PENDLETON — Pendleton Heights cross country teams dominated the Madison County Championships, winning both the girls and boys events at Pendleton Heights on Sept. 24.
The Arabians girls team earned a perfect score of 15, taking the top five spots.
Sophomore Laney Ricker repeated her winning county performance, finishing the race in 20:43.
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“We didn’t talk about a perfect score,” coach Melissa Hagerman said. “We talked about getting as many in the top 15. The perfect score was nice. They were thinking about it, though.”
Sophomore Katie Jones was second, followed by sophomore Catherine Dudley in third, freshman Gloria Richardson in fourth and sophomore Hailee Brunnemer in fifth.
“I went into it knowing it would be a good race with my team,” Ricker said. “Once we got to a certain point, I was like I got to do this.”
The win was the 12th straight for the girls.
“It starts to make me more nervous every year,” Hagerman said. “I don’t take it for granted, that’s for sure. I feel the pressure.”
In the boys races, Lapel’s Luke Combs repeated his championship run with a 16:34. Combs finished almost 30 seconds ahead of second-place runner Sean Roan, a Pendleton Heights junior who ran a 17:05.
Sophomore Avry Carpenter, the Arabians second runner, finished third in the race with a 17:20.
The team win was seven in a row for the Arabians and 17 overall for Coach Alan Holden.
“It never gets old,” Holden said. “We work on being the best.”
Holden was especially pleased with Carpenter.
“He came through. The other day he was probably our sixth runner, and today he was No. 2. It was a very impressive run for him today. I’ve always pictured him being in front with us.”
The Arabians will play host to the Hoosier Heritage Conference Oct. 5.
