Norwell claimed the sectional cross country title in the girls’ race and the Bluffton Tigers out-ran Wapahani to win the boys’ race on a beautiful day for a big 5K on the campus of Taylor University. Many individuals advanced from Z-Land, as well as the Bellmont and South Adams boys’ teams and the Adams Central girls’ team.
Here is a recap of the action from both sites. The regional will be held at Huntington University Saturday.
Delta Sectional
Trevor Schwartz won the race with a time of 16:10.4, out-running the Bluffton duo of Levi Johns and Jude Baumgartner. Bellmont ran a solid race, taking third place and advancing again to the regional. Dakota Sprunger was fourth to lead the South Adams Starfires.
Schwartz’s time was 21 seconds better than anything he had run so far this season. Trailing Johns and Baumgartner at the two-mile mark, the Jet runner found an extra gear and cruised past the pair of Tigers for the victory.
Ethan Crockett will join Schwartz as advancing Jets next week.
Harry Gunsett turned in a season-best time of 17:29.5 and Hayden Whittenbarger paced the Braves in their third-place efforts with a 17:10.
Landon Rich ran ten seconds better than any other 5K time he’s registered this season. Sophomore Logan Whitacre also ran a season best to help the Braves advance.
Alex Alana and Trevor Chamberlain ran season bests for Adams Central.
Wyatt Mann ran a season-best 17:11, while teammate Carson Laux flirted with the 18-minute mark for the first time this year. Both were key in pushing the Starfires into qualification for regional.
Boys Top 5 Teams: 1st-Bluffton 66, 2nd-Wapahani 80, 3rd-Bellmont 129, 4th-South Adams 146, 5th-Norwell 151
Advancing Individuals: Trevor Schwartz-Adams Central, Ethan Crockett-Adams Central
Bellmont Times & Places: 12th-Hayden Whittenbarger 17:10.3; 20th-Harry Gunsett 17:29.5; 25th-Maddux Miller 17:50.7; 28th-Hudson Krull 17:52.4; 44th-Landon Rich 18:34.7; 54th-Logan Whitacre 19:06.4; 58th-Ethan Curtis 19:15.4
South Adams Times & Places: 4th-Dakota Sprunger 16:31.9; 13th-Wyatt Mann 17:11.2; 32nd-Carson Laux 18:05.8; 45th-Deacon Bierbaum 18:38.3; 52nd-Daniel Rupp 19:04.1; 59th-Maddox Miller 19:17.4
Adams Central Times & Places: 1st-Trevor Schwartz 16:10.4; 8th-Ethan Crockett 16:54.9; 43rd-Alex Alana 18:34.3; 57th-Tyler Schwartz 19:14.5; 79th-Bryson Edgell 20:42.9; 82nd-Trevor Chamberlain 21:02.8; 85th-Vince Laukhuf 21:19.5
GIRLS’ RACE
Adams Central had a solid performance to advance as a team, finishing fourth behind ACAC rivals Jay County and Bluffton. Madison Gerber had to settle for a runner-up finish despite one of her best performances of the season.
The Jets likely would not have qualified without season bests by Alyssa Fruechte and Hailey Brune.
For Bellmont, the season remained alive for three experienced runners. Sydney Angel was the first Brave to cross the line, cutting 20 seconds from her career best. Madison Witte cut a similar number from her season best and qualified alongside teammate Abigail Rudy.
Bre Feasel ran a season best for the Braves but was 25 seconds behind the regional cut line.
Adalynn Watson and Ava Kinsey both survived for the Starfires, with Kinsey running her career best to qualify.
Girls Top 5 Teams: 1st-Norwell 68, 2nd-Jay County 81, 3rd-Bluffton 131, 4th-Adams Central 131, 5th-Wapahani 134
Adams Central Times & Places: 2nd-Madison Gerber 19:24.8; 9th-Addison Gilbert 20:16.6; 22nd-Madison Hamilton 21:36.9; 51st-Alyssa Fruechte 23:43.2; 52nd-Hailey Brune 23:45.0; 62nd-Haley Jauregui 24:39.0; 80th-Ella Bluhm 27:57.6
Bellmont Times & Places: 23rd-Sydney Angel 21:39.1; 24th-Abigail Rudy 21:45.1; 34th-Madison Witte 22:28.0; 44th-Bre Feasel 23:08.4; 58th-Lilly Franz 24:31.9; 60th-Bridget Juengel 24:37.6; 83rd-Mackenzie Selzer 29:36.8
South Adams Times & Places: 11th-Adalynn Watson 20:51.6; 33rd-Ava Kinsey 22:23.6; 57th-Kalle Trausch 24:31.0; 65th-Aleena Bierbaum 25:19.4; 66th-Stella McIntire 25:30.0
Advancing Individuals: Adalynn Watson-South Adams, Sydney Angel-Bellmont, Abigail Rudy-Bellmont, Ava Kinsey-South Adams, Madison Witte-Bellmont
New Haven Sectional
Rosalinda Medina was the top finisher for the Heritage girls, but was about 53 seconds away from qualifying for regional. The Patriots did get great performances from all five girls, including career-best runs from Emily High and Jolena Beckman.
On the boys’ side of things, the Patriots finished outside the top five in seventh place, but did advance three individuals to next week’s regional. Corban Roth clocked his best time of the season to pace the Patriots.
William Voglewede was solid, as well, running his second-best time of the season for the Pats.
Boys Top 5 Teams: 1st-Homestead 20, 2nd-Concordia Lutheran 63, 3rd-Bishop Dwenger 122, 4th-FW Northrop 122, 5th-New Haven 127
Advancing Individuals: Corban Roth-Heritage, Marshall Harris-Heritage, Hayden Amstein-Heritage
Heritage Times & Places: 18th-Corban Roth 17:37.7; 22nd-Marshall Harris 17:44.8; 36th-Hayden Amstein 18:22.7; 59th-Cooper Naatz 19:40.2; 71st-Gabe Hanford 20:19.9; 84th-Gavin Juricak 21:43.3; 85th-William Voglewede 21:44.2
Girls Top 5 Teams: 1st-Concordia Lutheran 20, 2nd-Homestead 53, 3rd-FW Northrop 89, 4th-Bishop Dwenger 112, 5th-FW Snider 180
Heritage Times & Places: 51st-Rosalinda Medina 23:44.4; 55th-Ava Smith 24:12.0; 57th-Emily High 24:18.0; 59th-Jolena Beckman 24:19.9; 62nd-Elise Hissong 24:30.2
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