Colin Strachman of Mt. Vernon (right) beats William Coggins of Pendleton Heights (left) by .1 seconds to finish seventh in the boys race at the HHC Cross Country Meet at the Blue River Cross Country Course on Saturday.
Rob Baker | For The Daily Reporter
SHELBYVILLE — Is it possible the results of the junior varsity race factored in to Mt. Vernon’s fourth straight Hoosier Heritage Conference boys cross country title?
Head coach Bruce Kendall thinks so. “They run in fear,” the longtime coach said, jokingly.
It was probably moreso the depth of the Marauders program that led the way Saturday at Shelbyville’s Blue River Cross Country Course, but the coach believes a lot of his varsity guys getting a little extra motivation knowing there are guys ready to take their spot if they fail.
Mt. Vernon’s depth goes well beyond its seven varsity runners and it proved to be a big difference in finishing ahead of Greenfield-Central. Mt. Vernon won with 35 points. Six of its seven runners earned all-conference honors (Top 15). Greenfield-Central was just four points back with 39.
“It’s hard to get seven boys to all have their seven best days,” Mt. Vernon coach Bruce Kendall said. “The guy that ran third for us ran seventh (last week). The guy that was fifth for us last time was sixth and vice versa. The good thing is we’re deep. If someone is off, someone is right there.”
Pendleton Heights finished third with 75. The Arabians were followed by Yorktown (111), Delta (133), New Palestine (141), Shelbyville (216) and New Castle (225).
“Then, the JV, went 1-6 (in their race),” Kendall continued. “So, they are right on the varsity’s tail. If you mess up, they have your spot. We’re at tournament time and there’s a fear factor. (They’re thinking) I don’t want to mess up and lose my spot, I could never get it back. They’re running from their own teammates. The deepness goes beyond the varsity. The JV is putting pressure on them.”
Mt. Vernon’s Jackson Dayhoff won the JV race in 17:59.20. It would have got him a Top 20 spot in the varsity race, but it wasn’t quite fast enough to break into the Marauder lineup on Saturday.
For the second straight year, Mt. Vernon’s Tristan Trevino — who has no worries about losing his spot — was the HHC individual champion, finishing his 5K in 16:08. Pendleton Heights’ Andrew Blake was second in 16:18.50. Greenfield-Central had the next three spots with Griffen Wheeler (16:26.30), Chris Ross (16:36.10), and Liam Brinkruff (16:48.20).
Mt. Vernon had the No. 6 and No. 7 scorers with Ahmed Saleh (16:55.40) and Colin Strachman (17:16.70).
Greenfield-Central’s No. 4 was ninth-place Carter Crouch (17:18.30), but the Marauders wrapped up their scoring with the No. 10 and No. 11 positions of Landon Willis (17:20.10) and Isaiah Njau (17:24.70), both, as well as their final two runners, Xaiden Jenson (15, 17:32.60) and Austin Baugh (17, 17:39.70) finished ahead of the Cougars final scoring runner Luke Haffner (18, 17:51.80).
“Fortunately for Mt. Vernon they have the luxury of having a lot of guys kind of right in there,” Greenfield-Central coach Aaron Smith said. “They have guys that can have bad days. We have five guys, that’s it. We had four that ran well today … We have to put this behind us. We have a lot of races left. We knew Mt. Vernon would be ready to go.”
Greenfield-Central came in ranked No. 16 in the state by the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches. Mt. Vernon was No. 22.
Last week, Greenfield-Central edged Mt. Vernon by seven points (29-36) to win the Hancock County title.
Mt. Vernon’s Strachman said he got some redemption Saturday. Normally the team’s No. 3 runner, he had a bad race in the county, placing 13th overall.
He was glad to be back up toward the front aiding his team to a fourth straight championship. He sprinted by Pendleton Heights’ William Coggins right at the line to take the No. 7 position.
“Winning this year was definitely a lot harder. Greenfield is definitely improved,” Strachman said. “After county, I took a lot of blame for that. I came out here with a plan. I wanted to stay with Brinkruff and Ross. I didn’t quite execute that, but I kept pushing. I’ve done well in conference races before. After going 18:22 (at county) I was really mad at myself.”
“You have to have a short memory,” Kendall said of Strachman coming back having a strong race. “You want to live in the present not the past. He never got chewed out by me for county, but he’s a competitor.”
New Palestine’s top runner was Cody Crawmer, finishing 19th in 17:59.30.
The three Hancock County HHC schools, and Eastern Hancock, will compete Saturday at 10:30 a.m. in the Mt. Vernon Sectional. The top five teams and top 10 individuals, not on an advancing team, will qualify for the Oct. 15 Rushville Regional.
There are 13 teams in the sectional, including Beech Grove, Franklin Central, Scecina Memorial, Lutheran, Victory College Prep, Morristown, Roncalli, Triton Central, and Warren Central.
Franklin Central is ranked No. 6 in the state.
