For The Tribune
NASHVILLE
After qualifying for last year’s state finals, the Seymour girls cross-country team set a goal of making it back.
The Owls accomplished that goal Saturday afternoon when they finished third in the Brown County Semistate.
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Second-ranked Columbus North won the team title with 42 points. No. 11 Bloomington North finished second with 80, and the No. 16 Owls scored 104.
“That’s something we talked about since state last year,” Seymour girls coach Spencer Sunbury said. “As the season progressed, it wasn’t as much about just making it to state, but placing as high as we could at semistate. It was a huge accomplishment for these girls to step up and run well and show how strong they were.”
Ashton Chase led the Owls with a 13th-place finish in 18 minutes, 56.7 seconds for 5,000 meters (3.1 miles).
“It was really nice to see Ashton not be afraid and step up there,” Sunbury said. “She’s a competitor.”
Seymour’s Emma Brock took 16th in 19:07.3.
“When those girls are both on, it’s a nice 1-2 combination for us,” Sunbury said. “Emma had a bad race for us last week, and it was good to see her come back strong today. She has more in her. Her confidence is there.”
Also for the Owls, Megan Winter finished 28th in 19:42.2. Oriana Morales took 33rd in 19:51.3, while Claire Loebker was 36th (19:55.2), Abby Voss 48th (20:12.3) and Maya Hauersperger 139th (22:35.4).
Meanwhile, the Seymour boys finished 13th with 327 points. The top six teams, led by No. 7 Columbus North with 70 points, qualified for state.
“I told the boys if we didn’t make it to state, I’m disappointed for them, but I’m not disappointed in the season we’ve had by any means,” Seymour boys coach Randy Fife said. “I couldn’t be any happier with the progress we’ve made, to see the hard work they put in pay dividends for them. It’s been a wonderful season for them.”
Tim Molinari led the Owls with a 32nd-place finish in 16:44.3. Cameron Deppen took 90th in 17:27.1, while Alex Lovins was 104th (17:37.3), Jacob Voss 115th (17:44.6), Hunter Bauserman 117th (17:46.8), Cooper Morrow 148th (18:16.9) and Trent Hohenstreiter 125th (18:47.0).
“If you look just at the times, it wasn’t as good as the last two weeks,” Fife said. “But the last two weeks, the course has not been as crowded. Today, you had double the amount of runners.”
Two Seymour boys runners fell during the race, and another lost a shoe and finished the race with one shoe.
“Part of that stuff happens in cross-country, and you have to overcome it,” Fife said. “The kids ran hard today. I don’t doubt their effort by any means. They’re just not happy with their times.”
Brownstown Central’s Jake McCullough, who competed as an individual, finished 114th in 17:44.0.
Crothersville had two individuals competing in the girls race. Breanna Barger took 110th in 21:49.8, and Tristan Maschino was 155th in 23:20.1.