SHELBYVILLE
The time needed for meet officials to tabulate scores and announce placings was nail-bitingly suspenseful for members of Franklin’s girls cross country team.
Eventually, celebration replaced concern as the Grizzly Cubs, sixth-place finishers in the Shelbyville Semistate at Blue River Park on Saturday, learned they would be moving on.
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Franklin, led by freshman runner Lauren Klem (seventh individually), senior Lillian Lacy (35th) and junior Jenna Newton (44th), finished with 211 points to make it out of the state’s most difficult semistate and qualify for this weekend’s state meet in Terre Haute. This marks the first time the Grizzly Cubs have made it to state as a team.
“I was so nervous. I just really wanted one more week,” said Lacy when asked about the moments leading into the announcement of the top six teams. “I’m, like, in shock right now. I’m just so excited because this year just felt different, too.
“In years past, I felt like we knew we probably weren’t going to make it as a team. This year I felt like I was fighting for something bigger. We all knew every single spot would count.”
Klem, the lone ninth-grader in the top 10, finished with a time of 18 minutes, 26.9 seconds in her first semistate.
“My plan today was just to go out there and try to stay with the front pack as long as I could,” Klem said. “It was really fun, and a good course, too.”
Lacy had a time of 19:35.3, with Newton completing the course in 19:53.3. Other Franklin runners were Sydney Clements (81st), Sydney Woodward (109th), Mallory Luse (132nd) and Eran Treibic (144th).
“Early in the race, we got ourselves in the spots we had to be in to have a chance,” Franklin coach Ray Lane said. “They just raced their guts out in that last little bit there. (Lacy) had really struggled the last month and has kind of started to put it together. I had a feeling this week she was going to be big, and she was.”
Center Grove saw its season come to an end with a seventh-place effort. The Trojans were led by junior Mary Hodges in 29th place, one spot ahead of freshman teammate Lilly Brunsman.
Whiteland was 15th as a team, with Indian Creek and Roncalli finishing 18th and 19th, respectively.
In the boys race, Whiteland senior Will Jefferson reserved his spot at state for a second time — he qualified as an individual in 2018 — by finishing runner-up to Carmel sophomore Kole Mathison. Jefferson’s time of 15:23.5 was slightly less than five seconds off the pace.
“I’m just glad I got to race it and didn’t have any issues,” said Jefferson, who struggled with the flu and horrid weather conditions to finish 88th here last season. “We have some of the best runners in the state here, so it was nice to have all that competition. The course, it’s a little tough, but it’s a quick course.
“Now I get to move onto the state and run with these guys again. I’m really looking forward to that.”
Center Grove’s boys squad is also moving on, making it to state for the second consecutive year.
The Trojans took fourth, led by sophs Griffin Hennessy (14th, 16:04.6) and Drew Costelow (15th, 16:04.7). Junior Raef Sauer was close behind in 22nd, followed by Jarret Rockwell (32nd), Parker Mimbela (38th), Kyle Montgomery (47th) and Gavin Rockwell (98th).
“We were feeling very positive coming into today, and were very rested from a little bit of an easier week of practice,” Mimbela said. “We were feeling ready. It’s definitely great being able to go back to state. We’ve run there a few times this year, and we got a chance to find some advantages in the course.”
Center Grove coach Howard Harrell, who knew his team had a tough act to follow after last season’s somewhat surprising second-place effort at semistate, was understandably happy with his all-underclass lineup.
“Everyone wanted to race today. When the gun went off, we raced at the start, the middle and at the end, and I was so proud of the guys,” Harrell said. “A very resilient group. Even (Friday) night when it was raining, they were bringing back memories of last year.
“If there’s going to be mud puddles or if it’s going to be a fast course, it doesn’t matter because we were going to run fast today. Just a great attitude.”
Whiteland finished 11th in the team standings, while Franklin was 16th and Greenwood was 19th.
