The state’s 14th-ranked boys cross country team looks forward to competing on the same course for a second consecutive week.
Weather conditions shouldn’t affect how Franklin fares, but the competition will.
Coach Adam Schwartz’s Grizzly Cubs attempt to finish among the top six teams at the Shelbyville semistate on Saturday — a status that would qualify Franklin for the state finals for the first time since 2007.
“I feel the worse the weather, the better chance we have,” said Schwartz, now in his seventh season. “They’re just a bunch of hard-nosed kids who aren’t afraid to get dirty and work hard.”
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Franklin dominated the regional at the same Blue River Park course, placing seven athletes in the top 22 and claiming team superiority by 18 points over runner-up Center Grove.
The challenge at semistate is much greater. Top-ranked Cathedral and No. 2 Carmel will be present, as will 10th-ranked North Central, No. 12 Zionsville and No. 15 Avon.
“We need to get over being afraid of teams from the Northside,” Schwartz said. “We just need to do what we need to do. On paper, anything could happen. We could be comfortably in or on the outside looking in.
“We’ve prepared the kids the best we can. We can only take care of ourselves.”
Franklin placed eighth at semistate in 2017, missing the state meet by two places. The close call provided returning Grizzly Cubs runners all the incentive they needed coming into the season.
“We work hard during practice and had a great summer of training,” junior Drew Hargis said. “I think it’s kind of cool to be racing against those cross country powerhouses. We run the (Shelbyville) course a few times a year, so we have a feel for it.”
Whiteland sophomore Will Jefferson took first at regional, but Cubs senior Andrew Bixler placed third and junior teammate Wyatt McCullough was fifth.
“We’ve got two solid front runners and the middle pack is real strong,” McCullough said. “Andrew and I obviously try to push each other, but I wouldn’t call it a competition. If one person does well on our team, we’re happy for him.
“We have a mentally strong team. We practice in all conditions. Our coaches do a good job of getting us to go mentally.”
Franklin’s so-called middle pack was on display at the regional — junior Will Tucker finished 11th, sophomore Ethan Pheifer 12th and the team’s other senior, Isaiah Lindsay, 13th. That trio was separated by a total of 6.9 seconds. The team’s other starters are Hargis and sophomore Anthony McDonald.
Performing to their potential on Saturday would likely put the Grizzly Cubs back at state, which used to be a relatively common occurrence. Franklin won the state cross country title in 2001 — Schwartz was a sophomore on that squad — and was fourth the season before.
“Going into this year, certainly that’s been a goal of ours,” Schwartz said. “We felt we had a pretty strong team, so we’ll see on Saturday. “We expect Andrew and Wyatt to run toward the front of the pack. And usually our 3, 4, 5 and 6 runners are 20 to 30 seconds from each other.
“We all push each other to be better.”
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Shelbyville Semistate
When: 10:30 a.m.
Where: Blue River Park
Admission: $5 per person
Competing boys teams: Avon, Batesville, Ben Davis, Brebeuf, Brownsburg, Carmel, Cathedral, Center Grove, Crawfordsville, Franklin, Franklin Central, Greenfield-Central, Mooresville, New Palestine, Noblesville, North Central, Ritter, Roncalli, Rushville, Shelbyville, Warren Central, Westfield, Whiteland, Zionsville
Competing girls teams: Avon, Batesville, Brebeuf, Brownsburg, Carmel, Cathedral, Center Grove, Franklin, Franklin Central, Franklin County, Greensburg, Monrovia, Mt. Vernon, New Palestine, Noblesville, Pike, Plainfield, Ritter, Roncalli, Rushville, Southport, Westfield, Whiteland, Zionsville
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