Previewing the Indiana State Meet

 

By Parker West for DyeStat

---

 

Halloween may be this Saturday, but for cross country fans in Indiana it may as well be Christmas. On Saturday, Oct. 31st, the 70th annual boys and the 36th annual girls IHSAA Cross Country State Finals will be held at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country course, and it may be the most exciting one yet. Indiana is one of only two states in the country that runs with a single classification system, so there are only two races. One boys race, set to go off at 1:00 pm EST, and one girls race, set to go off at 1:45 pm. DyeStat will be on the scene with tweets, photos, interviews and videos.

 

Boys Teams to Watch

Carmel: Every single year Carmel is in the discussion to win another state championship. Last year, the Greyhounds sought their third straight championship but were upset by West Lafayette. This year, they look to redeem themselves, but they’re going to have to fend off the Tigers from Fishers. Carmel and Fishers have gone head to head  throughout the tournament, and Fishers actually came out on top in the regional. Carmel, however, rested the defending state champion and All-American, Ben Veatch, during that race.

Fishers: October has been a fantastic month for Fishers senior Trevor Thompson. He placed third at the Hoosier Crossroads Conference meet, third at the Noblesville Regional, and 10th at the Carmel Semi-State, running his three fastest times of the season in these meets. His team has peaked at the right time as well. All seven of varsity runners achieved new PRs at either the sectional or the regional, and six of them were sub-16.

Westfield: The Rocks have had an excellent season and are led by an outstanding trio in Alec Hartman, Sam Henthorn, and Aaron Bennett. Hartman was the regional champion with his PR of 15:16 and he’s poised to make top-five on Saturday. Henthorn and Bennett have 15:41 and 15:42 PRs, respectively. The 4-7 runners from Westfield may prevent them from chasing a state title, but this team should definitely be on the podium.

Hamilton Southeastern: The best thing about HSE is how youthful the team is. Only two of the top seven are seniors, and the group is led by sophomore sensation Gabe Fendel. He has posted a personal best time of 15:17 and has run every race this season sub-16. His teammates, Bryce Barnett, and freshman Grant Wilson, own PRss of 15:43 and 15:48, respectively. Brayden Watson has overcome a series of series of seizures to post a PR of 16:13 at the regional. HSE’s team is very similar to Westfield and it should be a good fight between the two of them for the No. 3 spot.

West Lafayette: The defending state champ lacks the depth it had last season but could nonetheless return to the podium. Led by last year’s third place finisher, Cooper Williams, this team has shown trong improvement in the recent weeks. The effort from Evan Johnson really solidifies this team. He has shaved 12 seconds off of last year’s time to post a personal best 5k of 15:48.

 

Boys Individuals to Watch

Ben Veatch: Eyes have been on Veatch for a very long time. He won last year’s state championship in 15:09, then ended up placing sixth at the Nike Cross National Championship and 14th at the Foot Locker National Finals. He has run sub-15 in his last two races, running 14:53 at the sectional, resting the regional, and running 14:58 at the semi-state. He is ranked third in the country by DyeStat, and is the clear favorite to win.

Christian Noble: Noble is having an excellent senior campaign. He caught everyone off guard at last year’s state championship by finishing 16th, then was seventh in the 3,200 meters at the state track meet. Noble keeps shaving time and shocked the entire state by posting a personal best of 14:55 at the Delta Regional. Noble has only tasted defeat once this season, but ended up beating that same runner on that same course later in the season.

Curtis Eckstein: Last season, Eckstein ran a really low-key schedule and posted really impressive times, usually winning by over a minute. Once he faced state-caliber competition, he posted phenomenal times. If he does the same thing this Saturday, we should be in for a treat. Eckstein ran 15:00 at the Shelbyville Regional on a fair course. What’s more impressive about this feat was that second place was more than 70 seconds back. Eckstein placed second to Veatch at the Carmel Semi-State, the only runner he has lost to this season.

Julien Magallanes: Magallanes was a relatively unknown runner until he placed third in the 3,200 last spring in 9:09. Magallanes followed that performance up with an amazing cross country season, and for the longest time looked like the definite No. 2 man in the state, especially after a solid win at the FlashRock Invitational.

Brayden Law: Brayden Law has been on the scene since he was in middle school. Winning AAU National Championships quickly translated to high school success, as he was All-State in Cross Country last year, placing 13th, and he owns 1,600 and 3,200 PRs of 4:12 and 9:17. Law is the only person to beat Noble this year, and he is dangerous.

 

Parker’s Predictions:

1. Carmel

2. Fishers

3. HSE

4. Westfield

5. West Lafayette

 

1. Ben Veatch

2. Curtis Eckstein

3. Christian Noble

4. Brayden Law

5. Julien Magallanes

6. Cameron Clements

7. David Coffey

8. Gabe Fendel

9. Tyler Keslin

10. Cooper Williams

11. Hari Sathyamurthy

12. Alec Hartman

13. Bailey McIntire

14. Danny Dalton

15. Trevor Thompson

16. Aaron Rush

17. Cam Trout

18. Evan Franklin

19. Calvin Bates

20. Roman Jennings

21. Deric Laurent

22. Ryan Kepshire

23. Oliver Rigg

24. Parker Jones

25. Bryce Barnett

 

Girls Teams to Watch

Carmel: For Carmel to lose the state championship, the Greyhounds would have to have a really, really bad day. Even then, they still might win. They are led by Sarah Leinheiser, who posted 2015’s fastest time of 17:22 at the Carmel semi-state. She is joined by Maddie Dalton, who recovered from a stress fracture in her back to run 17:56, Stacy Morozov, who ran 18:00, and Christina Geisler, who ran 18:06 at the regional. Carmel has a 1-5 spread of 1:22, but that’s considering their 17:22 frontrunner. Carmel has had seven girls run under 19 minutes, and the No. 8 has a 19:01 personal best.

Columbus North: Columbus North has been strong all season. Like Carmel, the top five scorers are all sub 18:50 capable. The dynamic duo of Rachel Brougher (18:11) and Sierra Lax (18:29) leads the group. The only thing stopping the Bulldogs from upsetting Carmel is the strong frontrunners of the Greyhounds.

Pendleton Heights: Last year, the Lady Arabians were a surprise at eighth. This year, the sky is the limit. They have a potential state champion in Alex Buck leading the way and she has some fast company. Faith Baer has had the season of her life. Last season, Baer experienced a lot of difficulty and the fastest she ran was 21:25. Now, she has a PR of 18:47, and has run sub-19 in both of her past two races. Emma Hall has run her two fastest races of the season in the regional and semi-state, posting a PR of 18:48 at the Regional, and Alli McCarty, who ran a PR at state in both cross country and track has run 19:06 so far. 

Carroll: Youth doesn’t appear to be a problem for the Chargers of Carroll, who won the semi-state by 16 points ahead of Pendleton Heights. There is only one senior in the top seven and that is leader Madison Fruchey. Freshman Abby Green is right behind her, as she was only six seconds back at the semi-state. These two give Carroll a great chance to finish on the podium.

Zionsville: The Eagles have been a nice surprise this season. Sophomore Sophia Rigg has stepped into a leadership role, posting a PR of 18:11 at the Hoosier Crossroads Conference meet. The team’s performance at the regional is what stands out. Five of the seven ran PRs that day, four them 19:10 or faster. If they can make the middle of their pack stronger, the Eagles might just leave Terre Haute with medals around their necks.

 

Girls Individuals to Watch

Sarah Leinheiser:  Leinheiser has done a wonderful job of stepping into the lead role for the Greyhounds of Carmel. She has dropped 70 seconds off of her personal best from last year and ran 17:22 at the Carmel semi-state, winning by over 40 seconds. Only two girls have ever run faster than 17:22 in the history of Indiana, and their names are Anna Rohrer and Ashley Erba. Both ended up winning national championships.

Alex Buck: Buck was the first girl to run under 18 minutes this season, and she’s been consistently under that mark. She ran 17:24 at the regional, and has been unstoppable since finishing fourth at the Ben Davis Invitational. She and her team are both looking for a great race. Only three girls have beaten Buck this year and the only big name she hasn’t raced is Leinheiser.

Taylor Nicholson: Unlike the rest of these runners, Nicholson has some experience being an individual state champion. She won the state title in the 1,600 in 4:51 as a freshman. Since then, the only girl to beat her in a track race above 800 meters at a state meet was Anna Rohrer. She has a PR of 17:38, which she ran when she won the Ben Davis Invitational.

Lauren Johnson: Johnson ran two events at the 2015 state championships in track, and the lowest she placed was second. Her 4x800 relay team won the state championship, while she finished second individually in the 3,200 to Rohrer, who broke the state record in that race. She was second to Nicholson at the Ben Davis Invitational in 17:41 and improved her personal best to 17:35 at the sectional meet. 

Emma Wilson: The freshman phenom has dropped jaws all across the Hoosier state, running a freshman class state record of 17:43 when she finished third at the Ben Davis Invite behind Nicholson and Johnson. Since then, she has beaten Nicholson twice, but hasn’t gone under 18 minutes since the big race. She won state in middle school multiple times and has not lost on the state championship course.

Katherine Free: Free has been a threat basically her whole career. She didn’t break out until she ran 17:52 at the All-Catholic Championships, and followed it up with a 17:56 finish at the regional meet, finishing second to Leinheiser. However, Free beat Leinheiser and Johnson earlier in the season at the Culver Invitational.

 

Parker’s Predictions

1. Carmel

2. Columbus North

3. Pendleton Heights

4. Carroll

5. Zionsville

 

1. Alex Buck

2. Sarah Leinheiser

3. Taylor Nicholson

4. Lauren Johnson

5. Emma Wilson

6. Katherine Free

7. Maddie Dalton

8. Allie Dalton

9. Stacy Morozov

10. Bailey Beery

11. Tyler Schwartz

12. Sierra Lax

13. Madison Fruchey

14. Christina Geisler

15. Rachel Brougher

16. Shayla Traas

17. Grace Walther

18. Grace Williams

19. Abby Green

20. Abi Little

21. Kristen Johnson

22. Hannah Stoffel

23. Sophia Rigg

24. Sabrina Bippus

25. Jamie Wells