Maconaquah finishes first in girls’ competition

This article is brought to you by Alexandra Daniels Durham for Kokomo School Board.

The IHSAA Cross Country Sectionals for boys and girls were held in Logansport on Oct. 19, where Kokomo, Western, Northwestern, Eastern, Lewis Cass, Maconaquah, and Peru all competed. When the final runners crossed the line, Western High School topped the boys' 5k team results and finished second in the girls' competition, resulting in the best school finish at the sectionals.

Kokomo finished second in the boys' competition, followed by Maconaquah, Lewis Cass, and Northwestern to round out the top five teams. Eastern finished 11th, and Peru finished 14th.

Individually, junior Camden Raab of Western was the top finisher locally, crossing the line second with a time of 16:03.5. His teammate, junior Miles Rudy, finished fourth with a time of 16:25.3.

Other top 10 finishers from the Lantern coverage area include: sophomore Ben Jay of Lewis Cass (16:34.7); junior Cooper Cage of Kokomo (16:54.1); sophomore Maddox Carver of Western (17:02.5); and senior Connor Frederick of Kokomo (17:07).

In the girls' competition, Maconaquah took the top team slot, followed by Western (2nd), Lewis Cass (3rd), Kokomo (6th), and Northwestern (8th). Peru and Eastern did not field teams for the sectional.

Individually, junior Aftin Griffin of Lewis Cass was the fastest girl on the course, finishing with a time of 19:22.4. Other locals finishing in the top 10 were: junior Zoie Laber of Maconaquah (20:04.4); junior Kendall Depoy of Western (20:12.8); senior Courtney Adams of Northwestern (20:19.8); senior Lucy Loshnowsky of Maconaquah (20:23.7); junior Chloe Jordan of Maconaquah (20:24.7); sophomore Mary Claire Dipaola of Western (20:52); and senior Hattie Harlow of Western (21:09.7).

Tipton and Tri-Central high schools competed in the Noblesville Cross Country sectional. Both schools fielded just a boys' team. The Tipton boys' team finished 9th at the meet, and Tri-Central finished 11th.

Senior Jaxsen Muncie of Tipton led his team with a 16:49.8 finish, good for 33rd. Sophomore Luis Jimenez-Vazquez was Tri-Central's top finisher with a time of 18:55.7), good for 62nd place.

Western, Lewis Cass, Maconaquah, Northwestern, and Kokomo all advanced to the cross-country regionals in boys' team competition, which was held at Brownsburg High School on Sat., Oct. 26.

Again, Western was the boys' top team finisher from the local area, taking 12th place overall. Lewis Cass finished 16th, while Maconaquah (19th), Northwestern (22nd), and Kokomo (24th) finished farther back.

Raab was Western's top runner, finishing seventh with a time of 15:32. Jay finished in 28th for Cass (16:03.7). Senior Daylen Schrock was Maconaquah's top runner in 38th (16:13.2), while sophomore Mason Broeker of Northwestern finished 63rd (16:40.7), and Frederick finished in 85th for Kokomo (16:59.7). A total of 247 runners finished the regional course.

In girls' regional competition, Maconaquah, Western, and Lewis Cass sent teams to the event. Griffin led all local runners for Lewis Cass with a 18th place finish (18:39.5). The top runner for Maconaquah was Laber in 51st (20:05), and Adams was the best Northwestern finisher in 56th (20:09.9). A total of 238 girls finished the regional course. The cross-country state finals take place this weekend, Sat., Nov. 2, in Terre Haute.

See additional photos from the cross-country sectionals, including galleries from the boys’ and girls’ races, courtesy of Adam Hartsough, on the Lantern's Facebook page or group.