th. Westfield’s Gabby Dilick took 24th individually and also qualified for state.
BOYS RESULTS
Team scores: Carmel 48, Cathedral 64, Fishers 102, North Central 121, Avon 160, Zionsville 170, Westfield 227, Franklin Community 228, Center Grove 287, Southport 34, Brownsburg 348, Franklin Central 350, Roncalli 378, Whiteland 383, Perry Meridian 413, Hagerstown 436, Danvile 444, Pike 454, New Palestine 457, Cambridge City 509.
Race winner: Gabe Fendel (Hamilton Southeastern) 15:08.2.
Carmel runners: 4. Colin Murphy 15:19.7, 9. Keelan Grant 15:44.5, 12. Trey Harris 15:48.3, 13. Calvin Bates 15:49.2, 19. Ben Myers 15:55.7, 23. Ben Johnson 16:04.9, 34. Will Murphy 16:14.7.
Fishers runners: 3.Samuel Kuhn 15:18.5, 25. Alexander Meyer 16:07.0, 28. William Clark 16:09.1, 31. Ethan Meyer 16:12.8, 32. Thomas Brelage 16:14.4, 42. Dylan Arive 16:32.0, 67. Quintin Goldman 16:38.7.
Westfield runners: 11. Nicholas Leahy 15:48.0, 49. Noah Douthit 16:30.5, 68. Samuel Novak 16:39.1, 85. Maxwell Gutwein 16:52.2, 93. Gavin Clinkenbeard 17:01.3, 131. Luke Tragesser 17:26.5, 133. Tyler Smith 17:27.6.
Guerin Catholic runner: 6. Quinn Gallagher 15:25.2.
Noblesville runner: 86. Zachary Freeman 16:53.1.
GIRLS RESULTS
Team scores: Brebeuf Jesuit 70, Zionsville 95, Carmel 102, Hamilton Southeastern 113, Fishers 116, Brownsburg 127, Noblesville 131, Franklin Central 195, Greensburg 319, Avon 346, Pike 354, Plainfield 375, Southport 400, East Central 403, Franklin Community 413, New Palestine 446, Center Grove 463, Rushville 471, Warren Central 516, Franklin County 549, Greenfield-Central 588.
Race winner: Emma Wilson (Greencastle) 17:41.4.
Carmel runners: 2. Phoebe Bates 17:52.3, 4. Maddie Dalton 18:10.6, 31. Lindsey Roper 18:57.0, 48. Sydney Haines 19:17.3, 52. Izza Khurram 19:23.9, 54. Anna Morozov 19:24.8, 58. Lily McAndrews 19:36.3.
Southeastern runners: 10. Lulu Black 18:25.3, 13. Halle Hill 18:28.3, 19. Lilly Cummins 18:42.5, 36. Sam Alphin 19:07.8, 67. Ellie Pedersen 19:48.2, 78. Ellie Johnson 20:06.7, 84. Abbie Lohman 20:14.5.
Fishers runners: 16. Deborah Shera 18:34.7, 26. Teresa Kraft 18:48.4, 28. Miya Wai 18:54.1, 39. Kamya Lapsley 19:11.0, 44. Abigail Carter 19:14.5, 57. Corinne O’Leary 19:32.6, 104. Emma Julien 20:34.6.
Noblesville runners: 12. Abi Little 18:28.2, 34. Sophie Reichard 19:05.9, 35. Aubrey Swart 19:06.0, 41. Bella Sharples-Gordon 19:11.7, 53. Aubrie Deal 19:23.9, 55. Taylor Gregory 19:27.8, 85. Sophie Stahl 20:15.8.
Westfield runner: 24. Gabby Dilick 18:45.7.
Guerin Catholic runners: 27. Ellie Schroeder 18:51.9, 40. Paige Schemanske 19:11.1.
Carmel’s Keelan Grant (101) finished ninth and helped the Greyhounds boys team to win the semi-state championship. Guerin Catholic’s Quinn Gallagher (288) qualified as an individual and Fishers’ Samuel Kuhn (196) was part of the Tigers’ third-place and state qualifying team. (Kent Graham)
Hamilton Southeastern’s Lulu Black (302) placed 10th for the Royals, which finished fourth as a team and advanced to state. (Kent Graham)