Carmel girls, Carroll boys win Indiana team titles

By Bryan Sweitzer for DyeStat

On an unseasonably warm and windy Saturday afternoon, Indiana's top cross country runners competed in the IHSAA State Cross Country Championships at Lavern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind.

RESULTS | PHOTOS by Matt Parker 

INTERVIEWS by Parker West| HIGHLIGHT VIDEO by Chad Veal

DeKalb junior Tyler Schwartz won the girls race in a time of 18:08.6. Schwartz was at the front of the pack from the start, leading through 2K along with Carmel senior Sarah Leinheiser, the defending state champion, and Fort Wayne Carroll sophomore Abby Green. At 3K, that trio remained in the front, with Green holding a slight lead. By 4K, however, Schwartz and Green had dropped Leinheiser, and Schwartz used a strong kick in the final 400 meters to separate herself from Green, who finished second in 18:17.4. 

Schwartz's victory was a huge improvement over her 14th place finish at last year's state meet. She said that her goal coming into the season was a top five finish at state, but winning wasn't an expectation.

"It's pretty awesome," said Schwartz. "I did not think I could be a state champion this year, but it happened."  

A quick start gave her a moment's pause.

"I was scared," she said. "I looked over to find Sarah and Abby (at the beginning) and they weren't there, and I was thinking 'Am I doing the right thing?' but I just kept going." 

Schwartz plans to continue into the postseason by running in either the NXN or Foot Locker regional races.  If she does NXN, she'll be back at Lavern Gibson in two weeks to compete in the Midwest Regional.

"I feel Nike would be cooler since it's here and I've already run on (the course), so I know what's happening, but it's also tougher to get out of, and Foot Locker is pretty cool too, so I don't know which one (I'll do)." 

Green also improved from her finish at state last year, where she was 18th as a freshman.

"During the race I told myself 'don't give up,' and to finish what I need to do," Green said.

Green's second-place finish helped boost Carroll to a second place finish as well. The Carroll girls will not continue to the postseason, so the team's focus will shift towards track season.

"It's a confidence booster for sure, but something we need to work on is humbling ourselves and remembering that nothing is going to be given to us. We just need to work as hard to maintain our performances; it sets the bar higher," Green said. "I'm so thankful for both of my second place finishes, but if I had to choose one it'd be the team finish. We do so much together, and I'm so blessed to have (my teammates)."

Although Leinheiser was unable to defend her individual state title from last year, finishing in 21st place, she was still able to help her team to an unprecedented seventh consecutive state title. Carmel scored 44 points to easily outpace Carroll's 113. The Greyhounds were lead by the top 10 finishes of junior Maddie Dalton (third), senior Christina Geisler (fourth), and freshman Phoebe Bates (sixth). 

"I think it shows our commitment and how hard we work, but I think it also shows how much fun we have, because if you don't have fun, if you don't get close to your teammates, it's really hard to work as hard as we do together, and it's so much more fun and you're so much more willing to do the work if you have such amazing people by your side," Geisler said.  

Carmel's result helped affirm the team's DyeStat US#4 ranking.

"It's exciting to know that I haven't screwed it up," Carmel coach Mark Ellington said with a laugh. "The biggest goal for me is to learn what you can, give the team the information that they need, and then let them do their jobs, stay out of their way. I think a lot of time (coaches) do more harm than we're supposed to, so I can look back and say at least I'm successful staying out of their way." 

With the team win, Ellington is now the second winningest girls coach in state history behind former Carmel and current IUPUI head coach Chuck Koeppen, who won 11 team state titles. Carmel will move on to NXN Midwest as a favorite to advance to nationals. 

"I think we're in good position," said Ellington. "We have some adjustments to make from this race -- small ones, not big ones, but I think we're in good shape, and our girls are running confident." 

Eckstein, Ft. Wayne Carroll win

On the boys side, Oldenburg Academy senior Curtis Eckstein came away with a dominating victory.  Eckstein and Hamilton Southeastern junior Gabe Fendel came through the mile in about 4:45, and held about a 10-second advantage over the chase pack.  After two miles Eckstein broke away, coming through in 9:36, about 20 seconds ahead of Fendel. From then the race was all but over and Eckstein crossed the finish line alone in a time of 15:13.3. Fendel ran 15:40.7 for second place, while Christian Academy of Indiana junior Skyler Stidam ran 15:51.6 to take third.

"It's nice. It shows that my efforts paid off," Eckstein said. "I was going to try to get Veatch's time and Futsum's time coming in, and it didn't work out, but I'm content with what I did."

Ben Veatch and Futsum Zeinasellassie are the only two runners to break 15 minutes at the state meet while it has been held at Lavern. Veatch is now a freshman at Indiana and Zeinasellassie a senior at Northern Arizona.  

Eckstein, who was featured in an article on DyeStat published Wednesday, had the support of his school and local community at the state meet. Oldenburg Academy has an enrollment of just over 200 students, and the village of Oldenburg where the school is located has a population of 674. 

"That has to be 30 percent of the school (here)," said Eckstein with a laugh.  

Eckstein is currently planning on running in the NXN Midwest Regional in two weeks, although he said that other commitments may pop up.

Fendel was still pleased with his performance.

"I'm happy with getting second. Second in Indiana is a great thing considering there's no classes, so when you get second in Indiana, you get second in Indiana," Fendel said.  "I wish I could've hung on a little longer. (Curtis) dropped me a little after the first mile and I didn't really have it in me today." 

Fendel is planning on doing both NXN and Foot Locker Regionals in the next few weeks.

"I'm going to bring up my mileage again because we tapered a lot," he said. "I'll pick my mileage, probably do a long run tomorrow, do a workout next week, and see from there."

Fort Wayne Carroll upset the defending champion Carmel for the team title, scoring 71 points to Carmel's 117. The Chargers were led by the all-state finishes of sophomore Cole Powers (10th) and senior Carter Meyer (17th). Their next four runners all finished in the top 50.

"It really hasn't sunk in yet," Meyer said of the team win. "We're just really excited. We've been striving for this all year long and we knew we had a good shot today. It's just the best feeling in the world." 

It was a proud day for Carroll's entire program with a first ever victory for the boys (the team was second in 2008 and 2012) and the second place finish for the girls.

"It's a great feeling and it's good for the program as a whole," senior Braden Clements said.

The boys plan on competing in the NXN Midwest Regional in two weeks.

Lowell finished third in the boys race, despite having one of its top runners, sophomore Dustin Hudak, drop out mid-race. The Red Devils were led by the finishes of junior Alec Fleming (fifth) and senior Hunter Boyer (14th).

The overall times at state were unusually slow. The winning times were 38 and 13 seconds slower than the winning times last year for girls and boys, respectively. The 50th place times were 39 and 28 seconds slower. Many runners attributed the temperature, which almost reached 80 degrees at the time of the races, as a factor.  Winds exceeding 20 miles per hour also impeded runners.  

"The weather definitely played a factor. I haven't sweat this much in a few weeks," Eckstein said.