MARENGO — It was a three Dog night at the front of the girls’ cross country field Tuesday night at the Crawford County Sectional.

Three New Albany runners led the pack to the finish line, helping push the Bulldogs to a repeat championship.

On the boys’ side, Floyd Central packed four runners into the top six spots as it rolled to a seventh consecutive title.

Each of the two winners claimed a spot in Saturday’s regional round, which will also be held at Crawford County. New Albany, Providence and Borden all punched tickets to regional on the boys’ side, while Floyd Central moved on in the girls’ event with a second-place effort.

The top five teams and 15 individuals moved on to the regional round.



GIRLS

Stephanie Cave led the flock of New Albany runners at the top of the standings as she won the individual’s championship by finishing the 5-kilometer course in a time of 20:09.3.

It didn’t take long for her teammates to follow behind her though, as fellow seniors Saisha Rairdon and Kimberly Condra filled the following two positions.

“We had hopes for those three that they would be able to finish that way,” said Bulldog coach Paul Hamilton. “We respected the other teams here certainly. But those three have been very close all year, and we felt like if one could come in up top the other two would be right there with her.”

Cave was pushed early by fast-charging freshman Rachel Pease of South Central, but settled into the front of the pack early.

“I had run against (Pease) several times this year, and I knew she’d probably go out to an early lead,” Cave said. “I had to stick with my race the way I wanted to run it, and it all worked itself out.”

Finishing first was good enough for Cave, but finding her teammates rolling right in behind her was even better.

“We wanted to do that,” she said. “We’re the leaders on the team, and we set a goal to do it so we’re pretty happy.”

Lindsay Gall (26th) and Abigail Ragains (30th) finished the top five finishes for New Albany, which tallied 58 points overall.

Floyd Central pushed the Dogs for top honors, packing its top five runners into the top 24 positions and winding up with 69 points.

The top finisher in the Highlanders’ effort was sophomore Hannah Keehn in fifth. Connie Rhodes was also among the top 15 finishers for Floyd, placing 13th.

It was a disappointing ending to the season for Providence, which was edged by North Harrison for the final regional-qualifying spot in the team standings by a single point.

Still though, the Pioneers did place one individual in the regional, junior Linden Spalding who placed eighth.

Borden placed eighth and freshman McKenna Williams just missed the final individual qualifying spot by placing 16th.



BOYS

A green wave of Floyd Central runners crashed the line as four Highlanders placed in the top six.

The leader of that pack was senior Garrett Blackman in third. But he was quickly followed to the finish by fellow teammates Justin Hodge, Sam Mires and Daniel Huhnerkoch in fourth through sixth, respectively.

“We don’t talk about making a pack like that,” said Highlander coach Tim Korte. “Those four guys though have been strong for us all year. They consistently run near the front and that’s a tough thing for other teams to overcome.”

The fifth-place finisher for Floyd was Mitch Moutoux in 23rd. The Highlanders scored 40 points as a team.

New Albany filled each of its top five runners into the top 16 positions and scored 68 points in finishing second.

Jason Holcomb (11th), Simon Quinkert (12th), Jonathon Ragains (14th), Matthew Holcomb (15th) and Alan Hoon (16th) were the top five finishers for the Bulldogs.

Providence’s fourth-place finishers were paced by meet runner-up Oliver Book. The senior finished in 16:41, behind only winner Tyler Byrne of North Harrison (16:17).

The surprise of the day however was likely saved for Borden, which narrowly nipped Corydon for fifth and earned a regional spot. The Braves finished with 144 points, while the Panthers tallied 145.

“We had not beaten Corydon all year, and we had seen them seven or eight times over the course of the year,” said Borden coach Liz Geltmaker. “Really, we felt like if we were going to make it out of sectional that it might come down to us and Providence. We didn’t expect to beat Corydon, but it was a great effort by the guys.

The top performer for the Braves was sophomore Hunter Williams, who finished 10th.

Billy Wink of Clarksville also advanced as an individual, placing seventh. Kaleb Weaver of Christian Academy of Indiana was the top finisher for the Warriors, placing 20th.



CRAWFORD COUNTY SECTIONAL

at Crawford County High School

(Top five teams and top 15 individuals advance to Saturday’s Crawford County Regional.)

GIRLS

Team scores — New Albany 58, Floyd Central 69, Crawford County 75, South Central 114, North Harrison 127, Providence 128, Corydon Central 142, Borden 193.

New Albany — 1. Cave 20:09, 2. Rairdon 20:48, 3. Condra 21:01, 26. Gall 24:06, 30. Ragains, 24:29; 33. Smith 25:09; 40. Dailey 25:50.

Floyd Central — 5. Keehn 21:43, 13. Rhodes 22:52; 17. Reidinger 23:17, 18. Hartog 23:20; 21. Pfannmoel 23:46; 24. Meza 23:50; 28. Amburn 24:19

Providence — 8. Spalding 22:24, 20. Siebert 23:34; 22. Graf 23:46; 35. McCauley 25:15; 52. C. McCauley 30:57; 55. Carr 31:27.

Borden — 16. Williams 23:09; 38. Lynch 25:37; 47. Green 27:42; 48. McKinley 27:57; 54. Bishop 31:27.



BOYS

Team scores — Floyd Central 40, New Albany 68, North Harrison 71, Providence 124, Borden 144, Corydon Central 145, Clarksville 200, South Central 205, Crawford County 231, Lanesville 232.

Floyd Central — 3. Blackman 16:51, 4. Hodge 16:56, 5. Mires 16:59, 6. Huhnerkoch 17:02, 23. Moutoux 18:09, 25. Portwood 18:19, 26. Hamilton 18:29.

New Albany — 11. J. Holcomb 17:21, 12. Quinkert 17:27, 14. Ragains 17:35, 15. M. Holcomb 17:36, 16. Hoon 17:42, 28. Gamble 18:37, 30. LaPorte 18:44.

Providence — 2. Book 16:41, 17. Ford 17:47, 35. Hannon 19:07, 36. Gillenwater 19:10, 37. Kraft 19:14, 54. Gilland 20:21, 54. Miller 21:33.

Borden — 10. Williams 17:18, 21. O’Conner 18:08, 33. Scott 18:54, 40. Brock 19:21, 44. Potts 19:42, 63. Hurst 21:10, 64. Casey 21:11.

Clarksville — 7. Wink 17:03, 31. Kemp 18:51, 41. Lewellen 19:21, 59. Hawkins 20:48, 69. Clark 22:49, 70. Baker 22:58.

Christian Academy of Indiana — 20. Weaver 18:03, 52. Neel 20:11, 60. Stemler 20:50.