Ten Shelby County runners qualified out of cross country sectional races Saturday at three different venues.
Franklin Sectional
Shelbyville’s Beau Kenkel, Hannah Wright (main photo) and Angel Kreider advanced to the regional round of the state tournament along with Waldron’s Will Larrison and Jared Crosby.
Larrison finished 20th overall on the Franklin High School cross country course with a time of 17 minutes, 32 seconds. Crosby was 24 seconds back to finish 30th overall in 17:56.
Kenkel placed 33rd in 18:02 to advance for the first time to the regional race, also to be held at Franklin High School.
The top five finishing teams and the top 10 individuals not on a qualifying team advanced out of the sectional round.
In the girls race, Wright broke 22 minutes for the first time in her career to finish 30th overall in 21:53.
Kreider (photo) also clocked a personal-best time of 22:26 to finish 35th and qualify for the regional for the first time.
Brown County Sectional
Four Southwestern Spartans qualified for the Columbus North Regional, which will be held at Shelbyville’s Blue River Memorial Park cross country venue.
Malori Pike crossed the finish line in 24:45 to earn a regional berth.
She will be joined by Jackson Bentz (18:27), Dane Kissell (18:39) and Koty Claiborne (19:02), who qualified for the boys regional event.
Mt. Vernon Sectional
Morristown sophomore Grace McLaughlin qualified for the Rushville Regional with a time of 24:16.
To qualify for the Oct. 22 semistate races around the state, competitors must be on a top-five finishing squad or be a top-10 individual not from an advancing team at regional races.
Each regional contains sectional qualifiers from two different sectionals.
Steve Bush photos
