PENDLETON — Lapel’s Luke Combs breezed through to first place in the Arabian Roundup as if he were running alone — and in a way, he was.
Combs, a junior, finished the race 45 seconds ahead of second-place Nick Perkins of Roncalli. Pendleton Heights senior Luke Upton was third, followed by senior Arabian Milan Jones.
From the start, Combs ran easy in the lead pack but began to pull away early in the 5K race on Wednesday, Aug. 22.
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“Starting out, I wanted to go at a relaxed pace so at the end of the race I wouldn’t feel it as much, and that really helped today. I felt a lot stronger at the end of the race,” Combs said.
Combs’ time of 15:45 was slightly faster than he anticipated, and by the end of the season, he doesn’t have a specific time goal. “I’m just working as hard as I can.”
Lapel coach Darrel Richardson praised Combs’ effort.
“He is dedicated in his training, always working,” Richardson said.
Upton and Jones helped the Arabians to a second-place finish.
“This is our first 5K of the season, and I think overall, we did well,” Upton said.
Sophomore Sean Roan came in at 14th for the Arabians, and freshman Avry Carpenter and senior Cole Buck rounded out the Arabian five scoring runners.
Coach Alan Holden saw the potential his Arabians have for the rest of the season.
“I don’t think we ran our best race, but it’s still early in the season. I’m still pretty proud of how they ran today,” Holden said.
He said some of his runners had exceptional finishes for this point in time.
“You can (expect) a lot of ups and downs, and we’re still shaking out to see who our top seven are.”
Hamilton Southeastern won the boys event nine points ahead of the Arabians, and Fishers High School won the girls race. Hamilton Southeastern’s Lulu Black paced the girls with a 19:18.
Lapel finished ninth overall but was without one of its top runners, junior Jesse McCurdy, who was playing tennis for the Bulldogs in the Madison County tourney, which Lapel won.
In the girls race, Pendleton Heights finished fourth with four freshmen and a senior. Freshman Laney Ricker was the top runner for the Arabians girls, coming in at 20th. Freshmen Catherine Dudley and Riley Hays were 26th and 27th, respectively. Senior Riley Hays was 33rd. Freshman Berkeley Lord finished 34th.
Lapel finished right behind the Arabians in the fifth slot. Paige Rich led the Bulldogs, finishing in 25th. Noelle Loller was 28th, followed by Lauren Smith, 42nd; Kara Lutz, 43rd; and Lucy Loller, 57th.
“We’re getting better every day,” Richardson said.
In the JV race, the Arabian boys were second behind Hamilton Southeastern, and the girls were third behind Hamilton Southeastern and Fishers.
Both Pendleton Heights and Lapel were scheduled to run Saturday, Aug. 25, in the Noblesville Hokum Karem, but the event was rained out.