Brownsburg freshmen Abby Lynch making a statement before the official XC season begins in Indiana winning Detweiler at Dark in Illinois with a 17:17 three mile course.
Complete Results: Detweiler at Dark
Summer isn't just a time for relaxation and fun. If you're a cross country runner, your summer normally consists of early morning conditioning with your team. For others, this can also include some racing just for fun. Indiana doesn't have very many summer xc series races but over in Illinois at the end of July, Detweiller Park hosts Detweiller at Dark. The race takes place after the sun goes down with the course lit throughout. This course is host to the IL state championship, the Big 12 Conference Champs, and a few other college invitationals for reference. The park is located in Peoria, IL, which is about 3 hours southwest of Chicago.
Detweiller at Dark started back in 2013 and Indiana teams have been going over since the start. Notably Avon's girls and Carmel's girls have been going over for years. This year Carmel took over 19 girls, while Brownsburg also had a group of 10 girls racing, and one guy from Indiana also made his way over. You may know him as the state champ in the 1600 and in cross country last year, Gabe Fendel.
In a field of over 400 guys, Gabe came out not just to run and have fun. He also came out ready to compete. And that is exactly what he did. The senior out of Hamilton Southeastern finished the race in 14:30, which won him 1st place by just one second.
Now the Detweiller is a 3-mile race compared to what most people are used to, a 5K. His time converts to a 15:03 5K time. Gabe's 5K PR is 14:47, this early in the preseason, that is a great time for him. With that type of time already, we should be seeing even faster by the time Gabe hits the courses this fall.
In the girls race, a new star has emerged onto the high school scene in Indiana with the opening victory by incoming freshmen Abby Lynch. A 5:03 miler as a middle school athlete, Lynch will be doing double time as she enters high school juggling soccer and cross country in the fall.
Racing against some of the top runners in Illinois in the preseason as well as individuals from the powerhouse program in Carmel, Lynch shined at Detweiler rolling out a swift three mile time of 17:17. The 14 year old Lynch was able to hold off a close challenger in another great young talent in 13 year old Lianna Surtz (17:18) from Batavia, Illinois. Lynch could be running under 18 minutes for 5K at the start of her high school cross country career with that kind of summer performance.
Carmel had enough girls at the race to qualify as a team. They, just like Gabe, weren't there just to have a nice little fun run. They competed, just like you would expect out of the defending state champions. The lady greyhounds came back to Indiana with a 3rd place win under their belt for the preseason.
Last year's freshman standout Phoebe Bates took the lead for the hounds, finishing 3rd overall in 17:30 over a minute ahead of her teammate Anna Morozov who finished 23rd in 18:32. Anastasia Geisler cracked the top 50 placing 49th overall in 19:19.
Sophomore Emily Hand who last season only ran 3 5K's and a 4K looks to be stepping up this season towards a varsity spot. She placed 78th overall in 19:55. Not far behind her, classmate Elle Nichol finished 88th in 20:03.
Sophomore Halle Welch and Junior Eva Brungard finished within 4 seconds of each other in 20:21 and 20:25 respectfully to round out the scoring spots for the Lady Greyhounds.
In the 118th place spot, Kierstyn Guerrant finished in 20:34. Senior Olivia Shafer finished in 20:40. Adell Urtel crossed the line in 21:05. Senior Anna Nelsen finished in 21:18.
Paige Ohrvall came across in 21:37.
Alyson Pickering(11) in 21:41.
Hope Stauffer(11) 22:22.
Colleen Harless(10) 22:53
Kayla Nelsen(10) 23:17
Lauren Reiter(10) 24:19
And to finish it off for the hounds Nisha Karanam crossed the line in 24:41.