With a few touches of his cellphone, Greenwood cross country coach Blaine Williams can pull up a list of the school’s all-time 30 fastest runners based on their best time.
Fifth on the list is Julia Arruda’s performance at the 2017 Whiteland Invitational (20 minutes, 10 seconds). Now a senior, Arruda wants to get her times in the high-19s by the time her Woodmen career is over.
“I want to get under 20 minutes,” Arruda said. “And now I can train better because Ava (Leininger) has gotten a lot better. Last year she started getting really good.”
The soft-spoken Arruda has been Greenwood’s No. 1 runner since the start of her freshman season. She’s also a starter on the Woodmen girls soccer team, meaning she’s juggling the pressures of playing two sports in the same season.
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Arruda uses the time management skills used to carry a 3.5 grade-point average in order to excel in both.
“We have morning (cross country) practices sometimes, so I just go to soccer in the afternoon,” Arruda said. “I like them both in different ways. I’m a lot better at running, but soccer is just a lot of fun, too, and I like the people.”
Greenwood cross country coach Blaine Williams said the top of his lineup is set with Arruda and Leininger, a junior.
“It’s going to be a really good battle. Ava really impressed us last year in cross country and track,” Williams said. “I’m excited to see them push each other all season.”
Arruda’s postseason performances have been consistent with her finishing 25th at sectional as a ninth-grader, 10th as a sophomore and 15th last fall. Her times were all between 21:29 and 22:08.05.
“The last three years she’s been our No. 1 runner, and you’ll find that occasionally when someone comes in as a freshman and is good right away. Julia’s been at the top for us for so long,” Williams said. “Obviously, she’s a lead-by-example kind of person because she doesn’t say hardly anything at all. Julia lets her work do the talking for her.”
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Center Grove Trojans
Coach: Wes Dodson
Last year: Won Johnson County, Franklin Sectional and Shelbyville Regional titles, finished 11th at Shelbyville Semistate
Key returnees: Gabby Ellis, Gabrielle Harrell, Marielle Harrell and Sam Rasmussen, seniors; Sadie Schemmel, junior; Hudson Gilstorf and Rebecca Stockman, sophomores
Newcomers to watch: Alora Johns and Lauren Todd, freshmen
Outlook: Dodson enters his 19th season as coach excited about the potential of his squad, which is led by four seniors. Combine this with underclassmen Schemmel, Gilstorf and Stockman, and the Trojans could again be running late into the season. "Right now, Gabrielle Harrell is doing very well, but they’re all progressing. (The underclassmen) are experienced now and they’re only going to get better," Dodson said. "We’ll see who the five will be, but I’m excited to get going."
Edinburgh Lancers
Coach: Amy Macy-Schilling
Last year: Did not score as a team
Key returnee: Malkia Willard, junior
Newcomers to watch: Alyssa Funkhouser, sophomore; Cloee Britton, Ceira Myers and Hannah Pile, freshmen
Outlook: Willard ran for the Lancers last season, and has plenty of company this time around as the roster includes five athletes. "We’re kind of a young team, so we have to get used to running a whole race competitively," Macy-Schilling said. "The three freshmen ran middle school last year, but the distances of those races were shorter."
Franklin Grizzly Cubs
Coach: Ray Lane
Last year: Second at Johnson County meet, third at Franklin Sectional and Shelbyville Regional, 15th at Shelbyville Semistate
Key returnees: Sydney Clements and Lillian Lacy, juniors; Jenna Newton, sophomore
Newcomers to watch: Mallory Luse, Mia Tisdale and Eran Treibic, freshmen
Outlook: The Grizzly Cubs will be a work in progress as Lane blends varsity holdovers Lacy, Newton and Clements with promising freshmen and other first-time varsity performers. "We lost quite a bit of experience from last season, but the team goals are the same," Lane said. "In order to do that we have to have runners step up and prove themselves on the back end of our lineup."
Greenwood Woodmen
Coach: Blaine Williams
Last year: Fourth at Johnson County meet, sixth at Franklin Sectional
Key returnees: Julia Arruda and Mallory Watson, seniors; Ava Leininger and Abby Walls, juniors; Charli Graves, sophomore
Newcomers to watch: Riva DeRaedt and Selena Pinon, sophomores
Outlook: Arruda, Leininger and Watson are mainstays at the top of the lineup, but the team’s success will be determined by how well some of the less-experienced runners progress. "Our top-end girls are back, and they run a lot together," Williams said. "I’m excited to see what they can do. I don’t have any freshmen on this team, so that’s kind of unusual."
Greenwood Christian Cougars
Coach: Sean Branch
Last year: Did not score as a team
Key returnee: Whitney Smith, sophomore
Newcomers to watch: Adeline Jolley and Hannah Winn, freshmen
Outlook: Last season, Smith finished 51st at the Franklin Sectional, though her coach feels she’s capable of extending her season another week this time around. "We’re trying to get Whitney out of the sectional," Branch said. "As far as the two freshmen, we’re trying to get them to be as fast as possible. This season is about how to race against high school girls."
Indian Creek Braves
Coach: Brady Devine
Last year: Eighth at Franklin Sectional
Key returnees: Sierra Bowman, senior; Luci Woodrum, junior; Paxton Marshall, sophomore
Key newcomers: Ali Harris, senior; Amanda Ulerick, sophomore
Outlook: Woodrum, who placed 37th at sectional last fall, and Bowman, who was 42nd, lead this Braves squad. Harris,who also plays basketball and tennis, is out for cross country, which should only strengthen the lineup. "The regional is the expectation and the semistate is the goal," Devine said of his team. "They’ve enjoyed working together."
Whiteland Warriors
Coach: Gerry Emerson
Last year: Third at Johnson County meet, second at Franklin Sectional, fifth at Shelbyville Regional; 18th at Shelbyville Semistate
Key returnees: Erika Walling, senior; Alexa Brodnik, Lauren Fish and Hannah Parker, juniors; Lydia Lukich and Katia Olmstead, sophomores
Newcomer to watch: Rebecca Tapia, freshman
Outlook: Big things are again expected from the Warriors, who return most of the talent from last season’s semistate qualifier. Brodnik was fourth at sectional, while Olmstead took 11th at sectional and 21st at the regional. Newcomer Tapia is expected to make an immediate impact. "This will be my first time coaching girls cross country, but we have the bulk of our varsity back," Emerson said. "Walling, Brodnik, Olmstead and Tapia are running real well right now. And Hannah Parker seems to have found another gear this offseason. That could be a big, big factor for us."
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