RUSHVILLE — The Mt. Vernon boys cross country team made history on Saturday during the Rushville Regional.
A week after finishing second as a team to Franklin Central during the Mt. Vernon Sectional, the Marauders flipped the script this weekend to win their first regional championship since 2014.
Mt. Vernon had all five of their regional-scoring runners place in the top 11, led by senior Austin Rush, who was second overall, and finished with 30 points for the team title.
Franklin Central tallied 46 team points for second place, and Flashes’ junior Brayden Henkle won the individual title in a of time 16 minutes, 33.5 seconds.
The Marauders, however, were more consistent as a whole.
The top-10 individuals from a non-advancing team and the top-five regional teams all earned automatic semistate invites for this upcoming race at Shelbyville on Saturday.
Coming in third on the boys side was Greenfield-Central with 125. Northeastern was fourth with 127. The final advancing team was Rushville at 152.
On the girls side, Mt. Vernon was second as a team with 84 points. Franklin Central won the team title with 17. Roncalli was third at 88, New Palestine was fourth at 126 and Warren Central was fifth at 133.
For the Mt. Vernon boys team, their regional title marked the program’s seventh all time and third since 2013. The Marauders were regional champions in 1983, 1984, 1985, 2008, 2013 and 2014.
Rush set the pace for the Marauders, crossing the finish line in 16:40.5, just ahead of Greenfield-Central’s Liam Brinkruff, who was third in 16:48.3.
Mt. Vernon’s Tristan Trevino ran past Franklin Central’s Nolan Reuille (16:52.9) for fourth overall in 16:52.8.
Joseph Blagrave was sixth for Mt. Vernon in 17:04.8. MV’s Colin Strachman placed eighth in 17:06.9. The Marauders’ fifth runner, Samuel Wilson, was 11th in 17:17.7 behind Greenfield-Central’s Griffen Wheeler (17:13.2), who was 10th.
The Cougars filed in at 29th where Matthew Wickham ran in 18:10.6, at 47th where Lucas Tutrow came in at 18:36.0 and at 56th where Adam Bright posted an 18:48.5.
In both the boys and girls races, the top-20 runners in each event were named all-regional.
New Palestine’s Colin Darley earned an individual semistate berth, finishing 20th overall in 17:42.4. He was fourth among those individuals not advancing with a team.
Eastern Hancock’s Preston Markley also advanced to semistate with a 25th placement overall in a time of 17:51.9. He was eighth among those moving on as an individual.
In the girls race, Franklin Central runners captured first through fourth with Abigail Adams winning the event in 19:56.3.
Mt. Vernon’s Lydia Carrell was fourth overall in a time of 20:19.9. Morgan Tharp followed in ninth at 20:44.1. Alexandria Jenson was 18th in 21:09.9. Julia Iserloth was 30th in 21:57.9 and Emma Gale placed 33rd in 22:11.7.
New Palestine’s Courtney Study paced the Dragons with a 10th-place finish in 20:45.9. Caitlin Urrutia was 20th in 21:12.4. Emily Adam took 37th in 22:25.4. Alexis Baynes was 38th in 22:25.7. Morgan Stone placed 39th in 22:26.7.
The Shelbyville Semistate is scheduled for Saturday at 10:30 a.m. with the top-10 individuals from non-advancing teams and the top-six teams from each race earning a spot in the IHSAA state finals in Terre Haute on Saturday, Oct. 30.
