The REPORTER
The Carmel boys cross country team put itself in the record books last Saturday at the IHSAA state meet, which took place at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute.
The Greyhounds claimed their second consecutive state title, winning the championship by a margin of 109 points, the third-largest in state cross country history. Carmel scored 76 points to runner-up Fishers’ 185.
The ‘Hounds had two senior runners finish in the individual top 10. Tony Provenzano finished fourth in a time of 15 minutes, 6.8 seconds, while Kyle Grove took seventh in 15:18.6. In terms of team scoring, Provenzano scored three points and Grove scored four.
Thomas Biltimier placed 21st overall and Jack Capes was 34th, but their team points scores were low – Biltimier had 14 and Capes scored 20. Carter Buhr finished 63rd overall, but scored 35 points, so Carmel completed its scoring well before any other team.
By finishing in the top 25, Provenzano, Grove and Biltimier all received state medals and automatic spots on the All-State team. The Greyhounds also won their record-extending 18th team state championship and went back-to-back for the first time since 2017 and 2018.
The runner-up Tigers had a solid meet. Junior Sam Quagliaroli placed third in a time of 15:06.0, making him the highest finisher from Hamilton County. Senior Matthew Kim took 16th with a time of 15:30.0, so both Fishers runners received medals and All-State honors. Quagliaroli scored two points and Kim had 10 points.
The Tigers earned their third runner-up trophy, and it marked the fourth time they finished in the top two. Fishers won state in 2007 and had previous runner-up finishes in 2015 and 2017.
Tight competition
Brownsburg took third with 218 points. After that, the competition tightened up, with 22 points separating fourth-place Zionsville (232) with eighth-place Floyd Central (254).
Hamilton Southeastern was in that mix, and the Royals made their way on to the podium by placing fifth. Southeastern scored 242 points, just ahead of Columbus North’s 244. The Bull Dogs were led by junior Neal White, who placed 12th and scored eight points.
That helped Columbus North outscore Southeastern by 30 points after the first two runners, but the Royals made up for it with the next three, gaining 11, 12 then nine points on the Bull Dogs to overtake them. Southeastern’s front five runners scored 30-45-49-55-63, and that consistency gave HSE its fifth podium finish in school history. Nicolas Vega led the way, placing 54th.
Noblesville placed 12th as a team with 309 points. Samuel Rinker led the Millers by taking 35th place.
Guerin Catholic’s Luke Moster competed as an individual, finishing 66th.
BOYS MEET
Team scores: Carmel 76, Fishers 185, Brownsburg 218, Zionsville 232, Hamilton Southeastern 242, Columbus North 244, Concordia Lutheran 253, Floyd Central 254. Penn 290, Bloomington North 299, Warsaw 307, Noblesville 309, Northridge 356, Valparaiso 362, Center Grove 364, La Porte 378, Evansville Reitz 381, Franklin Central 383, Bloomington South 388, Avon 419, Lake Central 446, North Central 456, Angola 536, Wabash 538, Fort Wayne Carroll 594.
Race winner: Cameron Todd (Brebeuf Jesuit) 14:55.5.
Carmel runners: 4. Tony Provenzano 15:06.8, 7. Kyle Grove 15:18.6, 21. Thomas Biltimier 15:34.4, 34. Jack Capes 15:49.7, 63. Carter Buhr 16:00.6, 72. Max Meisner 16:06.8, 104. Kiefer Jay 16:16.5.
Team scoring: Provenzano 3, Grove 4, Biltimier 14, Capes 20, Buhr 35. (Meisner 42, Jay 62.)
Fishers runners: 3. Sam Quagliaroli 15:06.0, 16. Matthew Kim 15:30.0, 50. Nate Thomas 15:56.2, 89. Henry Wood 16:12.3, 157. Bryson Slagle 16:33.5, 187. Parker Melling 16:49.1, 188. Cooper Mohr 16:49.9.
Team scoring: Quagliaroli 2, Kim 10, Thomas 50, Wood 52, Slagle 94. (Melling 115, Mohr 116.)
Southeastern runners: 54. Nicolas Vega 15:57.5, 76. Riley Schamp 16:07.9, 85. Liam Powers 16:11.3, 92. Isaac Smith 16:12.9, 106. Ian Ross 16:16.9, 114. Matthew Hemmerling 16:19.8, 194. Andrew Smith 16:53.3.
Team scoring: Vega 30, Schamp 45, Powers 49, I. Smith 55, Ross 63. (Hemmerling 69, A. Smith 121.)
Noblesville runners: 35. Samuel Rinker 15:50.1, 40. Caden Click 15:51.1, 112. John Libs 16:18.7, 164. Alec Moor 16:35.5, 169. Luke Mumaw 16:37.1, 213. Jack Strong 17:05.3, 233. Jack Shinneman 17:35.5.
Team scoring: Rinker 21, Click 25, Libs 68, Moor 96, Mumaw 99. (Strong 140, Shinneman 158.)
Guerin Catholic runner: 66. Luke Moster 16:03.2.
Five county teams competed in the girls meet, which took place after the boys. Hamilton Southeastern led the way by placing sixth, followed by Carmel in seventh, Noblesville in eighth, Westfield in 10th and Guerin Catholic in 20th.
Three local runners placed in the top 25 to earn medals and spots on the All-State team. The Royals had two of them: Maggie Powers finished 12th and Elizabeth Butler placed 15th. The Greyhounds’ Sadie Foley took 18th place.
Liz Smith led the Shamrocks by taking 27th, while Summer Rempe paced the Millers with a 42nd-place finish. Guerin Catholic was led by Bailey Freese, who placed 111th out of 249 runners.
GIRLS MEET
Team scores: Homestead 108, Concordia Lutheran 115, Valparaiso 146, North Central 152, Franklin Central 178, Hamilton Southeastern 179, Carmel 187, Noblesville 226, Zionsville 290, Westfield 291, Brownsburg 352, Columbus North 353, Fort Wayne Carroll 379, Bloomington South 384, Warsaw 387, Penn 429, Lake Central 430, Morgan Township 430, East Noble 431, Harrison 458, Guerin Catholic 461, Corydon Central 497, Edgewood 559, Jasper 614, Portage 615.
Race winner: Libby Dowty (Indian Creek) 17:06.7.
Southeastern runners: 12. Maggie Powers 18:03.4, 15. Elizabeth Butler 18:13.7, 90. Ava Powers 19:14.3, 102. Catherine Campbell 19:20.7, 110. Raegan Hissong 19:24.9, 137. Ciara Kepner 19:43.8, 148. Anissa Lammie 19:49.2.
Team scoring: M. Powers 7, Butler 8, A. Powers 48, Campbell 54, Hissong 62. (Kepner 79, Lammie 85.)
Carmel runners: 18. Sadie Foley 18:15.6, 54. Annabel Pollert 18:57.7, 71. Audrey Ricketts 19:05.1, 80. Larkin Taylor 19:08.5, 127. Emersyn Weaver 19:33.9, 142. Olivia Mundt 19:45.8, Charlotte Konow 19:59.2.
Team scoring: Foley 9, Pollert 28, Ricketts 37, Taylor 42, Weaver 71. (Mundt 81, Konow 95.)
Noblesville runners: 42. Summer Rempe 18:48.3, 52. Ansley Applegate 18:55.6, 65. Riley Flynn 19:02.6, 100. Nadia Perez 19:19.6, 153, Brinkley Cooper 19:51.6, 176. Kennedy Applegate 20:09.6, 203. Kate Mumaw 20:34.1.
Team scoring: Rempe 23, A. Applegate 27, Flynn 34, Perez 53, Cooper 89. (K. Applegate 106, Mumaw 131.)
Westfield runners: 27. Liz Smith 18:25.7, 40. Alivia Lozier 18:45.7, 108. Maggie Naas 19:23.6, 161. Emily Loiselle 19:58.1, 171. Gianna Ferreri 20:06.5, 191. Jordyn Landrum 20:18.4, 207. Ena Durbin 20:38.4.
Team scoring: Smith 14, Lozier 22, Naas 60, Loiselle 94, Ferreri 101. (Landrum 121, Durbin 134.)
Guerin Catholic runners: 111. Bailey Freese 19:25.1, 119. Claire Flannagan 19:30.8, 175. Keira Hines 20:08.9, 179. Brianna Wolf 20:09.8, 189. Katie Kolb 20:16.4, 193. Claire Milam 20:19.0, 216. Camille Morrow 20:46.4.
Team scoring: Freese 63, Flannagan 65, Hines 105, Wolf 109, Kolb 119. (Milam 123, Morrow 143.)