Season ends at semi-state

FORT WAYNE – The competition got a little more difficult this year.

Two of the top 10 teams in the state were new to the meet.

The Starfires, and one Patriot, had to adapt the best they could.

The season came to an end for the South Adams High School girls cross country team as well as a solo Starfire and Jay County boy on Saturday in the IHSAA cross country semi-state meet at Purdue Fort Wayne.

The South Adams girls finished 18th with 447 points, tying Delta but placing behind the Eagles because of a tiebreaker.

Top-ranked Caroll won its 12th overall semi-state title and fourth in a row by totaling 44 points. No. 9 Hamilton Southeastern was second with 98 points, and eighth-ranked Fishers totaled 117 for third. Both teams are new additions to the race this season after an IHSAA realignment.

No. 10 Bishop Dwenger (123), Homestead (150) and Penn (184) rounded out the top six teams, which advance to the state final on Oct. 27.

The addition of Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern, SAHS coach Clint Anderson said, may have cost Starfire junior Kallee Patch an outside shot at reaching the state finals (the top 10 individuals not on advancing teams qualify).

Patch, who was 38th last season and looking to climb the ranks this year, placed 45th in 20 minutes, 7.2 seconds.

“Well, I feel like I had a pretty good race,” said Patch, who was two seconds slower than her time from last year despite battling strong winds on Saturday. “My first two miles were pretty solid. I struggled my third, but overall I had a good race.”

Carroll's Meagan Hathaway was the individual champion in 18:04.

McKenzie Sturwold of South Adams was the second Starfire runner to cross the finish line, but she was quite a ways behind her teammate. Sturwold had a time of 21:18.4 for 103rd. Megan Miller (21:53) was 132nd, Eliza Harruff (22:32.4) placed 147th and Ella Neuenschwander (23:57.7) was the No. 5 runner in 163rd.

Also running for the South Adams girls were Acacia Anderson (170th) and Isabel Von Gunten (173rd).

In the boys' race, third-ranked Fishers scored 63 points to win its second semi-state title in team history. No. 6 Concordia Lutheran totaled 148 points for second, and No. 9 Homestead was third with 153 points as it edged No. 7 Westview by two points. Hamilton Southeastern, which was 11th in the final coaches poll, scored 165 for fifth place and West Noble was sixth with 169 points.

South Adams sophomore Sam Martinez had the best finish of either local boy who competed, as he placed 118th in 17:40.7. Early on, he and Jay County senior Skyler Myers got caught in the middle of the pack and were fighting a crowd until the end of the race.

Knowing it was most likely the final race of his career, Myers was just hoping for a solid race and to take in the experience of getting further than he had in any of his previous three years running.

“I enjoyed myself,” said Myers, who had a time of 18:10.4 for 140th. “I'm pretty tired though after that run. It was a good one.

“It was surreal. It was exciting yet nervous.”

Despite his finish, however, he still felt as if he ran well.

“I gave it my best sprint, my best start, my best middle and my best end.”

Saturday concluded a spectacular season for Martinez, who never competed in cross country before this season. On Sept. 29, he was Allen County Athletic Conference champion and found himself one step away from the state finals.

“To think two months ago I was begging him to run cross country,” Anderson said. “I look forward to what the future holds.”