For The Tribune
Seymour girls cross-country coach Spencer Sunbury recognized his team for a great season Monday, as the Owls improved from last year’s 19th-place finish at state to 13th place this year.
The most valuable runner award went to the two frontrunners — sophomore Emma Brock and freshman Ashton Chase.
“Emma was our top runner the first half of the season. She won three invitationals this year,” Sunbury said. “Ashton was our top runner in the conference, regional, semistate and state.”
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The two helped push each other to give Seymour a solid frontrunner presence, Sunbury said.
The most improved runner award went to Abbilynn Ebler.
“She improved from a 25:09 to a 23:02 by season’s end,” Sunbury said.
Haley Westfall earned the 110 percent award, also known as the mental attitude award.
The coaches award went to Claire Loebker.
“She was upbeat and supportive of others,” Sunbury said. “She always did what you asked her to do.”
The newcomer award went to Chloe Smith.
The Owls had three seniors receive their fourth varsity letter in cross-country. They were Megan Winter, Maya Hauersperger and Mikaela Grout.
Loebker, Winter, Brock and Chase earned All-Hoosier Hills Conference honors, as the team took second place in that meet. Oriana Morales was All-HHC honorable mention.
Coach Randy Fife recognized his boys team, which he said started slow but finished the season strong.
The highlight of the season was capturing the school’s first HHC title in boys cross-country.
The most valuable runner went to Tim Molinari.
“He was sick at the beginning of the season, but by the end of the season, we had that frontrunner,” Fife said.
Molinari moved up to 12th on the Seymour High School all-time record board with a time of 16:33, which he ran at the Brown County Regional.
The leadership award went to Cameron Deppen.
“He thought about everyone else before himself,” Fife said. “Cam treats everybody special. He made sure everything was taken care of.”
Deppen ran a 16:47 at sectional and is 20th on the record board.
Hunter Bauserman was the most improved runner.
“At workouts, he was at the front of the pack,” Fife said. “I like to recognize hard work.”
Bauserman ran a 16:59 and also is in the record books.
Molinari earned All-HHC, while Deppen and Jacob Voss received honorable mention.
Deppen also received his fourth varsity letter in cross-country.