Weekend Recap: Fast Times Across the State

Saturday was a beautiful day for racing, and Indiana's runners delivered impressive times across the state.

In the Rick Weinheimer Cross Country Classic, It was Whiteland's Will Jefferson that ran a 14:59.6, just edging out Travis Hickner of Noblesville by 1.2 seconds. Northview's Jcim Grant was the highest finishing Freshman, coming home 11th with an impressive time of 15:56.0. Grant's 15:56 is the fastest freshman time in the nation so far this season.

United States High School Boys 5K Freshman Rankings

Hosts Columbus North took the team title in the AA race with four runners inside the top ten. Noblesville came a close second, and Floyd Central was third.

In the A race, Oak Hill took the win with three runners in the top five. Chase Austin won the individual race for Brown County with a time of 16:14.5

On the girls side, Brenner Hanna out of Greensburg took the AA win with a time of 18:09.1, six seconds ahead of Northview Freshman and sister of Jcim Grant; Gnister Grant. It was many of the same characters as the boys race on the team side, with Columbus North winning followed by Floyd Central in second and Bloomington North in third.

The girls A winner was Annalyssa Crain of Edgewood with a time of 17:43.3, faster than anyone in the AA race and enough to lead Edgewood to the team victory in A.

Will Jefferson's time of 14:59.6 is good enough for 2nd in the country this season, but it was not the fastest time in Indiana on Saturday. Izaiah Steury out of Angola ran a 14:51.1 in the Marion Invite on the ultra fast Indiana Wesleyan course. The Junior destroyed the field by more than forty seconds to run the nation's best time. Brebeuf Jesuit won the team competition, followed by Concordia Lutheran and North Central.

United States High School Boys 5K Rankings

In the girls race at Marion, Nicki Southerland proved that she is a contender for the state title. The freshman out of Delta just beat Carroll Senior Zoe Duffus to the line with a time of 17:35.6. Jasmine Klopstad (Carmel), Addison Knoblauch (Homestead), and Annie Christie (Carmel) finished in a pack twenty seconds back, just under 18 minutes. Southerland and Duffus' times are currently the 5th and 6th fastest times in the country.

United States High School Girls 5K Freshman Rankings

Carmel won the team competition by just one point over Carroll, with both teams putting five runners in the top fifteen.

In the West Lafayette Harrison Invitational, Cole Raymond of Laporte just edged out Harrison Senior Leonel Ramirez for the win, both finishing with a time of 15:47.0. The team title went to Bloomington South, nearly forty points clear of Goshen and Lake Central. New Praire's Joshua Baltes won the small school division, while Western dominated the team competition with four runners in the top ten.

Lowell's Karina James destroyed the field in the Girls race at West Lafayette, winning by nearly a minute with a time of 18:10.0. Zionsville earned the girls team win, just seven points clear of Lake Central. In the small school race, it was Hailey Orosz and Wheeler High School atop both the individual and team leaderboards.

Highland Senior Lucas Guerra bested the field of more than 200 runners at the Terre Haute Savings Bank State Preview over Jesus Garcia (Zionsville) and Camden Marshall (Corydon Central). Guerin Catholic's Bridget Gallagher won the girls race, followed by Audrey Knoper (Western Boone) and Kendall Martin (Brebeuf).

Trevor Nolan of Brownsburg won his home meet, the Brownsburg Invitational. Teammates Gretchen Farley and Sophia Kennedy out of Park Tudor finished 1-2 in the girls race. Franklin Central won on the boys side, and were second to Brownsburg in the girls race by just four points.

Mariano Retzloff and Penn High School bested twenty schools at the Manchester Invitational on the boys side, while Lexi Allen and Culver Academies took the girls race.

We look forward to more cross country action next week as we head into the midseason, including big meets at Brown Countyand Indiana Wesleyan; The Wildcat Classic.

Related:

Indiana Girls Performer Of The Week (8/30-9/5)

Indiana Boys Performer Of The Week (8/30-9/5)