Carmel sweeps at North Central

The REPORTER

The Carmel cross country teams swept the North Central sectional on Saturday, Oct. 18, easily earning places for this Saturday’s Brownsburg regional.

The Greyhounds dominated the girls meet, scoring 25 points, well ahead of runner-up Zionsville’s 68 points. Carmel placed four runners in the top five and all seven of its athletes finish in the top 30.

Senior Sadie Foley and junior Larkin Taylor were a 1-2 punch. Foley won the race in 17 minutes, 31.5 seconds, while Taylor placed second in 17:52.5. Junior Annabel Pollert finished fourth in 19:15.5, while sophomore Margo Halle took fifth place in 18:41.8.

Senior Kaitlyn Oshimura finished 13^th in 19:41.9 to complete Carmel’s scoring. The Greyhounds’ lineup also included junior Anna Yoon (17^th, 19:50.4) and senior Madeline Cox (28^th, 20:43.1).

Carmel won its 38^th sectional championship, which is second all-time in IHSAA history. Only Columbus North has more; the Bull Dogs won their 39^th at the Brown County sectional on Saturday, Oct. 18.

University’s girls placed ninth with 237 points, but qualified three individuals on to regional. Senior Laurel Gough-McKeown led the way with an 18^th-place finish (19:59.3). Also advancing for the Trailblazers were junior Navya Shah (44^th, 22:46.6) and sophomore Raya Stennis (51^st, 23:49.4).

Other University girls runners were sophomore Helen Ernst and senior Karmen Bond (70^th, 33:16.8).

Boys race

The boys race was a little closer, but Carmel finished with a comfortable win, totaling 24 points. The Greyhounds placed six runners in the top 10 and all seven in the top 15, which helped them clinch the title. North Central was the runner-up with 40 points.

Carmel’s boys also had the top two individuals. Junior Jonah Kaul won the race in 15:50.3, while senior Zach Flint was second in 15:57.3.

Also reaching the top 10 were junior Lucas Bartlett (sixth, 16:15.6), senior Carter Buhr (seventh, 16:23.0), sophomore Grant VanNahmen (eighth, 16:23.7) and junior Cooper Szotek (10^th, 16:25.8). Junior Ben Meisner placed 15^th in 16:30.8 to round out the Greyhounds’ lineup.

Carmel won its 50^th sectional title, by far the most of any program in the state.

University scored 234 points to place ninth as a team and qualified three individuals for the regional. Senior Finlay Reid placed 25^th in 17:13.7, followed by juniors Walter Wilson (41^st, 18:16.0) and Mario Buoscio (46^th, 18:39.6).

Other Trailblazers runners were sophomore Rhys Litke (60^th, 20:19,7), junior Calvin Xu (63^rd, 20:51.0), sophomore Grant Fitzwater (65^th, 21:47.1) and sophomore Chris Hocutt (69^th, 22:10.7).