Cross country: Noblesville boys end 19-year drought, Carmel girls dominate

The REPORTER

The Noblesville boys cross country team broke a 19-year regional drought last Saturday.

The Millers triumphed at the Shelbyville regional, which took place at the city’s Blue River Park course. Noblesville won by a comfortable margin, scoring 45 points to runner-up Hamilton Southeastern’s 78 points. It’s the Millers’ first regional triumph since 1995 and their fifth win in program history.

Noblesville had its first five runners land in the top 20, closing off its scoring early. John Libs led the Millers pack with a runner-up finish, clocking in at 15 minutes, 21.5 seconds. Banner Barnes placed ninth, Isaiah Vohs was 10^th and Jack Strong placed 11^th to help keep the score low; they scored eight, nine and 10 points respectively.

Ronnie Neal finished things off with an 18^th-place result, scoring 16 team points. Noblesville qualified for state for the 14^th time in school history.

Southeastern was led by Liam Powers, who took third place. Nicolas Vega (14^th) and Aidan Lawson (16^th) both reached the top 20, helping the Royals qualify for state for the 19^th time.

Fishers finished fourth, qualifying for state for the 11^th consecutive time and 14^th overall. The Tigers had the race winner, as Sam Quagliaroli sailed through the course in 14:57.2.

The top five teams advance to state; third-place Franklin Central and fifth-place Mount Vernon also qualified. The top 15 individuals not on an advancing team also go to state, and that list includes three county runners: Guerin Catholic’s Luke Moster (12^th), Westfield’s Ty Conner (29^th) and Hamilton Heights’ Rudy Bowman (34^th).

In the girls meet, Franklin Central triumphed with a score of 73 points. Noblesville placed second by scoring 90 points. Riley Flynn paced the Millers with a 10^th-place finish. Other top 20 Noblesville runners were Ansley Applegate (13^th), Brinkley Cooper (18^th) and Jayde Stamm (19^th). The Millers are headed to state for the 15^th time.

Hamilton Southeastern took third with 140 points. Elizabeth Butler led the way by finishing fifth, while Catherine Campbell placed 12^th. The Royals advanced to state for the 13^th time.

Westfield took fourth with 148 points. The Shamrocks had the top county runner: Alivia Lozier took fourth place in a time of 18:10.5, leading Westfield to state for the 17^th time.

Five girls runners qualified for state as individuals. They are Hamilton Heights’ Allie Bushey (16^th) and Anna Monnin (27^th), Fishers’ Bella Murch (22^nd) and Caitlin Hawkins (23^rd) and Guerin Catholic’s Taylor Tragesser (26^th).

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Carmel’s girls team dominated the Brownsburg regional last Saturday.

The Greyhounds scored 26 points, well ahead of runner-up Brebeuf Jesuit’s 78 points. Carmel had six runners finish in the top 15, including a 2-3-4 sweep of Sadie Foley (17:50.7), Annabel Pollert (17:51.5) and Larkin Taylor (17:53.0).

Olivia Mundt placed eighth (18:10.2) and Ella Gaddis was ninth (18:17.1). Margo Halle finished 13^th (18:24.9) and Katy Dascoli completed the lineup by placing 31^st (19:09.9). The Hounds have qualified for every state meet since it began in 1981 and won their 33^rd regional title. Only Columbus North has won more: the Bull Dogs claimed their 34^th title at the Evansville Mater Dei regional at Angel Mounds.

University had two girls runners at the regional. Laurel Gough-McKeown placed 74^th (20:35.7) and Kelley Trowbridge was 127^th (21:37.5).

In the boys meet, Carmel finished second to Brownsburg. The Bulldogs won with 47 points to the Greyhounds’ 65 points.

Carmel had four runners place in the top 20: Jonah Kaul was ninth (15:38.0), Jack Capes took 14^th (15:43.8), Zach Flint was 16^th (15:48.8) and Carter Buhr placed 19^th (15:54.1). Other Greyhounds runners were Deklin Bowser (25^th, 16:01.0), Will Gilhooly (50^th, 16:28.8) and Kiefer Jay (54^th, 16:32.2). Carmel reached the state meet for the 51^st time.

University had four boys runners at the regional: Finlay Reid (96^th, 17:03.5), Mario Buoscio (158^th, 17:48.8), Henry Wang (168^th, 17:56.3) and Walter Wilson (180^th, 18:11.0).