The Switzerland County boys and girls varsity cross country teams both advanced to the Regional after finishing among the top five squads at Tuesday night’s Sectional at Hanover.
The boys team finished third by the narrow margin of one point, but advanced paced by the outstanding effort of Clay Meyer. The senior finished second overall in a time of 16:59; just seven seconds behind Sectional Champion Brendan Chwalek of Silver Creek.
Silver Creek won the team title with a score of 41; followed by Jennings County with 67 points and Switzerland County with 68 points, Austin advanced by finishing fourth with 80 points; and the final spot was claimed by Jeffersonville, with 111 points.
Scottsburg was sixth with 175 points; followed by Henryville with 217; Charlestown with 228; Madison Shawe with 243; New Washington with 253; and Southwestern with 264.
Along with Clay Meyer, Switzerland County placed three runners on the All Sectional team, which honors the meet’s top 15 finishers.
Corey McFarland finished sixth overall in a time of 17:23 to continue his outstanding season; and Tray Meyer finished 15th overall in a time of 17:56 to earn his spot on the All Sectional team.
Other Switzerland County runners included Josh Hon in 26th place in a time of 18:44; Anthony Dennis in 27th place in a time of 18:46; Tanner Ross in 46th place in a time of 20:21; and Quinn Meyer in 55th place in a time of 21:10.
The Pacers now advance to this Saturday’s Regional at Greensburg, which gets underway at 10:30 a.m. The top five teams and the top 15 individuals will then advance to the semistate – a goal that the Pacers are squarely focused on.
“At this level it’s ‘survive and advance’,” Coach Mark Boggs said. “We came into the Sectional with high expectations, and honestly we fell a little short of those expectations. We did advance to the Regional, and we’ll prepare and be ready to run on Saturday.”
The Lady Pacers advanced out of the Sectional by finishing fourth as a team with 108 points. Madison had an outstanding Sectional – placing six runners in the top nine and recording a score of 19 to win the title; while Jeffersonville was second with 74 points. Silver Creek was third with 82 points; followed by Switzerland County.
Henryville was fifth with 114 points to also advance; and the Hornets were followed by Jennings County with 145; New Washington with 169 points; Austin with 192 points; and Scottsburg with 198 points.
Individually, freshman Bre Hinman led the way with a 13th overall finish in a time of 22:06 to earn a spot on the All Sectional team.
Amber Meli was 18th overall in a time of 23:27; Allie Mathews was 25th overall in 23:49; Beth Abbott was 27th in a time of 23:59; and Alexis Carfield was 28th in a time of 24:01.
Other runners included Andrea Brogan in 44th place in 26:04; and Halie Thomas was 45th in a time of 26:08.
“Again, we ran well enough to advance,” Coach Boggs said. “We will look to improve our effort at the Regional, but I’m proud of the girls and their placing as a team.”