SHELBYVILLE
Temperatures on Saturday morning at Blue River Memorial Park were considerably cooler than they had been for any cross county meet this season.
That was just fine with Gavin Rockwell.
“I’d much rather run in 20 degrees than it being an 80-degree day,” he said. “You don’t overheat and you can fully function, and it makes it a lot easier to breathe.”
With the thermometer struggling to reach 50 degrees, the Center Grove senior led the way to a Trojan sweep of the Shelbyville Sectional, where the boys comfortably outpointed runner-up Indian Creek, 38-84, and the girls used a balanced lineup to pull out a somewhat surprising 65-73 win over three-time defending champion Franklin.
In the boys race, Rockwell and classmate Kyle Montgomery jumped out to the front of the field and stayed there. Rockwell pulled away from his teammate and crossed the finish line first in 15:55.9; Montgomery finished second with a time of 16:16.3.
“We kind of just wanted to stick with each other most of the race, and then just give it our all at the end and see who could come out on top,” Rockwell said. “I was feeling pretty optimistic going into it. Me and Kyle are pretty evenly matched, and we go back and forth a lot, so it was anyone’s race and I was just lucky enough to make a good move toward the end.”
Sophomore Cameron Cox (16:45.9) added a seventh-place finish for the No. 14 Trojans. Michael Leavitt (12th) and Curtis Williams (17th) rounded out the scoring as the team won its fifth consecutive sectional title.
Junior Luke Neibert set the pace for the runner-up Braves, finishing fifth in 16:39.3. Sophomore Noah Greenwood joined him in the top 10, posting a 16:49.2 to end up in ninth place.
Franklin also sealed up a spot in the regional meet, placing fourth in the team standings with 133 points. Sophomore Isaiah Tunis (10th) and freshman Liam Fennig (13th) showed the way for the Grizzly Cubs.
Greenwood senior Samuel Grimes outkicked Mooresville’s Tyler Gercak down the final straightaway to finish third individually (16:21.2 to 16:21.4). His efforts, along with those of 11th-place finisher Jacob Squier, also helped the Woodmen (142 points) edge the Pioneers (144) and Roncalli (148) for the fifth and final regional qualifying spot.
Whiteland was ninth as a team but advanced three individuals to the Oct. 21 regional, which will be run on this same Blue River course.
In the girls meet, the race for the individual title was dominated by Indian Creek sophomore Libby Dowty (first in 18:06.1), Whiteland senior Tori Jackson (second in 18:39.0) and Greenwood soph Lilly Rollings (third in 18:58.6), but it was Center Grove’s strength in numbers that carried the day on the team side.
Junior Marissa Pogue led the way for the Trojans with an eighth-place individual finish (19:52.4). She was followed closely by Allison Cohen (11th), Hallie Mimbela (13th), Lexi O’Barr (15th) and Adriana Rosales (tied for 18th) as Center Grove won its first girls sectional championship since 2019.
The Grizzly Cubs were led by senior Lauren Klem (fifth in 19:33.3) and junior Kathleen Lacy (seventh in 19:48.6). Whiteland, which totaled 82 points to clip No. 24 Roncalli (84) for third place, was paced by Jackson, freshman Lena Shipp (fourth, 19:25.0) and junior Isabella Fuentes (12th, 20:13.6).
Indian Creek (137) narrowly outdid Greenwood (140th) for the final team regional spot. Senior Phoebe Dowty joined her younger sister in the top 10 with a 10th-place effort.
“We had a pretty good day,” Braves coach Brady Devine said. “(Libby Dowty) did not run well; she was obviously about a minute slower than she should have been — but I guess she scored one point at the end of the day.”
The Woodmen still sent four runners on to the regional as individuals.
All of the advancing runners know that while they’ll be racing on the same course this coming Saturday, the competition will be much stiffer — and with no semistate round this time around, the stakes much higher.
“Next week will be even crazier,” Devine said. “I’m excited for that.”
