COLUMBUS — Saturday marked the end of the regular season for Seymour’s cross country teams, competing in the Hoosier Hills Conference meet at Ceraland Sports Park.

The Lady Owls compiled a third-place finish with a team score of 67 points, while the boys finished in fourth place with a team score of 85.

Gracie Adams had the best performance for a Seymour runner, finishing fifth with a personal best time of 20:35.65. The senior earned all-conference first team honors for her performance.

Adams spoke about her run and her final regular season meet afterwards.

“I feel like our workouts have definitely helped us to where I am right now,” Adams said. “It’s also helping our team out and I think our times have shown that. I’m happy with my time. Today was great. I’m really proud of my team and I’m going to miss them when the season is over.”

AnnMarie Shuler followed in ninth place, clocking a 21:37.36. Aidda Schepman ended her race in 13th with a 22:01.64. Shuler and Schepman were both selected as all-conference honorable mentions.

Emma Doriot finished in 17th, while Lauran Dowell ended in 28th for the Lady Owls. Kelly Beavers (32nd) and Betsy Bruce (38th) rounded out the top seven finishes for the team.

Head Coach Spencer Sunbury spoke on the fourth-place finish.

“I’m happy with it,” Sunbury said. “We’ve been running close with Bedford all season. I’m happy with a third-place finish. We have been running hard over these past three weeks, for us to come in and have girls post personal bests is great. It’s a testament to how strong and committed these girls have been the last few weeks.”

After finishing their regular season, the team will begin preparation for the postseason. Sunbury wants the team to continue doing what they have been.

“Continue what we are doing,” Sunbury said. “These girls are running with a confidence that I haven’t seen in one of my squads in a while. It is because they’ve been working so hard in practice, and they know they can come out and compete. We’re going to continue working hard and building on that confidence and take that into the postseason with us.”

Adams agreed and is looking forward to sectionals with their teammates.

“We have to keep doing our hard workouts and running and keeping together,” Adams said. “Our team is really close this year and I could consider all of them to be my sisters. I feel like postseason is going to be amazing for them and I feel we can go far.”

The Jablonski brothers had the best performances for the Owls. Caleb finished in 13th with a time of 17:33.69, while Micah ended in 14th, clocking a time of 17:38.12. Ty Tormoehlen finished in 15th with a 17:39.71. Wes Proffer and J.J. Myers finished in 21st and 22nd to round out the scoring finishes for Seymour. Jacob Caudill (31st) and Kylan Ellerbe (32nd) followed for the team.

“I’m happy with how we ran today, and I feel that we are making good progress,” Owls Head Coach Fife said after the meet. “It’s been a little bit of a challenge getting from point A to point B, but we are definitely getting to point B.”

He discussed the group running and close finishes within the team.

“We had a pack mentality, our first three runners were within six seconds of each other,” Fife said. “Our top five scores were within 19 seconds of each other. We had a usual top five finisher for us trip and sprained an ankle. We would’ve been even more of a pack if that had not happened, so that is why we got fourth. Coming in, a lot of people picked us to be fifth.

“We didn’t have a front runner like the other schools had,” he said. “But once our number one guy got across the line, we put four more guys across pretty quickly.”

As the squads begin the final weeks and final races to the finish of the cross country season, both coaches spoke on what they enjoy about coaching their respective teams in 2024.

Coach Sunbury said he has enjoyed the camaraderie and commitment from the Lady Owls.

“The commitment they’ve made this year,” Sunbury said. “This is one of the tightest knit groups we have seen in a few years. It’s just been fun to produce workouts for them because they want to work hard, and they always give us everything they have. It’s fun to work with kids who are willing to commit.”

Coach Fife has seen the turnaround and improvement from his guys.

“It wasn’t a whole lot of fun at the beginning of the year,” he said. “But these kids have answered the bell when challenged, and they are getting better. I think they’re starting to take pride in what they do, and our work ethic has improved.

“That is what has been fun, to see them make an effort and say; “This is our last go round with our seniors, let’s put the work in and get it done.”

Brown County will host the Indiana High School Athletic Association sectional competition on Saturday, Oct. 19. The girls’ race will begin at 10:30 a.m. and the boys are scheduled to start 45 minutes after that.

Both Seymour programs are looking to repeat their sectional efforts of last season and advance to the Regional. Which would take place at Angel Mounds in Evansville on Oct. 26th.

Hoosier Hills Conference Meet — Saturday

Girls’ team scores: 1, Floyd Central, 19. 2, Bedford North Lawrence, 58. 3, Seymour, 67. 4, Columbus East, 126. 5, Jennings County, 126. 6, New Albany, 172. 7, Jeffersonville, 191.

Boys’ team scores: 1, Floyd Central, 51. 2, Bedford North Lawrence, 62. 3, Jennings County, 66. 4, Seymour, 85. 5, New Albany, 95. 6, Columbus East, 144. 7, Jeffersonville, 178.

Girls’ individual results: 1, Noel Nifong, 19:53.28, (FC). 5, Gracie Adams, 20:35.65, (S). 9, AnnMarie Shuler, 21:37.36, (S). 13, Aidda Schepman, 22:01.64, (S). 17, Emma Doriot, 22:32.26, (S). 28, Lauren Dowell, 23:39.94, (S). 32, Kelly Beavers, 24:20.41, (S). 38, Betsy Bruce, 24:43.24, (S).

Boys’ individual results: 1, Kraedyn Young, 15:43.65, (JC) 13, Caleb Jablonski 17:33.69, (S). 14, Micah Jablonski, 17:38.12, (S). 15, Ty Tormoehlen, 17:39.71, (S). 21, Wes Proffer, 17:50.75, (S). 22, JJ Myers, 17:52.80, (S). 31, Jacob Caudill, 18:13.49, (S). 32, Kylan Ellerbe, 18:16.10, (S).

All-conference

Gracie Adams

All-conference honorable mention

Girls

Aidda Schepman

AnnMarie Shuler

Boys

Micah Jablonski

Caleb Jablonski