Shelbyville Boys Race
Qualifying Teams: Fishers, Noblesville, Hamilton Southeastern, Guerin Catholic, Westfield, Franklin Central, Greenfield-Central, Mt-Vernon (Fortville), Lawrence North, Indianapolis Cathedral, Richmond, Batesville, Northeastern, Hagerstown, Rushville Consolidated, Center Grove, Indian Creek, Perry Meridian, Franklin Community, Greenwood Community, Milan, Madison Consolidated, Austin, Henryville, New Washington
Photo by Fishers Distance via Instagram
The Shelbyville boys could potentially have the deepest team races this weekend as it will feature 3 of the state's top 6 teams and 7 teams ranked in the top 23 in the most recent coaches poll. This means that two ranked teams will not qualify for state in this regional. Fishers, Noblesville, and Hamilton Southeastern should all be locked in to advance with Franklin Central being relatively safe. Center Grove will likely have to battle against Greenfield Central and Mt. Vernon with two of these schools not advancing as a team.
Sam Quagliaroli and Matthew Kim from Fishers should both run away from the competition like they have for most meets as they are ranked 3rd and 5th in the state with season best times of 14:52 and 15:04. Caden Click from Noblesville has the next best time from this season with a 15:24 and will be someone to watch to see if he is able to bounce back from last weekend. Kyle Montgomery from Center Grove, Chris Ross from Greenfield Central, and Ronnie Neal from Noblesville have all been under 15:30 this year with 18 others also having season best times under 16 minutes.
Projected Advancing Teams:
Fishers
Fishers won the Noblesville sectional with Sam Quagliaroli running the fastest time for the weekend and Matthew Kim following close behind in second. Nate Thomas and Bryson Slagle both stepped up for the team and allowed for the Tigers to have 4 runners in the top 6. This weekend will be another close race likely against Noblesville as the team will need to run just as well as last week if they wish to win their 6th consecutive Regional title.
Noblesville
Noblesville fought for the runner-up on their own home course last weekend. Sam Rinker led the team and held tough down the final stretch to secure a 3rd place individual finish. The Millers have shown incredible depth this season with 6 runners breaking 16 minutes as well as placing 5 in the top 15 this past weekend. The storyline for Noblesville is with Indiana University Bloomington commit Caden Click as he appeared to be battling illness. Assuming Click is back to health this weekend Noblesville could contend for the team title which would be the team's first since 1995.
Hamilton Southeastern
HSE came in third behind the previously mentioned teams at the Noblesville sectional. Nicolas Vega and Riley Schamp led the team with top 10 performances going 16:03 and 16:04. The team has had 4 sub 16 minute performers this year with Isaac Smith being absent in the team's sectional lineup. The team has the best 1-5 split out of any team in this race at 21.9 seconds and has the depth to easily advance to state.
Franklin Central
Franklin Central was the team champion at Mt. Vernon sectional last weekend winning by 22 points and placing their entire team of 7 in the top 17. Evan Farmer and Justin Reedus went 3-4 for the team with Joey Ashman being their 3rd with all three breaking 16 minutes this season. The Flashes should be competitive and relatively familiar with the new teams added in this round as they all have raced earlier this year at Brownsburg for the Hoosier Crossroads Conference Championship.
Center Grove
Center Grove will return to Shelbyville this weekend after winning last week's sectional with 38 points and winning by 46 points. The Trojans have two elite frontrunners with Gavin Rockwell and Kyle Montgomery running 1-2 last week and having season bests of 15:31 and 15:27 respectively which are both top 25 times for the state. The team's depth looks like it will be enough to take the final spot to state as the team has several athletes capable of running in the 16:30 range. The team will likely be competing against Greenfield Central and Mt. Vernon for the final spot.
On the Bubble Teams to Look Out For:
Greenfield Central
Greenfield Central has a solid top 3 that has been consistent all season including the sectional meet where they went 1-2-5. Chris Ross has the best time from this group running a 15:27 this season with Liam Brinkruff and Carter Crouch running 15:33 and 15:46 respectively. The team's depth appears to be a concern as the team nearly suffered a defeat to Mt. Vernon last weekend. Big performances from their 4-5 could result in a potential upset over Center Grove this weekend.
Mt. Vernon
Mt. Vernon has the second best spread out of all the teams competing with only 24.6 seconds separating their top 5 best times from this year. Colin Strachman led the team last weekend with a 9th place finish and a time of 16:13 earlier this year. The team appears to be on the outside looking in but could take advantage of teams like Greenfield Central as they were just 2 points behind them last weekend.
Shelbyville Girls Race
Qualifying Teams: Noblesville, Hamilton Southeastern, Westfield, Guerin Catholic, Pendleton Heights, Franklin Central, Mt. Vernon (Fortville), Indianapolis Cathedral, Greenfield-Central, Lawrence North, East Central, Batesville, Richmond, Centerville, Rushville Consolidated, Center Grove, Franklin Community, Whiteland Community, Roncalli, Indian Creek, South Dearborn, Charlestown, Switzerland County, Southwestern (Hanover), Madison Consolidated
Photo by Mike Kepner
The girls race at Shelbyville also looks to be even more stacked than the boys with 4 of the state's top 10 teams and 7 in the top 25 based on the most recent coaches poll. This means that, like the boys race, two schools currently ranked in the top 25 will not make the state finals as a team. Noblesville, Hamilton Southeastern, Franklin Central, and Westfield look to have the best odds of making the transfer to state with Guerin having to fend off several bubble teams if they wish to advance.
Ava Jarrell from Pendleton Heights and Libby Dowty from Indian Creek both enter the meet with the best times this season being ranked 3rd and 4th in the state with times of 17:05 and 17:09 respectively. Both won their individual sectional championships last weekend as well. Kylie Cline and Savana Miller from Franklin Central, Maggie Powers from Hamilton Southeastern, Liz Smith from Westfield, Summer Rempe from Noblesville, Victoria Jackson from Whiteland Community as well as several others are expected to be up front.
Projected Advancing Teams:
Noblesville
Noblesville was victorious against HSE this past weekend which marks the second meet in a row where the Millers have defeated the Royals. Summer Rempe was close to a season best finishing runner-up with a 18:15 while her teammate Nadia Perez ran her best time this season with a 18:22. The team looks to be in a very close battle with HSE yet again next weekend with every point making a significant difference especially in a bigger meet.
Hamilton Southeastern
HSE finished runner-up to Noblesville by 8 points despite placing their top 5 finishers ahead of Noblesville's top 5. The team was led by recent Loyola commit Maggie Powers with a 3rd place finish and season best time of 18:01. The team is closely matched runner-for-runner with Noblesville with the largest difference at sectionals coming from the 2nd and 4th runner positions. With a larger field these gaps will be filled by more schools which will create for another exciting and close finish between these two teams. .
Franklin Central
Franklin Central was dominant at the Mt. Vernon sectional last weekend placing 4 runners in the top 6 and scoring 24 points to win the championship by 44 points. Savana Miller was the top finisher for the Flashes and was close to her season best time of 18:00. Kylie Cline has the best time for the team this year breaking 18 minutes with a 17:49 which ranks her 9th in the state. Franklin Central does not look to be in contention for the regional title but will be able to get to state with little trouble.
Westfield
Westfield finished 3rd to Noblesville and Hamilton Southeastern with Liz Smith and Alivia Lozier finishing 5-6. This duo has run 18:02 and 18:12 and have consistently been the Shamrocks frontrunners this season. Despite the dropoff with their 3-4-5 they should be able to also take an advancing spot to state.
Guerin Catholic
Guerin Catholic was 4th in the Noblesville sectional which shows how deep this sectional championship was. Bailey Freese was the top contributor just missing her season best time of 19:06 by one second. The Golden Eagles have the best spread on the girls side with 35.5 seconds separating their 1-5 runners best times from this season. The team looks to be favored to advance but could face stiff competition from other teams that are on the bubble.
On the Bubble Teams to Look Out For:
Center Grove
Center Grove raced well and won the Shelbyville sectional and will come into this weekend on the outside looking in. This sectional had only 19 points separating the top 4 teams. Marissa Pogue led the team last week and has been the only individual for the Trojans that has been under 20 minutes this year with a 19:42.
Franklin Community
Franklin Community was the runner-up team at Shelbyville last weekend and had Lauren Klem and Kathleen Lacy in the top 10 placing 5th and 7th respectively. Lauren ran a 19:16 earlier this year with Kathleen going 19:42. This team could potentially beat Center Grove at a bigger meet like regionals.
Whiteland Community
Whiteland finished 3rd, just 9 points behind Franklin Community at Shelbyville. The Warriors have the best 1-2 punch out of any teams from the Shelbyville sectional with Victoria Jackson and Lena Shipp placing 2nd and 4th with season best times of 18:35 and 19:25 respectively. Like Franklin Community this school could move up in the standings with low sticks having a larger impact in a bigger race.
Roncalli
Roncalli finished just 2 points behind Whiteland for a 4th place finish. The Royals were favored to win last weekend but appeared to have key contributor Charlie Fletter out of the lineup. Leading the team last weekend was Tessa Mize with a 6th place finish and personal best time of 19:01 this season. If Charlie is able to run this weekend this team could make a huge jump from last week's performance and challenge Guerin for the last spot to state.
Mt. Vernon was runner-up to Franklin Central in their own sectional meet last weekend. The team was led by two top 10 performances with Hannah Hauser and Chesnie Willis finishing 5th and 9th respectively. Hannah has also ran a 18:50 personal best time this season. The Marauders appear to be evenly matched with the competitors from the Shelbyville sectional and should finish somewhere in that mix.