High school cross country: New Prairie's Zelasko third at Mideast Championships
From the start of high school cross country season, New Prairie’s Lilly Zelasko was one of the fastest female runners in Indiana.
She finished up that way, as well.
Zelasko’s third-place individual finish led Team Indiana to runnerup honors Saturday at the annual Mideast Cross Country Championships in Kettering, Ohio.
More high school cross country news:New Prairie's Zelasko a dominant semistate champion in cross country
Tame Baylis of Northridge finished 21st to also help the cause.
Much like the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Basketball series, the Mideast Meet brings together top high school senior cross country athletes from Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio for a unique state vs. state competition.
Instead of competing for their individual schools, athletes represent their home state.
Ohio won the girls title in the meet, held at Indian Riffle Park, near Dayton. Michigan was the boys champ.
The Ohio girls team scored 26 points, while Indiana totaled 43 and Michigan was third at 57.
Michigan was the boys champion with 32 points, followed by Ohio (42 points) and Indiana (50).
Zelasko, who won sectional, regional and semistate titles during this year’s IHSAA tournament, was involved in a tight race for first place. Only eight seconds separated the top three finishers.
Megan Hipple of Ohio, from McDonald High School, near Youngstown, finished the 5,000-meter course in 18 minutes, 15.67 seconds to claim first.
Penn girls sixth at state cross country; Mishawaka's Bauschke ninth in boys race
Jaylee Wingate of Ohio took second in 18:22.81, just nipping Zelasko, who clocked 18:23.82.
Indiana’s Julia Kiesler finished fourth in 18:30.74, following Zelasko into the finish chute.
Baylis, who won the Elkhart girls sectional earlier this fall, clocked 19:21.19 while placing 21st. She was the No. 8 runner from Indiana.
Indiana’s Ty Garrett, from Center Grove High School, near Indianapolis, won the boys individual championship, clocking 15:42.44.
MIDEAST CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Kettering, Ohio
BOYS
TEAM SCORES: Michigan 32, Ohio 42, Indiana 50
TOP 10 FINISHERS: 1, Ty Garrett (Indiana) 15:42.44. 2, Joseph Bowman (Michigan) 15:47.66. 3, Kyle Clark (Indiana) 15:49.98. 4, Innocent Ntwali (Ohio) 15:52.40. 5, Trent McFarland (Michigan) 15:52.79. 6, Aiden Smith (Michigan) 15:53.11. 7, Landon Armstrong (Ohio) 15:53.63. 8, Trevor Lanoy (Ohio) 15:55.43. 9, Kyle Eberhard (Michigan) 15:57.26. 10, Parks Allen (Michigan) 15:58.20.
GIRLS
TEAM SCORES: Ohio 26, Indiana 43, Michigan 57
TOP 10 FINISHERS: 1, Megan Hipple (Ohio) 18:15.67. 2, Jaylee Wingate (Ohio) 18:22.81. 3, Lillian Zelasko (Indiana) 18:23.82. 4, Julia Kiesler (Indiana) 18:30.74. 5, CC Jones (Michigan) 18:32.38. 6, Caitlyn Jones (Ohio) 18:33.04. 7, Annika Sandman (Michigan) 18:33.21. 8, Savannah Dennison (Ohio) 18:35.53. 9, Abby Drosdak (Ohio) 18:40.27. 10, Madison Clor (Michigan) 18:46.06 … 21, Tame Baylis (Indiana) 19:21.19.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Lilly Zelasko led Team Indiana at Mideast Cross Country Championships
