The seven schools in the ACAC held one last conference meet before a big change comes in 2027 and the Bluffton Tigers swept both team races, along with the individual title in the girls’ race.
The conference will have an extremely different look when one of the state’s elite running programs at Concordia Lutheran joins the ACAC.
Bluffton and Jay County tied for the title in the boys’ race, but the Tigers had the tiebreaker. Adams Central had to watch from a distance as they ran without their best runner, Tyler Schwartz.
The Jets certainly would have been contenders for the team title with Schwartz, whose time in last year’s ACAC (18:23.00) would have easily put him in the Top 10. His season best of 17:46.50 would have been good enough for second place.
Despite missing Schwartz, the Jets still had a good day, with Isaiah Bedwell shaving a few tenths off his career best and the pair of Trevor Chamberlain and Henry Michaels making major cuts to their PRs.
The South Adams Starfires were also without two runners (Maddox Miller and Zhayne Wagner), but they did get an outstanding race from Carson Laux, who took his PR (18:10 at Marion in mid-September) and cut 17.5 seconds for a fourth-place finish.
Jacob Heflin cut 20 seconds and Jamison Patterson cut 46 seconds for the Stars.
Heritage ran with just five boys and had to settle for seventh. Top finisher Alex Smith slashed a whopping 40 seconds from his career mark and Luke Dillon was 64 seconds faster than his PR.
In the girls’ race, Abigail Ramseyer led a trio of Bluffton Tigers across the finish line for a 1-2-3 finish.
Heritage beat out Adams Central by one point for fourth place thanks to a great race by Caelin Voglewede, who led Emily High on a career pace. Voglewede finished in 22:15 and High was right behind her with a 16-second cut to her career mark.
Heritage got new PRs from a host of runners: Lily Hoting, Audrey Meyer, Quinn Hissong, Kendra Rothgeb, Dakota Brames, Rebecca McDaniel and Madison High.
South Adams’ Aleena Bierbaum had a career race, cutting 53 seconds from her previous best, set at IWU back in September.
Adams Central had several highlights in the girls’ race, with Lexi Linder coming in under the 23-minute mark for a cut of 44 seconds from her career mark. Haley Jauregui and Ava Powell also had career bests.
Boys’ Meet
Team Scores: 1st-Bluffton 57, 2nd-Jay County 57, 3rd-Adams Central 76, 4th-Southern Wells 95, 5th-Woodlan 108, 6th-South Adams 116, 7th-Heritage 158
Top Ten Individuals
1st-Caleb Garringer-JC 16:52.90
2nd-Alex Rivers-JC 17:46.91
3rd-Aidan Graves-Bluffton 17:49.41
4th-Carson Laux-SA 17:52.80
5th-Case Neuenschwander-Bluffton 17:53.80
6th-Xander Wagner-Woodlan 17:56.70
7th-Isaiah Bedwell-AC 18:00.00
8th-Trevor Chamberlain-AC 18:13.00
9th-Kelton Barr-SW 18:23.50
10th-Grant Glentzner-JC 18:26.50
Adams Central Places & Times: 7th-Isaiah Bedwell 18:00.00, 8th-Trevor Chamberlain 18:13.00, 14th-Henry Michaels 18:33.50, 18th-Preston Hoffman 18:49.41, 29th-Phillip Bayer 19:45.30, 39th-Corbin Houk 20:34.41
South Adams Places & Times: 4th-Carson Laux 17:52.80, 20th-Jacob Heflin 18:51.50, 22nd-Gabe Peralez 19:14.50, 27th-Daniel Rupp 19:43.70, 50th-Benjamin Rupp 23:04.20, 51st-Jamison Patterson 23:12.10
Heritage Places & Times: 19th-Alex Smith 18:49.60, 23rd-Julius Garrido 19:24.20, 37th-Gavin Juricak 20:18.80, 38th-William Voglewede 20:32.00, 46th-Luke Dillion 22:28.10
Girls’ Meet
Team Scores: 1st-Bluffton 34, 2nd-Southern Wells 51, 3rd-Woodlan 70, 4th-Heritage 88, 5th-Adams Central 89
Top Ten Finishers
1st-Abigail Ramseyer-Bluffton 19:08.50
2nd-Cora Kunkel-Bluffton 19:54.10
3rd-Erin Ramseyer-Bluffton 20:09.20
4th-Ava May-JC 20:55.20
5th-Tenley Fiechter-SW 21:19.00
6th-Aubree Neuenschwander-SW 21:28.20
7th-Abby Fifer-JC 21:30.00
8th-Brooklynn Byrum-JC 21:53.20
9th-Eva Koch-Woodlan 21:57.40
10th-Adi Rumschlag-AC 21:57.60
Heritage Places & Times: 12th-Caelin Voglewede 22:15.50, 14th-Emily High 22:19.40, 26th-Dakota Brames 23:29.50, 28th-Lily Hoting 23:30.80, 31st-Kendra Rothgeb 23:33.60, 35th-Ava Gerber 24:15.10, 39th-Cortney Moake 24:34.00, Quinn Hissong 24:34.10, Rebecca McDaniel 25:46.60, Elise Hissong 26:00.60, Audrey Meyer 26:23.20, Madison High 29:17.40, Adalina Bacon 30:34.20
Adams Central Places & Times: 10th-Adi Rumschlag 21:57.60, 21st-Haley Jauregui 23:17.90, 23rd-Nola Ortiz 23:23.80, 25th-Lexi Linder 23:29.30, 33rd-Hailey Brune 23:53.10, 43rd-Ava Powell 24:41.90
South Adams Places & Times: 11th-Hadley Sprunger 22:09.70, 18th-Adalynn Watson 23:01.10, 37th-Aleena Bierbaum 24:21.50
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