Brownsburg Boys Race
Qualifying Teams: Maconaquah, Western, Cass, Clinton Prairie, Pioneer, Harrison (West Lafayette), Lafayette Jefferson, West Lafayette, Crawfordsville, Seeger, Carmel, Zionsville, North Central (Indianapolis), Bishop Chatard, Heritage Christian, Terre Haute South, Northview, South Putnam, Clay City, Terre Haute North, Brownsburg, Avon, Pike, Ben Davis, Plainfield
Photo by Carmel Cross Country via Instagram
Brownsburg will host one of the toughest boys regional meets this weekend with 3 teams ranked in the top 8 and 5 in the top 25 in the most recent coaches poll. There appears to be five teams that separate themselves from the field as contenders with these schools being Carmel, Zionsville, Brownsburg, Avon, and North Central. North Central faces an interesting situation in which any one of our bubble teams could take advantage of.
Cameron Todd comes into the week running just fast enough to secure the individual sectional title last week. Cameron has run 14:48 and is currently ranked 5th in the country in the MileSplit 50 national rankings. The second best time entering the meet belongs to North Central sectional champion, Anthony Provenzano, with an IN #4 performance of 15:00 earlier this season. His Greyhound teammate Kyle Grove, Ian Baker from Brownsburg, Hayden Kemple from Clinton Prairie, and Jack Turnbull and Sam Spees from Zionsville should be in the mix for the chase pack as all have run under 15:30 this season.
Projected Advancing Teams
Carmel
Carmel's depth has been unrivaled this season as the Greyhounds have 7 runners that have dipped under 16 minutes this season. The team was able to place 5 in the top 10 at the North Central sectional last weekend to win the school's 48th sectional championship. Leading the charge was Indiana University Bloomington commit Anthony Provenzano and Kyle Grove in the 1-2 positions. This duo has run 15:00 and 15:17 earlier this season. Despite the increased competition expect Carmel to come out on top if they run their top guys.
Zionsville
Zionsville put up a fight against Carmel last week placing 3 in the top 8 and being able to have their scoring 5 in the top 15. The Eagles came short to Carmel by 19 points but were able to separate themselves from the rest of the field. Sam Spees and Jack Turnbull were able to finish 3-4 and have run times of 15:23 and 15:19 respectively this season with 2 others breaking 16 as well. Carmel may be out of reach if everyone runs but it could be a very close battle for runner-up with Brownsburg.
Brownsburg
Brownsburg is coming off a sectional championship last weekend from the Ben Davis sectional where they were able to defeat Avon 40-61. This week the Bulldogs will host on their own home course and will be in contention for the runner-up spot if Carmel races everyone. Ian Baker finished second last week and has been the team's frontrunner this season clocking a time of 15:17. While Zionsville appears to have a better 1-2 punch, Brownsburg makes up for it with a slightly better low stick and #5 runner. We expect to see a close battle with Zionsville.
Avon
Avon finished runner-up to Brownsburg last weekend at Ben Davis and was led by Zach Risner who has run a 15:36 this season. Sam Clore was not too far behind with his season best being 15:48. Avon does not have the depth that the top 3 teams have and will likely battle North Central for the 4th advancing position with the Orioles main advantage being in their top 3 runners.
North Central
North Central placed third behind Carmel and Zionsville hosting last weekend on their own home course. Owen Osterman has the team's best time of the season and lone sub 16 performance going 15:41 this year. The Panthers appeared to be missing key contributor Grant Hostetler which could make this weekend interesting if he is unable to compete as Bishop Chatard finished 4 points behind without him. North Central should have enough talent to still make state but the team will have to earn it.
On the Bubble Teams to Look Out For:
West Lafayette Harrison
Harrison narrowly won the sectional title at their own meet this past weekend. The team was led by Ian Lah and Jaiden Goins who holds the best time this season for the Raiders with a 15:56. With North Central's uncertainty Harrison could be a team to take the last advancing team spot.
Lafayette Jeff
Lafayette Jeff finished just 5 points behind Harrison and had Gio Hayes leading the team. This team has a solid top 4 group all going sub 17 minutes, their #5 will play a critical role if they wish to upset a team to advance to state.
West Lafayette
West Lafayette did not have the best day last weekend as the team finished 3rd behind Harrison and Lafayette Jeff. Ryan Miloudi was the individual sectional champion with the rest of the team not being able to match up with runners from the two teams ahead of them. This team has run good times this year and will need to have a big day to advance.
Terre Haute South
Terre Haute South won the Terre Haute sectional by a small margin of just 4 points. Ethan Aidoo finished the race third with his best time this year being 16:08. The scoring 5 for the team has all broken 17 minutes over the course of the season and will likely need everyone running a personal best and some help from other teams to advance.
Northview
Northview was right behind Terre Haute south in a close sectional matchup. Jcim Grant was able to beat out South's top runner running a 16:35 with his best from this season being 15:42. Northview's times from this year are not as impressive as South's but the team came to race last weekend and they will need that same energy this weekend if they are looking to get revenge.
Bishop Chatard
Bishop Chatard has Max Bourgeois and JD Haines leading the Trojans with times of 15:57 and 16:07 from this year. Similarly to Northview, Bishop Chatard has not had too impressive times from this season but they came to race and nearly upset North Central in last weekend's action. In a bigger regional meet the team may struggle with scoring especially with their 4-5 but this team has shown potential.
Brownsburg Girls Race
Qualifying Teams: Maconaquah, Western, Cass, Clinton Prairie, Pioneer, Harrison (West Lafayette), Lafayette Jefferson, West Lafayette, Crawfordsville, Seeger, Carmel, Zionsville, North Central (Indianapolis), Bishop Chatard, Park Tudor, Terre Haute South, Northview, South Putnam, Clay City, Terre Haute North, Brownsburg, Avon, Pike, Ben Davis, Plainfield
Photo by NCXC Distance via X
The girls race will be just as hard to get out of with an arguably tougher race for the final advancing team spot than the boys. The race will consist of 5 teams currently ranked in the coaches poll. North Central, Carmel, and Zionsville all look to be near-locks to advance with Brownsburg looking relatively favorable as well. The final spot will be an exciting race and will likely be between Avon, Brebeuf Jesuit, West Lafayette Harrison, and Bishop Chatard.
Julia Score currently ranks 5th in the state and 38th in the country with her season best time of 17:16. Jessica Hegedus from Avon and Hadessah Austin from Seeger will likely be the first to come after as both won their sectional meets last week and both ran under 18 minutes this season going 17:40 and 17:54 respectively. Hannah Moore from Northwestern also won her sectional meet at Logansport and looks to have the next best time with a 18:09 from this season. Maddie and Elizabeth Rocchio will likely be in the mix as well going 18:13 and 18:21 this year.
Projected Advancing Teams
North Central
North Central was able to win their 4th consecutive championship in a dominant fashion last weekend at their sown sectional. The team was able to place their entire scoring 5 in the top 8 after Carmel and Zionsville appeared to have sat out some of their key contributors. The Panthers are led by Elizabeth and Maddie Rocchio as the pair went 2-3 last week and have run times of 18:21 and 18:13 this season respectively. This is a quality team that should still be able to win this weekend in a close race even with Carmel and Zionsville runners likely returning.
Carmel
Carmel appeared to have not raced their best lineup last weekend at the North Central sectional with key contributors such as Annabel Pollert (18:48 season best) and Olivia Mundt (19:12 season best) as well as a few others not participating. The team was led by Sadie Foley last weekend who has clocked a 19:09 earlier this season. With key runners expected to return to the lineup this weekend it will be a close race between North Central for the Regional Championship. Both teams will likely be competing for a state title along with others next weekend.
Zionsville
Zionsville placed third at the same sectional last weekend despite resting their entire top 5 lineup. Katy Green and Anwesha Mishra should be racing again this weekend and have the two best times for this team this season going 19:00 and 19:04. The Eagles may not have runners at the very front but make up for this with their depth by having their entire top 5 running under 19:30 this season. Their 1-5 spread is second to only Carmel as the team looks to be in good standing to advance.
Brownsburg
Brownsburg was able to secure the sectional title last weekend at Ben Davis and looks to punch their tickets to state this weekend. Leading the Bulldogs with a second place individual finish last weekend was Scout Newman who has also ran an 18:36 earlier this season. Brownsburg looks to be relatively safe to advance to next weekend.
Avon
Avon placed third behind Brebeuf last weekend at Ben Davis and was led by Indiana University Bloomington commit Jessica Hegedus. She won the individual title for the third year in a row and was nearly one minute ahead of Brebeuf's top runners. Avon's #5, Lauren Mosley, also has a personal best that is a minute faster than Brebeuf's #5. In a larger race like regionals these small differences will be magnified and could create an advantage for Avon. The battle for the final spot will be extremely close and could come down to single digits between Avon and Brebeuf.
On the Bubble Teams to Look Out For:
Brebeuf
Brebeuf was runner-up last weekend at Ben Davis to Brownsburg. The Braves were led by the trio of Isabel Garcia, Lucy Wood, and Emily Garten who have all ran 19:14, 19:14, and 19:21 this season. The team will likely be battling Avon for the final advancing spot. The team was able to score low thanks to Scout Newman being the only point scorer to separate from Avon's Hegedus from the Braves trio last week. This week with more competition it will be hard to tell who advances until everyone comes across the line.
West Lafayette Harrison
Harrison had a dominant win last weekend at their sectional meet where they scored 26 points and won by 25 points. The team was able to get all 5 of their scorers across the line in the top 9 positions and were led by Kaitlyn Manfra, Sawyer DeWitt, and Rubi Rider who have all run 18:57, 19:20, and 19:25 this season. The team will have to face several competitive teams in this region and could be in the mix with Avon and Brebeuf for the final advancing position.
Bishop Chatard
Bishop Chatard finished 4th due to a tiebreaker with Zionsville last weekend. The Trojans have Julia Score who is an individual state title contender and has the fastest time in the field running a 17:16 this year. This will significantly help the team as they will essentially only be scoring 4 runners. Ceci Jackson has run a 19:00 this season and the team will need help from their 3-5 to get to state. There is hope but the team will need to have an exceptional day to advance.