By RYAN WALKER
The Bluffton and Southern Wells cross country teams ran at the Allen County Athletic Conference meet Saturday morning at South Adams High School.
The Bluffton boys’ team won the event for the second year in a row with a team score of 34, with its top four runners finishing first through fourth. The Southern Wells boys placed third with a team score of 85.
On the girls’ side, Southern Wells placed fifth and a team score of 147, and Bluffton raced with four runners for an incomplete team finish.
“Definitely pleased with the way that the guys ran today,” Tigers coach Michael Vanderkolk said about his boys’ team. “Hard to be upset with 1-4, and that’s something I’ve challenged them with all season is about that being a realistic possibility. Did I fully believe it? Not 100 percent, but they came out here and proved those doubts wrong, and I couldn’t be prouder.”
As Tyler Godwin, Jude Baumgartner, Sam Baumgartner, and Levi Johns crossed the finish line one by one; it was evident that Bluffton had the ACAC title locked up for the second straight season. The 2021 team advanced to regionals and semi-state, but Vanderkolk says the team is looking to win next week’s sectional, which would be their first time doing so since the 1998 season.
“I’m excited to have the celebration this week and see what we can do next week,” he said.
The 13-team sectional will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct 8, at Bellmont High School. Vanderkolk says it will be a grind to advance to regionals with other schools, including Bellmont and Norwell, but he likes his chances.
Bluffton’s five recorded times for the event were in first place Tyler Godwin at 17:32.8, second Jude Baumgartner at 17:45.2, third Sam Baumgartner at 17:51.4, fourth Levi Johns at 17:53.5, and 24th Brett Kuhlenbeck at 19:28.6.
The Raiders boys’ team finished third in the event after its sixth place finished a season ago. They’ve also shaved their top five total times by nearly seven minutes since last year.
Part of the reason for the leap in improvement was the number of runners in the program. Head coach Monica Edgeman stated at the beginning of the season that this was the largest turnout for the team ever.
“We have a lot of boys,” she said. “We’ve seen a lot of recruitment. Last year, we realized we kind of peaked at ACAC, and we didn’t do as well at sectional, and this year, our chance at moving on to regional as a boys team is stronger, so we’re really looking to pear at the sectional and regional this time.”
Edegman believes that there’s a chance Southern Wells can advance to the regional round. Other than Wabash and Oak Hill, they’ve beaten the rest of the field at some point during the season. The sectional will take place at Indiana Wesleyan University at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct 8.
The top five times for the Raiders were 10th Joshua Bricker at 18:27.1, 11th Potter Garrett at 18:33.2, 19th Rio Horner at 19:12.2, 20th Jarin Frauhiger at 19:13.2, and 25th Colter Kiel at 19:29.1.
For the Lady Raiders, the fifth place finish isn’t what they wanted, according to Edgeman. On the other hand, she is excited about the opportunity that lies ahead at the Marion section with her individual runners.
“Our number one runner Lexi Leidig did great and got an all-time PR, and I’m super excited and looking excited. I’m looking forward for her hopefully moving on to regionals. That’s her goal.”
The times for the Lady Raiders were 26th Alexis Leidig at 24:56.0, 43rd Zoey Solga at 27:24.4, 46th Adeline Sabinski at 28:11.6, 47th Brianna Hughett at 28:11.6, and 50th Ella Lahr at 29:14.7.
Finally, the Lady Tigers have been getting better throughout the season and have a chance to see that progression from start to finish at Bellmont next weekend. The second race of the season was at the same location for Vanderkolk’s team to have a sample of their improvement.
“This team has really grown so much, and I try stressing that every single day,” Vanderkolk said. “From the beginning of the year to now, each and every one of them has improved incredibly well. Whether that’s with time or mentally, they’ve all become tougher and have become stronger runners, and we’ve seen that these last couple weeks.”
Vanderkolk had high praise for Amarah Robles, who beat her personal record Saturday by a minute after being the only runner not to get their PR last week.
The Lady Tigers’ times were in 22nd Dakota Lee at 24:26.6.
29th Amarah Robles at 25:19.0, 30th Annika Linderwell at 25:19.7, and 42nd Alydia Bertsch at 27:14.5.
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