They certainly were not the best performances of their incredible 2019 cross country season, but both the Oak Hill Golden Eagles’ boys and girls cross country teams advanced to the semi-state on Saturday morning after two more solid showings in the IHSAA Cross Country Region 7 races at IWU.
The boys placed third in their race with a score of 78, behind Bellmont (30) and New Haven (74). Mac Cheek finished 10th for the Golden Eagles, clocking a time of 16:45.0, while Solomon O’Blenis came in 11th with a time of 16:45.8. Jacob Winger rounded out the top 15 with a time of 16:47.5.
With their third place finish, the Oak Hill boys advanced to their fourth straight semi-state and their 16th in the last 18 years.
“On the boys side, we knew Bellmont was really talented. We knew that we had to give our best performance of the year to challenge them, and Bellmont put out one of their better performances,” Oak Hill Head Coach Paige Brunner said. “We were in a really tough spot to beat them. Our kids went after them early, probably got out quicker than I wanted them too, and as a result, we kind of faltered late.”
Marion placed ninth as a team, finishing with a score of 235, but Raffi Fry punched his ticket to the semi-state with a sixth-place finish, clocking a time of 16:28.9.
Eastbrook was sixth, missing out on a semi-state berth as a team by eight points, but both Ben Neideck and Zane Callison will represent the Panthers next weekend. Neideck placed 23rd with a time of 16:58, and Callison was 24th with a time of 17:00.
In the girls race, the Golden Eagles missed out on their fourth straight regional championship by a single point, finishing with 68 points. Norwell won the regional title with a score of 67.
Mollie Gamble, after finishing second in the sectional last weekend, dropped a place on Saturday, taking home third place with a time of 18:27. Kinzie Robey also placed in the top 10, finishing in ninth with a time of 19:40.
The Golden Eagles advanced to their sixth-straight semi-state, but Brunner was disappointed that his team fell just short of another regional championship.
“While we have to be happy about that and take some pride in that, the sting is still not gone,” Bruner said. “A one-point loss in a meet like that for a major championship…we just didn’t get it done. Wish we had that one back, but we’ve got a semi-state to prepare for.”
Mississinewa’s Carli Fones advanced as an individual with an 11th place finish, recording a time of 19:51.
Overall, despite both of his teams performing well enough to advance, Brunner believed that both of his teams left a lot out on the course.
“To sit here today in retrospect, we still have two teams going to the semi-state,” Brunner said. “Nobody else in the county has a team going. A lot of [schools] only had one team [qualify] and we have both going – that is a great accomplishment.
“I appreciate the support we get from people, but we have gotten to the point with our program, I believe, that we are not real happy with the outcome yesterday. We are not real happy with the way we ran. I felt like we fell short on the boys side and we definitely feel like, on the girls side, that we gave the championship away and did not run the way we are fully capable of.”
Fortunately, the Golden Eagles live to see another race, and they have another week to work, improve, and get ready for another tough test this coming weekend.
“First and foremost, it serves as a motivator,” Brunner said. “To be honest, I feel like both of our teams with the way that we ran [Saturday] and the way [Saturday] felt, it almost had that feeling like if you were in a sport where if you lost, you were done. Hopefully after the weekend, we get back to practice [Monday] and we start to have a better vibe towards semi-state.
“They’ve got nothing to lose at this point. They shouldn’t have any pressure on them. It’s just about getting out there and running right now. For some of them, it may be the last time they get to tow the line, and we want them to go out on a good note.”
