The Southern Wells boys’ and girls’ cross country teams competed well at the Marion sectional at Indiana Wesleyan University Saturday morning.
The boys’ team placed fifth, good for what head coach Monica Edgeman believes is its first regional appearance since 2000.
The boys’ achievement has been the goal the entire season, and coach Edgeman said it had been something they talk about weekly. Last week, she admitted that in 2021, the boys’ team peaked at the Allen County Athletic Conference meet and faltered in the sectional meet.
This year, they wanted that to change, and they accomplished it.
The Raiders finished with a final team score of 40, just enough to make the regional meet, where a team must finish in the top five to advance. The score was four points ahead of Eastbrook, which missed out.
The places and scores for the boys’ team at the event were led by an 18th place finish by Joshua Bricker at 17:41.4, 20th Potter Garrett at 17:44.6, 29th Andrew Aker at 18:23.53, 32nd Rio Horner at 18:24.9, 43rd Colter Kiel at 19:03.5, 47th Jarin Frauhiger at 19:14.1, and 53rd Kane Jenkins at 6:17.9.
The girls’ team finished eighth at the event with a team score of 232, but sophomore Alexis Leidig qualified for the individual tournament with a time of 23:48.6.
Edgeman knew it was possible after the ACAC race last week, saying she’s looking forward to seeing her compete for a regional.
“Our number one runner Lexi Leidig did great and got an all-time PR (personal record),” Edgeman said after the ACAC event last week. “And I’m super excited, and I’m looking forward to her hopefully moving on to regionals. That’s her goal.”
Her time at the ACAC meet was shaved off by nearly a minute at the sectional event and is peaking at the right time as well.
The places and times for the rest of the girls’ group were 43rd Zoey Solga at 25:11.1, 54th Adaline Sabinske at 27:12.3, 55th Brianna Hughett at 27:26.2, 57th Ella Lahr at 28:46.0, and 63rd Karlee Warner at 40:20.1.
The boys’ team and Leidig will be competing at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct 15, at Indiana Wesleyan University.
