Saturday’s cross country regional had such a new look, nobody knew quite what to expect, but when the last man crossed the line at the Plex, there was one local lad still standing and that was Bluffton’s Tyler Godwin as he made the cut and is headed to State to represent Bluffton High School and all of Z Land.
Concordia Lutheran got the better of Warsaw in the team race, as expected, and the Cadets’ Vaughn Hendrickson won the individual title. The team will be a contender for the state title next week at Indiana State.
Godwin needed to be in the top 15 of those runners who did not make it through as a team, meaning everyone from Concordia, Warsaw, Wabash, Angola and Carroll (FW) was set aside. Godwin’s 21st-place finish at 16:19 was more than enough to extend his season by another week.
The next best finish for a local runner was Godwin’s teammate, Levi Johns, who was 68th across the line at 17:01.
Bellmont’s best times came from the pair of Hayden Whittenbarger and Harry Gunsett, who were just 4.5 seconds apart from each other.
“We had a very good day at the newfangled regional,” noted head coach Randy Hisner. “We finished 20th out of 25, and though that doesn’t sound great, 20th was actually our goal.”
Hisner noted that in a rebuilding year, with no seniors in the varsity lineup and only one junior, 20th was as high as the Braves could realistically expect to finish, and they’d have to run well to do that.
“We did run well, with all seven of our runners coming close to their personal best times, despite a tough, soft course,” he added. “I’m very proud of my team and how fiercely they competed in the tournament series. We were seeded seventh in the sectional and got fourth. Then we were seeded 24th in the regional and got 20th. It’s a sign of how tough-minded this group is that they defeated teams that were ranked ahead of us in the biggest meets of the season.”
Team Scores
1. Concordia Lutheran 85
2. Warsaw Community 101
3. Wabash 142
4. Angola 161
5. Carroll (FW) 188
14. Bluffton 409
20. Bellmont 571
24. Norwell 628
25. Southern Wells 634
Times of Note
1. Vaughn Hendrickson-Concordia 15:44.7
2. Nick Cook-Wapahani 15:46.1
3. Owen Jackson-Oak Hill 15:55.6
4. Sam Yarnelle-Angola 15:56.9
5. Jackson Gackenheimer-Warsaw 15:56.9
21. Tyler Godwin-Bluffton 16:19.8
68. Levi Johns-Bluffton 17:01.3
79. Jaxon Hoting-Heritage 17:23.1
95. Dakota Sprunger-South Adams 17:32.7
110. Jude Baumgartner-Bluffton 17:42.8
116. Joseph Boggs-Jay County 17:45.5
118. Hayden Whittenbarger-Bellmont 17:47.3
125. Harry Gunsett-Bellmont 17:51.8
126. Caleb Garringer-Jay County 17:52.3
134. Andrew Aker-Southern Wells 17:55.3
148. Maddux Miller-Bellmont 18:05.7
150. Gavin Threewits-Norwell 18:06.3