The highly anticipated Nike Town Twilight meet lived up to all the hype of having several nationally ranked teams and high caliber individuals compete under the lights.
Let's take a look at some highlights from throughout the spectacular evening that was.
Jesuit Boys Shine
The quick change of plans proved to be well worth the trip for the Blue Jays as the team from Louisiana won the boys race of champions with 97 points, only 9 points ahead of Carmel. Top finisher for the Blue Jays was Brady Mullen finishing 6th in 15:04. Jesuit had all five scorers under 15:45 including a 41 second 1-5 span and 15:22 5k average to help seal the victory.
Mt. Prospect Girls Dominate
The Mt. Prospect girls took absolute control of this race from the beginning. They ended up with four girls finishing in the top 10 as front runner Hailey Erickson placed fifth in 17:41. Mt. Prospect's scoring five averaged 17:53 with four of those scorers under 18 minutes. With just 34 points, they were able to beat 2nd place Noblesville by almost 80 points. A dominating performance from the Knights team coming over from Illinois Saturday night.
Carmel Boys Make History
Though the Greyhounds finished 2nd, only 9 points back of Jesuit, they finished with a team 5k average of 15:20. Two seconds faster than that of Jesuit's, this is the fastest 5k average ever for a team running at LaVern Gibson. The Hounds were led by an individual victory from senior Kole Mathison who was about 3 seconds off the course record of 14:48, and Anthony Provenzano finishing 5th as Carmel's second runner in 15:02.
The girls individual winner in the race of champions was another out of state competitor. Ciara O'Shea of Madison Central in Kentucky took first place in a blistering 16:52. After a recent win at the Trinity/Valkyrie Invitational O'Shea jumped to 12th in the MileSplit50 rankings. This performance at LaVern Gibson assures her status as one of the best runners in the nation.
Noblesville and Columbus North Girls Battle for Top Indiana Team
The long awaited matchup between the two Indiana favorites, Noblesville and Columbus North, finally happened Saturday with Noblesville placing runner-up in the meet to Mt. Prospect. The Millers found themselves 9 points in front of Columbus North by races end. The next time the two face off will be the State meet but both teams showed how well they can run at LaVern Gibson on a big stage.
Race Winners at LaVern Gibson
Winning a race is hard enough, and to do it at LaVern Gibson deserves some recognition. Here are the Other 4 individual winners from the JV and Open races earlier in the evening.
Girls JV- Morgan White - Assumption - 20:21
Boys JV- Ethan Hockman - Rock Bridge - 17:00
Girls Open- Callie Bentley - East Central - 19:00
Boys Open- Charlie Menzel - Greencastle - 16:16
The Nike Town Twilight meet did not disappoint. Nationally ranked teams and individuals, and an extremely fun environment made this meet one to remember for all involved.
In Indiana, we now head to the postseason where teams will begin their tournament runs with the Sectional round on October 8th.
We should all be looking forward though, to when many of these teams will be back to Terre Haute for the Nike Midwest Regional and a chance to go to Nationals. And who knows, maybe we will see some of these teams matchup again on the National Stage.