PENDLETON — Luke Combs of Lapel and Christina Magers of Pendleton Heights won the Madison County 5K events Tuesday at PHHS by healthy margins. But it was the team efforts of the Arabians cross-country units that dominated the day.
On a night when the seniors from all the county schools were honored, the Pendleton Heights seniors shined brightest in the girls race. The Arabians placed four senior runners in the top-five and had a total of six runners in the top-10. Magers held off her teammate, Syd Parker, with a time of 20:00.66. Parker finished in the runner-up position nearly 59 seconds behind Magers.
In addition to Magers and Parker, Grace Baer (fourth), Lauren Wheetley (fifth), freshman Madison McKee (eighth) and freshman Ashley Alderman (10th) earned all-county honors with top-10 placings and boosted the Arabians to a 48-point margin of victory against Frankton in team competition.
Lapel, led by juniors Noelle Loller (seventh) and Kara Lutz (ninth) finished third.
Pendleton Heights coach Melissa Hagerman said the positioning of Parker in second throughout the race, helped push Magers to a strong finish.
“Christina’s job was just to run, and Syd’s job was to sit on her as long as she could,” Hagerman said. “She had to let Christina lead, and Christina had run her race, that was the plan.”
Magers added she is grateful to have such strong teammates to push her, especially Parker.
“That was great teamwork,” Magers said. “I love having my teammate right there with me. I need her there mentally, or I don’t have the same motivation to push myself.”
Lapel coach Darrell Richardson said Loller ran one of the strongest races of her season, but that junior Lauren Smith was disappointed with her 13th place run.
“Noelle probably ran her best race that we’ve seen and Kara was pretty consistent,” Richardson said. “Last year, Lauren made all-county with a top-10, but this year she was just outside of it. Her race got away from her a little bit.”
Pendleton Heights put five runners in the top-10 of the boys race to win its fifth-straight county title with 28 points, 40 better than second place Lapel.
For the Bulldogs, it was Combs that set the pace for the field, pulling away early and finishing with a time of 16:20.56, with Arabian junior Milan Jones finishing second, 30 seconds behind.
It was the second-straight win for Combs, following a Saturday victory at Tipton.
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“He’s won every meet this year except two, the (PHHS) Round-Up and (Indiana Wesleyan),” Richardson said. “He’s running really well, and he’s on track to get where he needs to be to make the state finals.”
A second Bulldog, sophomore Carson Huber, also earned all-county honors with a ninth-place finish.
In addition to Jones, junior Caleb Martin (fourth), freshman Sean Roan (fifth), freshman Andrew Alderman (seventh) and junior Seth Leicht (10th) qualified for the all-county team.
It was also the 15th county title in coach Alan Holden’s 21 years as coach at Pendleton Heights. He said while times weren’t the focus, the boys ran better than he had predicted.
“I wasn’t concerned about our times — I was worried about how we’d place,” Holden said. “They placed better than what I thought. I had us with 32 points, and they wound up with 27. They ran better than I thought they would; so I was proud of the way they performed. I wasn’t sure we’d get five in the top 10, and we actually wound up with six in the top 11.”
Junior Cole Buck finished 11th.
The Arabians will be off for more than a week to prepare for the Hoosier Heritage Conference meet, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 30, at Shelbyville High School, while the Bulldogs head to Delta Saturday, Sept. 23, for their final meet of the year before sectional.
