Noblesville’s Banner Barnes won the boys race at the Shelbyville cross country regional Saturday, Oct. 25 at Blue River Park. The Millers won the team regional and advance to this Saturday’s IHSAA state finals. (Colin Howard/Miller Sports Media)
The REPORTER
The Noblesville boys cross country team has been around for decades and has seen quite a bit of success during its long history.
But the Millers accomplished something they had never done before on Saturday, Oct. 25: Noblesville defended a regional championship.
Led by the 1-2 punch of Banner Barnes and John Libs, the Millers claimed the Shelbyville regional title at Blue River Park. Noblesville’s dynamic duo, along with their teammates, cruised to victory with a score of 63 points, comfortably ahead of runner-up Center Grove’s 88 points. Both teams are also headed to this Saturday’s IHSAA state finals in Terre Haute.
Barnes won the race in a time of 15 minutes, 30 seconds, with Libs not far behind, taking second place in a time of 15:33.8. Cooper Click also landed in the top 10, clocking in at 15:46.3.
Noblesville won its sixth overall regional title in program history.
The top five teams qualify for the state finals. Fishers placed third with 129 points, edging out fourth-place Hamilton Southeastern (135) and fifth-place Lawrence North (137).
The Tigers and the Royals both had two individual top-10 runners. Reece Torres placed sixth for the Tigers, while Nate Thomas took eighth. Southeastern’s Isaac Smith powered to a fourth-place finish, with Liam Powers finishing 10th.
Westfield scored 176 points to take sixth, just missing a spot in the state finals. The Shamrocks will have an individual qualifier: Bryce Pittman placed 19th and was one of the top 15 runners not on an advancing team.
Two other county runners qualified for state as individuals. Guerin Catholic’s Cole Eckstein was 23rd and Hamilton Heights’ Isaiah Heuer took 26th.
Race winner: Banner Barnes (Noblesville) 15:30.0.
Other Noblesville runners: 2. John Libs 15:33.8, 9. Cooper Click 15:46.3, 17. Jack Rush 15:57.9, 39. Isaiah Vohs 16:18.5, 52. Noah Melton 16:26.5, 53. Matthew Huseman 16:27.3.
Fishers runners: 6. Reece Torres 15:37.0, 8. Nate Thomas 15:39.5, 31. Declan Mohr 16:10.0, 44. Brady FitzGerald 16:21.3, 52. Kale Ormes 16:25.2, 59. Grant Fasnacht 16:3.39, 60. Mason Lapp 16:35.2.
Hamilton Southeastern runners: 4. Isaac Smith 15:36.0, 10. Liam Powers 15:46.4, 24. Monroe Cluff 16:04.1, 46. Charles Ritter 16:21.9, 63. Will Henning 16:38.4, 65. Hayden Hoback 16:40.2, 123. Porter Key 17:32.4.
Westfield runners: 19. Bryce Pittman 16:00.6, 33. Nathan McKeever 16:12.6, 41. Carson Ackley 16:19.1, 49. Caleb Haney 16:23.4, 51. Luke Moulder 16:24.5, 67. Deagan Imel 16:42.9, 79. Chase Niccum 16:54.4.
Guerin Catholic runners: 23. Cole Eckstein 16:04.0, 86. Hunter Kinzle-Gorman 17:00.3, 100. Ashton Sommer 17:12.3, 110. Austin Rankin 17:23.9, 134. Timmy Galvin 17:40.6.
Hamilton Heights runners: 26. Isaiah Heuer 16:05.9, 102. Nicholas Bragg 17:14.8, 103. Aiden Clarke 17:17.3, 157. Will Monnin 18:04.1, 161. Charles Wedmore 18:05.7.
In the girls race, Westfield ended its long regional drought by claiming the title at Shelbyville.
The Shamrocks scored 75 points, ahead of runner-up Fishers’ 105 points. Noblesville (third place, 149), Guerin Catholic (fourth place, 153) and Franklin Central (fifth place, 166) rounded out the top five and list of the state-qualifying teams.
Alivia Lozier led the Shamrocks by taking third in 17:47.8; she was the county’s highest-placing girls runner. Westfield won its fourth regional title, its other three came in 2004, 2006 and 2007.
Caitlin Hawkins led the Tigers by taking fourth place in 18:03.3.
Jayde Stamm was the Millers’ top runner, placing 20th. Noblesville had all five of its runners place in the top 45, which kept the Millers’ score low enough for one of the top five team spots.
Chloe Tragesser was the Golden Eagles’ top runner, finishing in seventh.
Hamilton Southeastern finished sixth with 206 points but will advance a runner to state. Zoe Gebhart finished sixth for the Royals. Hamilton Heights’ Allie Bushey placed 12th, also qualifying for state.
Race winner: Libby Dowty (Indian Creek) 17:15.1.
Westfield runners: 3. Alivia Zoeller 17:47.8, 14. Jenna Burns 18:45.2, 21. Mackenna Condon 19:02.7, 25. Jordyn Landrum 19:07.2, 28. Emma Pitney 19:11.3, 42. Ella Bozarth 19:35.8, 48. Gianna Ferreri 19:41.1.
Fishers runners: 4. Caitlin Hawkins 18:03.3, 26. Riley Teurman 19:09.1, 27. Allie Belush 19:10.5, 34. Abby Lotter 19:24.8, 36. Lilah Gunn 19:26.5, 46. Kylie Lengner 19:41.0, 73. Mia Quagliaroli 20:10.3.
Noblesville runners: 20. Jayde Stamm 18:59.9, 33. Ansley Applegate 19:23.1, 37. Kate Mumaw 19:28.3, 41. Nelani Render 19:34.6, 45. Izzy Salinas 19:38.6, 57. Gretchen Graham 19:48.5, 70. Addy Scott 20:04.1.
Guerin Catholic runners: 7. Chloe Tragesser 18:29.4, 39. Katie Kolb 19:29.5, 40. Brinna Wolf 19:32.0, 44. Claire Flannagan 19:38.1, 49. Jillian Tichenor 19:42.4, 76. Taylor Tragesser 20:13.3, 128. Delaney Gould 21:14.9.
Hamilton Southeastern runners: 6. Zoe Gebhart 18:28.5, 30. Anissa Lammie 19:12.8, 62. Raegan Hissong 19:59.4, 64. Katelyn Evans 20:00.2, 78. Ali Johnson 20:15.7, 81. Aubrey Berger 20:17.6, 88. Kate Lux 20:21.1.
Hamilton Heights runners: 12. Allie Bushey 18:43.8, 55. Anna Monnin 19:47.7, 63. Lillian Higgins 19:59.9, 68. Matilda Higgins 20:02.8, 83. Ayla Madara 20:18.4, 89. Amira Leer 20:21.9, 193. Selah Heuer 22:58.3.
