ECI girls cross-country sectional preview: Top performers, breakout runners, team recaps
MUNCIE, Ind. — The IHSAA cross-country sectional meets begin Saturday morning.
East Central Indiana has a state champion contender in Delta junior Nicki Southerland, but there are also multiple girls teams with a chance to advance to regionals.
Here's a breakout down of each sectional meet involving ECI schools, as well as information for each team:
Sectional information
Delta sectional (at Taylor University), 10:30 a.m.
Teams: Cowan, Daleville, Delta, Jay County, Monroe Central, Muncie Burris, Muncie Central, Union (Modoc), Wapahani, Wes-Del, Winchester, Yorktown, Randolph Southern, Union City
Pendleton Heights sectional, 10 a.m.
Teams: Shenandoah, Blue River, Alexandria Monroe, Anderson, Anderson Preparatory Academy, Elwood Community, Fishers, Frankton, Hamilton Southeastern, Lapel, Liberty Christian, Pendleton Heights,
Marion sectional (at Indiana Wesleyan), 10:30 a.m.
Teams: Blackford, Eastbrook, Huntington North, Madison-Grant, Marion, Mississinewa, Northfield, Oak Hill, Southern Wells, Southwood, Wabash
Connersville sectional, 10:30 a.m.
Teams: New Castle, Cambridge City Lincoln, Centerville, Connersville, Franklin County, Hagerstown, Northeastern, Richmond, Rushville Consolidated, Seton Catholic, Tri, Union County
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Muncie Central
Performance: Fifth place in North Central Conference meet
Top runners:
Jr. Samantha Fowler — 10th place in NCC meet with personal-best time of 21:53.4 minutes, All-NCC, 2021 regional qualifier
Sr. Delaney Strange — 14th place in NCC meet, second place in Bearcat Invitational with season-best time of 21:56.1, three-time All-NCC, 2021 regional qualifier
Fr. Selah Derby — 23rd place in NCC meet, seventh place in Bearcat Invitational with personal-best time of 22:37.9
Most improved runner: Freshman Kennedy Smith had a time of 28:59.2 on Sept. 20 and ran nearly four-minutes in her 38th-place finish (25:00.8) in the NCC championships on Oct. 1.
From head coach Tacoma Archuleta: "This team has seen great improvement throughout the season with working together and working as one solid unit. These Bearcats come in everyday willing to work towards common goals and push each other to be the best they can be. Both boys and girls sectional meets look to be competitive and we are excited to be a part of the field. We know that with competitive fields in these postseason meets we have to bring our best effort and do what we've been doing all year with working together to continue advancing."
Delta
Performance: Second place in Delaware County meet, fifth place in Hoosier Heritage Conference meet
Top runners:
Jr. Nicki Southerland — 2021 state runner-up, three-time county and HHC champion, two-time sectional and regional champion, won Marion Invitational with personal-best time of 17:15.0
Sr. Olivia Bohanon — 10th place in county meet, ninth place in NCC meet, fifth place in Delta Invitational with personal-best time of 20:50.5
Fr. Kylee Robles — 11th place in county meet, 12th place in HHC meet with personal-best time of 21:22.4
Most improved runner: Freshman Michelle Taylor ran an average time in the upper-30s before notching a personal-best time of 32:01.7 in the Delta Invitational on Sept. 24, nearly eight minutes faster than her time the week before.
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Yorktown
Performance: Delaware County champion, third place in HHC meet
Top runners:
Sr. Rachael Stagge — Fourth place in county meet, 13th place in HHC meet, All-County, All-HHC, ran personal-best time of 21:03.5 in Wildcat Classic
Sr. Ali Smith — Fifth place in county meet with personal-best time of 21:07.6, 14th place in HHC meet, All-County, All-HHC
So. Aurilia Moulton — Eighth place in county meet, 16th place in HHC meet, All-County, ran personal-best time of 21:23.8 in New Haven Classic
Most improved runner: Aurilia Moulton has improved her time by over two minutes from her freshman year and has joined Ali Smith, Rachael Stagge, and Tori Oliver as one of Yorktown's top-4 runners.
From head coach Jared Turner: "Our boys and girls team has grown close over this season, all the way from our senior leaders to our new freshmen teammates and I am excited to see them compete for each other and try to accomplish some team goals as the IHSAA tournament starts."
Wapahani
Performance: Third place in both the Delaware County and Mid-Eastern Conference meets
Top runners:
Sr. Kendyl Thrasher — Third place in county meet, second place in MEC meet, All-County, All-MEC, won the Muncie Central Invite with personal-best time of 20:08.2
Sr. Maddie Felton — Ninth in county meet, 11th in MEC meet, All-County, All-MEC, ran personal-best time of 21:44.7 in New Haven Classic
So. Bailey Carpenter — 18th place in county meet, 17th place in MEC meet with personal-best time of 23:32.7
Breakout runners: Sophomores Bailey Carpenter and Judy Dargo are both first-year cross-country runners who have steadily improved throughout the season and added needed depth for Wapahani to have a chance to qualify for regionals as a team.
From head coach Bo Stevenson: "The girls are hoping to advance as a team to the Delta Regional for the first time since 2018."
Cowan
Performance: Fifth place in Delaware County meet, did not qualify for MEC placement with only four healthy runners
Top runner:
Sr. Brynn Wright — Seventh place in county meet, fifth place in MEC meet, three-time All-County, four-time All-MEC, IHSAA Sportsmanship Pin recipient
From head coach Kent Hanser: "I am proud to be working with these young people. They are showing spirit and determination and they are working hard to fulfill their potential as runners. In addition to that, the senior leadership has made this season a great one. Having two individuals earn Sportsmanship Pins from the IHSAA is awesome. That really speaks to the nature of the team that we have."
Daleville
Performance: Fourth place in Delaware County meet, 65th place in MEC meet
Top runners:
Jr. Faith Norris — second place in county meet, 13th place in MEC meet, won the Yorktown Invitational with a personal-best time of 20:08.9
Fr. Jenna Brand — 13th place in county meet, 20th place in MEC meet, placed 17th in Yorktown Invitational with personal-best time of 23:14.0
Sr. Kadence Aikin — placed 14th in MEC meet with personal-best time of 23:20.7
Most improved runner: Faith Norris has improved her best time from 21:13 last year to 20:08 this season so far and was the individual champion at the Monroe Central, Wapahani and Yorktown Invitationals.
From head coach David Beard: "Both teams are hard working groups, someone or several improve their time every week ... The girls (could) qualify for the regional with excellent performances."
Muncie Burris
Performance: Third place in Pioneer Academic Athletic Conference meet
Top runners:
Jr. Sydney McFarren — PAAC champion with personal-best time of 20:35
So. Beatrice Cooper — third place in PAAC meet with personal-best time of 22:30
So. Virgil Denney — fourth place in PAAC meet with personal-best time of 22:43
From head coach Max Davis: "I feel as if we have had a great season for both the boy’s and girl’s teams, and we have confidence that both teams can compete at sectionals and make a run at advancing to regionals."
Wes-Del
Top runner:
Sr. Emerson Justin — 12th place in county meet, 19th place in MEC meet, placed 24th in the Marion Invitational with a personal-best time of 22:36.0
Most improved runner: Kaitlyn Banister began the season notching times of more than 27 minutes but has lowered her pace by nearly three minutes, recently running a season-best time of 24:25.3 in the New Haven Classic.
Monroe Central
Performance: Randolph County and MEC champions
Top runners:
Jr. Addison Coe — won county championship with personal-best time of 20:41.6, fourth place in MEC meet
Fr. Avery Thomas — fourth place in county meet with personal-best time of 21:23.7, sixth place in MEC meet
Jr. Katie Osborn — fifth place in county meet with season-best time of 21:29.1, eighth place in MEC meet
Most improved runner: Kelsie Gaddis began this season finishing with multiple times above 26 minutes but notched an average time around 23:30 in her last two meets.
Shenandoah
Performance: Second place in Henry County meet, sixth place in MEC meet
Top runners:
Jr. Madison Cooper — ninth place in county meet, 38th place in MEC meet, ran season-best time of 27:30.8 at the Wapahani Invitational
Sr. Kaitlyn Ashby — 13th place in county meet, ran personal-best time of 31:36.1 in MEC meet
Blackford
Performance: Third place in Central Indiana Conference meet
Top runners:
Jr. Allison Clamme — fifth place in CIC meet, placed 13th in New Haven Classic with personal-best time of 21:10.6, All-CIC, 2021 semi-state qualifier
Jr. Chloe Wicker — ninth place in CIC meet with season-best time of 21:55.5, All-CIC, 2021 semi-state qualifier
Jr. Ammee Uggen — 11th place in CIC meet with personal-best time of 21:59.6
From head coach Doug Osborn: "Both teams have been working very hard all season and have had some very good workouts going into our post season competition. The girls won two invitationals this year and finished second in another. The girls have a very good chance of advancing to next week's regional."
Jay County
Performance: Third place in Delta Invitational
Top runner:
Fr. Alexis Sibray — 18th in the Delta Invitational with a personal-best time of 22:49.6
Most improved/breakout runner: Freshman Paityn Wendel ran a personal-best time of 24:22.3 at the Delta Invitational, over two minutes faster than her two previous time this season.
New Castle
Performance: Fourth place in HHC meet, team's highest placement since joining the conference in 2007
Top runners:
Sr. Lydia Harvey — holds school record with a personal-best time of 19:35.5, four-time All-HHC, three-time semi-state qualifier
Fr. Anyah Amman — 19th place in HHC meet, ran personal-best time of 21:06.1 in Golden Bear Invitational
So. Sylvie Terrell — 15th place in HHC with personal-best time of 21:25.1
Sr. Savannah Kernel — ran personal-best time of 21:56.1 in the Golden Bear Invitational
From head coach Andy Carter: "Our girls team has had several challenges with injuries this season. However, they have worked hard to rehabilitate in time for the tournament. As such, our girls team has a lot of depth where several girls compete together to push their teammates. Our goal and expectation for our girls team is that they will advance to semi-state as a team."
Winchester
Performance: Third place in Randolph County meet, second place in Tri-Eastern Conference meet
Top runners:
Fr. Mariah Manning — eighth place in county meet with personal-best time of 22:01.5, 11th place in TEC meet
So. Erica Grubbs — ninth place in county meet, eighth place in TEC meet with personal-best time of 22:47.4
Most improved runner: Erica Grubbs finished with a time of more than 28 minutes during her second race of the season and finished the regular season running more than five minutes faster.
Union (Modoc)
Junior Lilly Arnett is the team's lone runner. She placed sixth in the Randolph County meet, 16th in the MEC meet and ran a personal-best time of 21:15.6 in the Delta Invitational.
From head coach Brandon Arnett: "Overall we have had a successful season full of improvements. It is not over yet and I hope to see a competitive sectional race."
Blue River
Performance: Henry County champion, second place in MEC meet
Top runners:
So. Charlee Gibson — winner of seven meets, including county and MEC, and placed second at the Delta Invitational with a personal-best time of 19:33.6
So. Lilyan Guffey — fourth place in county meet, ninth place in MEC meet, All-County, All-MEC, ran personal-best time of 22:13.6 at the Delta Invitational
Jr. Sydney Fellers — third place in county meet, 12th place in MEC meet, All-County, All-MEC, ran season-best time of 22:37.4 at the Delta Invitational
Most improved runner: Lilyan Guffey had not run cross-country until this season, yet has developed into a top-2 runner on the team and lowered her race time by two minutes since the start of the season.
From head coach Jay Foreman: "The first thing I talk to the kids about at each first practice, including this year back on Aug. 1, is that our goal is to have someone competing on the last day of the season. Everything else is great and fun to accomplish. Kids need that feeling of success. But, at the end of the day, I keep reminding them of that ultimate goal. Nothing is given. They all know how hard they will have to work to achieve that goal. I think we have a chance to advance a long way, but only if things fall into place and we work hard from here on out."
Gus Martin is a sports reporter at The Star Press. Follow him on Twitter @GusMartin_SP, and contact him at gmartin@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: IHSAA girls cross-country: ECI sectional preview, top runners
