SEYMOUR – Bedford North Lawrence senior star Paige Voigtschild started the 2026 campaign in impressive fashion with her first individual victory of the year as the Stars finished second in the Seymour Invitational during girls cross country action on Saturday.
BNL totaled 54 team points in the five-team field. Seymour won the event with 24 points, placing four runners in the top seven. In the boys race, BNL finished third with 56 points, trailing Seymour (41) and Jennings County (43) in a tight battle.
Voigtschild blazed to her win in 19:19.07 (cutting 24 seconds off her time from the same race last season), pulling away from Seymour challengers Chloe Jablonski (19:32.51) and Emma Dorian (19:37.16).
BNL’s team scoring came from Claire Voigtschild (fourth in 20:46.04), Ashlynn York (12th in 22:48.05), Maggie Minton (17th in 23:21.01) and Genevieve Walker (31st in 26:09.51).
“This was a really nice way to get our season going,” BNL coach Amy Greenan said. “I am so proud of all the girls. The veterans dropped significant time from last year’s performances here.
“Paige just got out front at the gun and led the whole way. Claire looked strong and ran a great time. Ashlynn York took home a ribbon and has improved dramatically in the past year. That’s encouraging. It shows that they did some good work over the summer.“
In the boys race, BNL’s Hayden Rich was sixth (18:17.91), Eli McFarland crossed in ninth (18:43.29), and Tate McFarland was 10th (18:44.72) as the Stars grouped together in the top 10 of the event.
Sam Strauser (16th in 19:16.98) and Linkin Guthrie (24th in 20:26.40) capped the team scoring for the Stars.
“It was a good start to the season,” BNL coach Nick Boyd said. “We’ve been waiting to race since last week’s cancellation (at Terre Haute) and just feel like we’ve been playing practice games, so it was good to get under the gun.
“I think it was a great learning experience for our team as a whole, and we are looking forward to continuing racing. There are things we are happy about, and things we know we need to work on, which we will continue to do.”
Jennings County’s Cash Summers was the individual winner in 16:59.00.
BNL will host the annual Scott Hiles Invitational on Monday.
Seymour Invitational
