On Saturday, September 2nd the Switzerland County Pacer boys and girls cross country teams traveled to Columbus, Indiana and participated in the competitive Rick Weinheimer Cross Country Classic held at CERAland Park.
The event featured numerous teams that are state title contenders and provided an early season opportunity for the Pacers to compete amongst some of the best runners in the state.
A total of 50 schools were represented at the event and the boys race included a total of 40 complete teams, separated into two divisions.
The Pacers competed in the Varsity Boys A division (enrollment under 950 students) and placed 17th out of 20 teams.
Luke Sullivan led a trio of Pacer sophomores, finishing the 3.1 mile distance in a season-best 19:39 (77th place). Sullivan was followed closely by Ty Lay who shattered his previous personal record, finishing in a time of 19:46 (83rd place).
Cale Collier battled through mid-race cramping and finished strong in a time of 20:42 (105th place). Dylan Sullivan was next for the Pacers, crossing the finish line in a season-best time of 21:00 (111th place); and Gavin Rich rounded out the team scoring for the Pacers, finishing in a time of 21:50 (121st place). Freshman Harlowe Haines ran his most complete race of the season, setting a new personal record at 25:58 (157th place).
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A total of 32 schools had complete teams for the girls race, separated into two divisions.
The Lady Pacers competed in the Varsity Girls A division (enrollment under 950 students) and placed seventh out of 14 teams.
Freshman Ellie Keith continued to earn her spot as one of the top female runners in this area. Setting a new personal record, Keith covered the course in a time of 21:44, earning an individual medal in 17th place out of 124 participants in the division.
Juniors Claire Rogers and Amber Detmer helped solidify the Lady Pacers’ place in the team standings, finishing in times of 22:50 (32nd place) and 23:59 (51st place), respectively. Rogers was also recognized for her individual performance during the awards ceremony as a top 40 overall finisher.
Sophomore Lainie McAlister improved her personal record for the second meet in a row finishing in 24:17 (56th place); and Junior Ashlyn Covington rounded out the team scoring by finishing in 25:17 (69th place), dropping her time by over two minutes for the second consecutive meet.
Carlee Boggs ran a season-best time of 26:01 (82nd place); and Jazmyn Blevins ran her strongest race of the season, crossing the finish line in a time of 27:17 (94th place).
Rising Sun Meet
The Pacer cross country teams traveled to Rising Sun last Tuesday, August 29th to face off against the Rising Sun Lady Shiners and the Lawrenceburg Lady Tigers.
“What is arguably known as one of the most challenging cross country courses in the area, the Lady Pacers improved their average time by nearly :35 seconds and their overall pack time improved by over one minute,” Coach Tye Sullivan said. For the second consecutive meet, the Lady Pacers were led by Freshman Ellie Keith, who covered the hilly course in 23:15. Junior Claire Rogers finished in second place overall with a time of 24:28, followed by Lainie McAlister in 25:00. Juniors Amber Detmer and Ashlyn Covington finished out the Lady Pacer scoring, finishing in 25:44 (5th place) and 27:21 (7th place), respectively.
Carlee Boggs finished in 28:32 (9th place) and Lady Pacer exchange student Icia Calvo competed in her first-ever varsity event, finishing in 38:28 (12th place).
In the boys race, Switzerland County finished second to Rising Sun with a team score of 33 points.
“While the boys were not able to overcome the depth of the Shiners top five, there were definitely signs of progress tonight,” Coach Sullivan said. “I have said this for years, night in and night out I would put the effort of Cale Collier up against nearly any athlete the Pacers face, the kid just gives 100% in everything he does.”
Collier led the Pacers in the meet with a third place finish overall, finishing the 3.1 mile course in 19:59.
Senior Dylan Sullivan dropped nearly three minutes off his previous race time, finishing in 21:42 (6th place) to help the Pacer pack time improve by over one minute.
Sophomores Gavin Rich and Ty Lay carried over their hard work from practice into tonights meet, finishing in 22:19 (7th place) and 22:34 (8th place), respectively. Luke Sullivan finished out the Pacer scoring, finishing in 22:35 (9th place). Freshman Harlowe Haines bested his previous race time by over two minutes, finishing the race in 28:25 (13th place); and Seth Burke crossed the finish line of his first varsity race in 42:06 (15th place).