Hon leads boys to XC Regional; three Lady Pacers advance
It was a great day for the Switzerland County Pacer cross country team on Sunday as the boys and girls teams participated in the Sectional Meet held at Hardy Lake near Austin, Indiana.
The Pacer boys team earned fifth place overall, and advanced as a team to the Regional race.
The Lady Pacers did not advance to the Regional as a team because they didn’t have enough runners to record a team score, but three team members advanced as individuals to the Regional.
The teams will participate in the Regional being held at Blue River Memorial Park in Shelbyville, Indiana, and is being hosted by Columbus North High School this Saturday, October 15th, with the girls race beginning at 10:30 a.m. and the boys race starting at 11:15 a.m.
Boys Race
The boys Sectional was won by Austin with a team score of 33; followed by Jennings County with a team score of 48. Silver Creek was third with a team score of 104; Madison was fourth with 118; and Switzerland County was fifth with 156.
Leading the way for the Pacers was Cooper Hon, who finished eighth overall in a time of 17:28.
Cale Collier ran a personal best time of 18:43 to finish in 27th place; and he was followed by Nate Furnish, who ran to a 39th place finish in a time of 19:26. Luke Sullivan finished in 45th place with a time of 19:41; Dylan Sullivan ran a season personal best time of 20:08 to finish in 49th place; Derek Hoskins also ran a season personal best time of 21:26 to end up in 57th place; and Kadyn Riley finishing in 58th place with a time of 21:37.
Brandon Rice of Austin won the Sectional individual championship with a time of 16:06; Kraedyn Young of Jennings County was second in 16:47; Carlos Mata of Austin was third in 16:52; and Jackson Marshall of Austin was fourth in 16:53. Eli Wahlman of Jennings County rounded out the top five with a time of 17:11.
Girls Race
The Lady Pacers have battled injuries and numbers all season, and on Saturday Switzerland County fielded four runners for the Sectional — one runner less than was needed to post a team score.
Even without a team score, Switzerland County had an impressive day, as three Lady Pacers advanced to the Regional as individuals.
Claire Rogers, who was last year’s individual Sectional champion, led the way to a fifth place overall finish in a strong field with a time of 20:23.
Gracie White finished 11th overall in the Sectional with a time of 20:57; and Amber Detmer qualified for the Regional when she ran a season personal best time of 23:03. Ashlyn Covington also ran a season personal best time of 24:10 to finish 34th in the Sectional, but finished just outside of the group moving on to the Regional.
The girls Sectional was won by Austin with a team score of 54; followed by Charlestown with a team score of 62. Southwestern was third with a team score of 87; Jennings County was fourth with 103; and Silver Creek was fifth with 104.
Individually, Jessica McCoy of Charlestown was the individual champion with a time of 19:11; while Calli Alderman of Shawe Memorial finished second in a time of 19:25; Hailey Webster of Austin was third with a time of 20:00; Cadence Traylor of Madison was fourth with a time of 20:19; and Rogers was fifth overall.