SHELBYVILLE — The Pendleton Heights girls cross country team, along with individual members of the Lapel and Pendleton Heights boys teams competed in the Indiana High School Athletic Association Regional last week.
At Blue River Park in Shelbyville, the season came to a close for all but the Arabians’ Ava Jarrell and Lapel’s Cameron Smith, both of whom will make their return to Saturday’s state finals.
In the boys race, Smith placed 10th with a time of 16:06.7 to qualify individually, while Jarrell placed 11th in the girls race with a time of 18:51.1.
Pendleton Heights’ Ava Jarrell (566) tries to catch Westfield’s Alivia Lozier (735) before she crosses the finish line at the IHSAA Regional 4 Cross Country meet at Blue River Park.
As a team, Pendleton Heights girls placed 11th out of 25 teams.
Along with Jarrell, Jaycee Thurman placed 49th with a time of 20:16, Maddie Marsh placed 61st with a time of 20:33, Hadley Walker placed 77th with a time of 20:58, Abby Davidson placed 140th with a time of 22:06, Lily Hessler placed 168th with a time of 23:09, and Ashlyn Walker rounded out the Arabians finishes in 175th with a time of 23:19.
For the boys, Benson Davis led the way with a time of 16:34 to place 35th. The finish was just five seconds, and one spot off of the final state qualifying spot.
Following him were Will Coggins in 48th with a time of 16:44, Lucas Pardue in 103rd with a time of 17:31, Ashton Smith in 108th with a time of 17:34, and Zach White in 130th with a time of 17:47.
For Lapel, along with Smith, Simon Nickelson placed 101st with a time of 17:30 and Jack Combs placed 113th with a time of 17:36.
Jarrell and Smith will compete in Saturday’s state finals at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute. The boys race will begin at noon, while the girls race will take place at 2:30 p.m.
