BORDEN
Crothersville’s girls cross-country team has built a dynasty in the Southern Athletic Conference over the past four years, and the program doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon.
Anchored by the 1-2 punch of freshman Kaylyn Holman and sophomore Grace Wilson, the Tigers scored 33 points to win a fourth straight SAC title Saturday morning.
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The Tigers beat Borden (44), South Central (62) and Lanesville (71) for the championship.
Holman was the individual champion of 25 runners in 20 minutes, 4 seconds, and Wilson earned runner-up in 22:08.
“Kaylyn, she is just such a hard worker and so talented,” Tigers coach Carl Bowman said. “I think as a freshman, I knew she would have some greatness since her mom was a top runner in Brownstown. I knew she had something in her. She just goes.”
Both Holman and Wilson earned All-SAC status by finishing in the top seven of their race.
Freshman Ella Plasse finished eighth in 23:47, senior Piper Hensley clocked 24:59 for 10th and freshman Kiarra Lakins completed the team scoring for the Tigers by taking 17th in 27:14. Junior Bekah Cook was 24th (26:51), and classmate Cami Keasler finished 25th (42:42) for the Tigers.
Hensley will graduate with four SAC championships to her name.
“We had one senior girl (Hensley) that has been with us since freshman year,” Bowman said. “It meant a lot from the standpoint that I wanted her to go her entire career with an SAC championship team. I told my son (Marc, assistant coach) I wanted this one really bad for her. I also had three freshmen girls on the team today. I think it meant a lot to all the girls.”
Bowman said the goal this week is to get the entire girls team past the Brown County Sectional on Saturday. While the Tigers have advanced individuals to the regional and semistate in the past, they haven’t done so as a team.
“We thought this might be an opportunity for our girls team to make it through,” Bowman said. “We are going to take this next week and work hard. I think (winning the SAC) will be a boost for the girls.”
In the boys race, Crothersville’s David Rose was All-SAC by finishing sixth of 35 runners in 18 minutes flat. Lane Wienhorst was ninth in 18:23 and Zerik Hunt finished 19th in 19:47 for Crothersville, which didn’t field a full team.
Borden’s Gavin Just was the winner in 17:11. Borden scored 38 points for first, followed by South Central (39), Henryville (49) and Lanesville (101).
Bowman said he was pleased with the effort by his three runners.