Colin Strachman of Mt. Vernon (right) beats William Coggins of Pendleton Heights (left) by .1 seconds to finish seventh in the boys race at the HHC Cross Country Meet at the Blue River Cross Country Course on Sat. October 1, 2022.
Rob Baker |For The Times-Post
Andrew Blake of Pendleton Heights finishes second in the boys race at the HHC Cross Country Meet at the Blue River Cross Country Course on Sat. October 1, 2022.
Rob Baker |For The Times-Post
Ava Jarrell of Pendleton Heights crosses the finish line in second place in the girls race at the HHC Cross Country Meet at the Blue River Cross Country Course on Sat. October 1, 2022.
Rob Baker |For The Times-Post
SHELBYVILLE — Two second-place individual finishes and a runner-up team spot, made for a successful day for the Pendleton Heights cross country program at the Hoosier Heritage Conference Championships at Blue River Park Cross Country Course on Saturday, Oct. 1.
Ava Jarrell was runner-up in the girls race, and Andrew Blake followed with a second-place finish for the boys.
The girls team finished just six points behind first-place Mt. Vernon. The boys finished a respectable third behind two state-ranked programs, Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central.
Jarrell ran a time of 19:37.90 for the 5K race. She earned all-HHC honors with Hadley Walker (4, 20:20.70) and Jaycee Thurman (10, 21:15.20).
“That was fun,” Pendleton Heights coach Melissa Hagerman said of the performance of her girls team. “I knew Mt. Vernon, probably overall, was a better team than we were, but we were close enough to challenge them.
“From 1-7 on the girls side, I’m super proud of them. They all ran really well and competed. You can’t ask for any more than that.”
Lily Hessler placed 18th with a time of 21:50.70. Rounding out the scoring runners was Abby Davidson, who placed 22nd in 22:20.70.
Olivia Welpott was 26th (22:35.10) and Raya Conway was 37th (23:34.90).
Mt. Vernon won the girls race with 50 points. Pendleton Heights had 56, well ahead of third-place Yorktown (94). Other team scores were, New Castle 104, Delta 108, New Palestine 124, Greenfield-Central 157 and Shelbyville 214.
Delta’s Nicki Southerland was the individual winner for the third straight year. She had a time of 17:39.20.
Blake led the third-place boys team. He finished in 16:18.50, 10 seconds behind race winner Tristan Trevino of Mt. Vernon.
Will Coggins was eighth in 17:16.80. Jason Lyst just missed out, by one spot, on all-conference honors. He was 16th in 17:36.90.
Benson Davis followed with a 23rd place finish (18:14.50). The final scoring runner was Devin Koperczak, who placed 26th in 18:30.20. Other varsity runners were Lucas Pardue (32, 18:51.80) and Ashton Smith (19:14.0).
“We were realistic, we knew (Mt. Vernon and Greenfield) were two very solid state-ranked teams,” Hagerman said. “We respect them, Andrew was looking at trying to finish top 3. (Greenfield’s Griffen Wheeler, who was third in 16:26.30) has always beat him, so he was pretty proud of himself for the first time to get a win against him. Other great performances, Will Coggins was all-conference, he just was steady the whole race that’s how he’s been the whole season. Always a solid No. 2 guy, he doesn’t vary from that.
“We represented pretty well for Pendleton. I’m proud of all the kids, the JV too.”
No. 22 Mt. Vernon edged No. 16 Greenfield-Central 35-39 for the top two spots. Pendleton Heights scored 75. Other team scores were Yorktown 111, Delta 133, New Palestine 141, Shelbyville 216 and New Castle 225.
Pendleton Heights will play host to a 12-team sectional on Saturday with races at 10 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.
Other teams in the sectional include: Alexandria Monroe, Anderson, Anderson Preparatory Academy, Blue River Valley, Elwood Community, Fishers, Frankton, Hamilton Southeastern, Lapel, Liberty Christian and Shenandoah.