NASHVILLE
The Seymour girls cross-country team hasn’t started to taper yet, but that didn’t stop the Owls from putting together a big performance in Saturday’s Brown County Regional.
No. 17 Seymour put four runners in the top 11 and five in the top 16 to finish second with 47 points. No. 2 Columbus North won with a “Perfect 15.”
The Owls, who advance to Saturday’s Brown County Semistate, had personal bests from five of their seven runners and a season best from another runner.
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“It was a good day,” Seymour girls coach Spencer Sunbury said. “We worked hard this week, and we were expecting to have a good race, but I’m not sure we were quite expecting times like that. So it was nice to see on a good, hard week to come back and run times like this.”
Ashton Chase led the Owls with a sixth-place finish in 18:48.91 for 5,000 meters (3.1 miles). Megan Winter took ninth (19:26.71), while Claire Loebker was 10th (19:27.52), Emma Brock 11th (19:35.96), Abby Voss 16th (20:08.29), Sarah Benefiel 23rd (21:06.69) and Brett Kleber 24th (21:07.78).
The Seymour boys also qualified for semistate by finishing third with 115 points. No. 9 Columbus North won with 26, and Austin took second with 104.
“The kids keep getting stronger and stronger each week,” Seymour boys coach Randy Fife said. “They’re running with a lot of confidence. We’re looking forward to a chance to compete next week.”
Tim Molinari finished 11th in 16:33.32 to lead the Owls. Cameron Deppen took 21st in 16:58.18, while Hunter Bauserman was 23rd (16:59.89), Jacob Voss 34th (17:15.59), Alex Lovins 45th (17:38.72), Trent Hohenstreiter 52nd (17:48.85) and Cooper Morrow 53rd (17:50.64).
Four Seymour boys ran personal bests.
“We think maybe next week, we can get four under 17 and do a little better,” Fife said. “I think if we can get in the top 10 (as a team) at semistate, that would be quite an achievement for this group.”
The Seymour girls will be looking for a top-six finish to make their second consecutive trip to the state finals.
“It’s going to be a good race next week at semistate,” Sunbury said. “I’ve been talking about that ever since state last year. It’s been a big motivation for us, and they’ve worked hard this season, so we’re ready to do it again.”
Meanwhile, two of Crothersville’s three girls entrants advanced to semistate as individuals. Breanne Berger finished 17th in 20:13.83, and Tristan Maschino took 33rd in 21:59.79. The Tigers’ third runner, Piper Hensley was 78th in 24:56.68.
Brownstown Central’s Alexis Koch finished 39th in 22:01.55, while Kaelyn Johnson took 47th in 22:19.59 and Destiny Satterthwaite was 50th in 22:21.98.
One of Brownstown’s two boys runners qualified, with Jake McCullough finishing 20th in 16:54.54. Harlan Deaton was 49th in 17:42.78.
Trinity Lutheran’s AJ Goecker finished 37th in 17:22.51.