Daily Reporter staff reports
RUSHVILLE — The Greenfield-Central girls cross-country team put together a historic performance Saturday morning.
The Cougars placed three runners in the top 30 at the Rushville Regional with two earning all-regional honors as the team captured its first semistate berth in program history.
Greenfield-Central finished fifth overall in the team standings with 163 points, fending off Franklin County (168) for the final advancing spot.
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New Palestine was third with a 109. Franklin Central (25) won the regional team title. Rushville was second at 93, and Warren Central was fourth at 113.
The first five qualifying teams from the Rushville Regional advance to the Shelbyville Semistate this Saturday. The top-10 individuals from non-advancing teams at regional also qualified for semistate.
Senior Sydney Cook led the Cougars, finishing 13th overall in 21 minutes, 16 seconds. Freshman Audrey Brinkruff joined Cook on the all-regional team with a time of 21:28 for 16th.
Sarah Muckerheide, a junior, was 30th in 22:48, which gave the Cougars an edge over Franklin County. Darian Gossett placed 65th for Greenfield-Central, followed by Lindsey Pope (67th).
The New Palestine Dragons had three runners in the top 30 and two earn all-regional honors in freshmen Brenna Shaw and Kendall Mann. Shaw was eighth in 20:33. Mann was ninth in 20:39.
Junior Grace Voelz was 31st in 22:51. Sophia Taylor, a junior, finished 34th in a time of 22:59. Sophomore Haley Rickey placed 35th in 22:59.
The New Palestine boys team finished second (78) behind Franklin Central (74). Roncalli (103) was third, Hagerstown (113) was fourth, and Cambridge City Lincoln (120) was fifth.
Junior Austin Drew paced the Dragons and the county by placing eighth overall with a time of 17:21. Kyler Harrison, a junior, was 13th in 17:34, and junior Josh Collins was 15th in 17:36 for all-regional honors.
Devon Whitaker, a sophomore, was 30th in 18:11. Alex Mohr placed 39th in 18:22.
Eastern Hancock’s Skyler Schrope, a junior, advanced as an individual with a time of 17:45, which was ninth-best among those without a qualifying team. He was 19th overall.
Greenfield-Central’s Parker Niemeier, a junior, and senior Zachariah Archibald both qualified for semistate by finishing ninth and 18th to make the all-regional top 20. They ran in 17:23 and 17:43, respectively.
Marauders push on to New Haven
The Mt. Vernon Marauders boys and girls cross-country teams both seized advancements into this Saturday’s New Haven Semistate.
The Marauders boys finished runner-up at the Delta Regional with 87 points behind Pendleton Heights with 51.
The Mt. Vernon girls placed fourth with 119. Yorktown won the girls team title with a 43. Pendleton Heights was second at 68 and Delta was third with 114.
Drew Bluethmann, a senior, paced the Marauders’ boys team, pushing through the pack to claim fifth overall in 16:53. Fellow senior Alex Carver placed 12th in 17:16 for all-regional honors along with sophomore Marco Ramirez in 17th at 17:24.
Jacob Benz, a sophomore, was 36th in 18:21, while freshman Tyler Strantz was 38th in 18:28. Senior Tim Broaders was 39th in 18:29.
The girls top runner was senior Kassandra Ramirez, who placed 21st in 21:41. Senior Hannah Watson was 35th in 22:35. Sophomore Kamryn Eason was 40th in 22:53, while senior Andrea Maynard was 41st in 22:57. Sophomore Rilee Hartman placed 45th with a time of 23:12.
