ELLETTSVILLE — The Sullivan girls and boys cross country teams were facing a tall task Tuesday evening in the Western Indiana Conference race at Edgewood High School. The Arrow harriers
ELLETTSVILLE — The Sullivan girls and boys cross country teams were facing a tall task Tuesday evening in the Western Indiana Conference race at Edgewood High School. The Arrow harriers had a quick turnaround from an invitational on Saturday in addition to facing ultra-competitive competition in the likes of powerhouse programs Northview and Indian Creek. In the end, Sullivan placed ninth in the girls team standings and eighth in the boys race.
All the runners also had to battle less than ideal temperatures as at the start of the girls race it was still 91 degrees.
The Lady Arrows were saddled with even greater odds to overcome on Tuesday. Senior Hanna Burkhart and freshman Rachel Ramirez both missed the race as they are nurshing nagging injuries. Burkhart has finished first or second on the Lady Arrows team in the meets she's competed in while Ramirez has been the No. 3 runner when the team is completely healthy.
That left Kate Ridgway leading the way on Tuesday. The Lady Arrow junior placed 27th overall with a time of 25 minutes, 2.58 seconds.
Ridgway didn’t make any excuses when it came to the above average temperatures — 91 degrees at race time — but did state she missed her teammates.
“With Hanna and Rachel out we were not projected to do well as a team,” Ridgway stated. “For me personally, I definitely missed having them out there with me because we are always close to each other (during the races). It’s easier to push off them and we all just kind of push each other to do better throughout the race.”
Ridgway mentioned with her teammates missing, her goal was to run with the top runners from Cloverdale — a team the Arrows ran against on Saturday at the Greencastle Tiger Cub Invite.
“I ended up finishing ahead of their No. 3 runner,” Ridgway stated. “But overall with all of the injuries and everyone battling through pain, I think we did pretty good.”
Makayla Hitt finished as the Golden Arrows second runner on Tuesday. The junior covered the 3.1-mile course with a time of 28:22.82 which was good for 38th overall.
Jaycee Piatt placed 46th overall with a time of 31:26.13, while Chloe Mason (48th) and Katelyn Cooley (53rd) rounded out the scoring for the Arrows.
Sophomore Gaige Goodman, who finished as the Arrows’ No. 3 runner at the Tiger Cub Invite, started the race on Tuesday but dropped out of the race near the 3K mark.
Northview edged Indian Creek for the team title, 33-41, while Edgewood (66), Cloverdale (126) and Owen Valley (126) rounded out the top five teams.
Indian Creek’s Libby Dowty was the individual champion with a time of 20:11.56.
In the boys race, Ben McKinley paced the Arrows with a 47th-place finish. The junior posted a time of 21:51.32.
Freshman Keaton Toth placed four spots behind McKinley with a time of 22:57.12.
Kaden Helms (54th), Zack Gibbs (61st) and Chad McCammon (62nd) rounded out the scoring for Sullivan.
Edgewood slipped by Northview for the boys team title, 50-54. Indian Creek placed third with 56 points, while Brown County (110) and North Putnam (123) rounded out the top 5.
Sullivan finished eighth in the team standings.
Northview’s Jcim Grant won the race with a time of 17:34.13.
Both Sullivan teams will be back in action Saturday at the Shakamak Invitational.
“Today was a rough day, with the short turnaround from Saturday, all of the competition and the heat,” Arrows coach Samanth Unger said. “But we just wanted to come out here and use this race to work on some individual place goals and get ready for Saturday. We have shown the ability to bounce back from a tough race earlier this season so we will be looking to do the same on Saturday.”
