EVANSVILLE – Bedford North Lawrence’s Paige Voigtschild advanced to the IHSAA state championship race during the girls cross country regional at Angel Mounds on Saturday.
Voigtschild, who also qualified for the state meet last season, finished 15th overall in 18:57.12. The top five teams, and the top 15 individuals who are not members of qualifying teams, earned tickets to the state finals.
“We’re really happy for Paige, she belongs up there in front,” BNL coach Amy Greenan said. “She went after it, and her effort paid off. She should have a good showing at State next week.”
In the team competition, the Stars were 12th with 354 points. Bloomington South claimed the team crown with 43 points, followed by Floyd Central (80), Columbus North (96), Bloomington North (166) and Edgewood (186).
Other scorers for BNL included Claire Voigtschild (61st in 20:28.76), Madison Chandler (86th in 21:17.03), Gracie Simmerman (125th in 21:56.63) and Ashlynn York (152nd in 22:29.47).
“We had an awesome day,” Greenan said. “Claire had a huge PR, and Gracie lowered hers by two seconds. As a senior at her final race, that’s really inspiring.
“The atmosphere at these big races is just so much fun, they all bought into it and raced really well. Everyone was engaged and focused, but not nervous. It’s been empowering for them to just keep getting better throughout the season. I need to shout out to Madison and Jabrie (Sullivan), as well as Gracie, for their senior leadership. Their willingness to step up and speak up, to keep the team motivated and moving forward, has been invaluable. We’re going to miss them.”
Lexi Kollbaum of Bloomington South was the individual winner in 17:32.66.
Mitchell’s Brinley Slaughter was 176th in 22:54.30, Rilynn Fountain was 195th in 23:24.51, and Eleanor Fountain was 220th in 24:26.36.
In the boys meet, BNL qualifiers Eli McFarland, Rich Hayden and Sam Strauser completed their seasons. McFarland was 167th overall in 18:17.60, Rich Hayden was 186th in 18:29.27, and Sam Strauser finished 199th in 18:49.13.
“It is always a good day to run in the regional,” BNL coach Nick Boyd said. “Eli, Hayden and Sam ran hard and earned some great regional experience. At the end of the day, running is about the journey. We ran the race with gratitude, looking back to reflect on the season itself and looking ahead for good things to come.”
“There were a lot of runners and it was competitive,” McFarland said. “I had tons of fun and enjoyed every moment.”
“The most enjoyable part of the race was seeing all the people cheering and supporting runners,” Rich added. “It was a lot of fun.”
Springs Valley’s Calvin Seitz was the individual winner in 14:53.47. Columbus North won the team title with 34 points, followed by Bloomington North (44), Floyd Central (168), Barr-Reeve (195) and Bloomington South (224).
Mitchell’s Caleb Chaney was 121st in 17:36.97 while teammate Bentley Rayhill was 164th in 18:13.37.
The IHSAA state finals are set for Nov. 1 at the Lavern Gibson Course in Terre Haute.
IHSAA REGIONAL
Saturday at Angel Mounds
