By most standards, even Seymour historical ones, the Owls boys cross-country team is loaded with fast feet this fall.
Now comes the toughest test of the season, when if all goes well, if all goes smoothly, if some of those feet move a little bit faster than they have, Seymour could qualify for the state championship race in Terre Haute on Oct. 31.
It would be the Owls’ first advancement since 2011 and only the fifth time ever.
Coach Randy Fife, who has spent as much time this week handicapping the prospects and evaluating the competition for Saturday’s semistate at Brown County, said his guys have a shot.
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"If everyone would run their best, we’d have a chance," Fife said of the 5-kilometer race that will leave six teams standing as well as top individuals.
Fife believes there are four teams a lock to go on and seven others that could be one of the other two.
"We’re kind of a long shot," Fife said. "We’re definitely in that mix. It’ll be tough."
The Seymour boys and girls teams took third place at the Columbus North Regional last week to advance to semistate. This week, the girls race begins at 11:30 a.m., and the boys race is at 1:30 p.m.
Girls coach Spencer Sunbury said his team remains excited about that finish.
"Their spirits are still high," he said.
Personal bests were scored by No. 1 runner Kinsley Folsom, who ran 19:31, Vivienne Siefker, who broke 20 minutes for the first time in 19:52, and Hayley Harpe, who threatened that barrier in 20:06, which doesn’t mean they can’t run faster.
"Brown County has always been the course, the kind we like the best," Sunbury said.
It is basically free of hills, and the big-meet atmosphere should push the Owls. They face a serious task to move on.
"Last week, we talked a lot about how we were expecting to get to semistate," Sunbury said. "I emphasized the regional is what we wanted to peak at. This week, if it is the last race of the season, it would be nice to go out on a big note. You’ve got the whole year to think, ‘I could have run faster.’"
The two Seymour groups are the only full area teams in the race. Brownstown Central senior Nathan Koch and Crothersville senior David Rose and freshman Elijah Plasse are in the boys race. Crothersville junior Kaylyn Holman in the girls race also advanced individually.
Two weeks in a row, Koch has clocked a personal best, 16:50 then 16:49, and is hopeful he can slice a few more seconds off his time.
"I’d like to run a little faster," he said. "The 16:30s would be good. I love Brown County."
Koch said he gets nervous before races, but as soon as the starting gun sounds, the nerves evaporate and strategy kicks in.
"For me, it’s to get out fast," Koch said.
Holman was eighth in the regional, ahead of all other area girls and set a PR of 19:05 last week. She and her coaches have mapped out a plan to make the top 10 individually and crack 19:00.
"I think I’ve got a pretty good chance at making it to state," Holman said. "And I’m planning on breaking 19. I think I have to be more consistent (with her mile splits)."
Plasse was surprised he made the field and didn’t know until a postrace regional announcement was made.
"I had no idea," he said. "I think it was pretty good for a freshman."
He said the Crothersville runners and coaches have been watching the weather reports and hope for a day without rain.
"I would like to be under 17 (minutes)," Plasse said.
The Seymour boys qualified for state in 1978, 1988, 2007 and 2011. For the first time, though, this year’s Owls have had five runners quicker than 17 minutes. Doing that again, and a little bit faster for some of them, is what Fife thinks the team needs Saturday.
Senior Ethan Dippold, the fastest at 16:19, wants to be one of those lowering his time. Sophomore Jude Bane, who was all-Hoosier Hills Conference, has been under 16:30, and senior Brandon Kleber and junior Michael Proffer have been in the 16:30s. Connor Harriss hit 16:58 last week.
"I think we’re pretty confident after getting five under 17," Dippold said. "We’re running good times, and we know we can do better."
If everyone runs 15 to 20 seconds faster, Dippold said, "That would be ideal" for qualifying. "It’s going to be tight. It’s definitely doable. We know it (the course). We’ve run it many times. It’s definitely fast."
As an elder statesman, Dippold might provide a little pep talk to his teammates, but he doesn’t really think it’s necessary.
"They know this is big," he said.