Brebeuf Jesuit's Cameron Todd, Carmel win Indiana cross-country championships
TERRE HAUTE -- One-fifth of the way through Saturday’s state cross-country meet, Cameron Todd saw running partner and teammate Egan Williams standing near the fence at the Lavern Gibson championship course.
Recognizing a friendly face, Todd offered a wink.
“It was like, ‘I got it,’” Williams said. “Even through he was behind (between 15th and 20th), he knew what he was doing.”
Todd, a senior and Notre Dame recruit, said it was more of a “thank you for being here” nod to Williams and all of the supporters who made the trek to Terre Haute than a show of confidence. “That was me acknowledging them,” Todd said. He was feeling good, though, especially when he was in fourth place at the 4-kilometer mark on the 5K course.
“I felt like I knew what I was doing from the time the gun went off,” Todd said. “I was in a place where I knew I could make moves and I didn’t burn out. Some people go out very, very fast in the first 1K. I like having something to work through the entire race and that’s just chasing down the next guy.”
Todd chased them all down – and some. The Brebeuf star finished with a time of 14 minutes, 55.5 seconds to win going away after finishing third a year ago. His time is the seventh-best in the history of the state meet and top since former North Central star Futsum Zienasellassie ran a 14:48.8 in 2011.
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Rounding out the top-five behind Todd were Floyd Central senior Will Conway (15:03.3), Fishers junior Sam Quagliaroli (15:06.0), Carmel senior Tony Provenzano (15:06.6) and Elkhart junior Aaron Richter (15:15.3).
“He runs the most perfect race,” Brebeuf Jesuit coach Karl Knerr said of Todd. “I saw it when he ran the Nike Twilight (a month ago at Lavern Gibson, where Todd finished first in 14:48.4). He sits back and lets those other guys pull him along and he knows he has the strength and kick to do it. When I saw him in fourth place at the 4K, right there in the pack, I felt really good.”
A year after edging Zionsville for the team championship, Carmel ran away with the team title. The Greyhounds finished with 76 points to outdistance second-place Fishers (185). Brownsburg (218) finished third, followed by Zionsville (232) and Hamilton Southeastern (242). It was the first time in 20 years a team state champion won by more than 100 points and the third-largest margin of victory in the history of the event, which dates to 1946.
Making it more impressive was that Carmel graduated individual champion Kole Mathison from last year’s team. Provenzano, who finished second a year ago, was fourth and teammates Kyle Grove (seventh), Thomas Biltimier (21st), Jack Capes (34) and Carter Buhr (63rd) accounted for Carmel’s 76 points.
“They were good all year,” Carmel coach Colin Altevogt said of his team. “The way we train and the way these guys support each other, we felt like we’d be pretty good. Across the board, everybody was really good. We call it the ‘long game.’ We delayed some of our training and we some of our guys didn’t do their intervals until last week and this week. I think that made a big difference that we knew we’d be good at the state meet.”
It was a dominant performance from Carmel, though Altevogt pointed it was not just the Greyhounds’ two top-10 runners who carried the day.
“Tony is going to get a lot of credit and he’s an elite national guy,” Altevogt said. “And Kyle going from never having run in the state meet to finishing seventh today. But this is Thomas Biltimier’s team. He’s run in five state meets down between cross country and track and field. To go out and run the best meet he’s ever run in his life today was incredible.”
For Todd, it was a culmination of a high school cross-country career that also included a team state championship in 2021. Todd helped make up t-shirts for that team that included one of his favorite quotes from Steve Prefontaine: “To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift.” Knerr reminded Todd of that quote after their prayer before the race.
At the end, when Todd was in the clear and about to finish as a state champion, he smiled.
“It’s something I’ll never forget my entire life,” he said. “Not that if I didn’t win the work wouldn’t have been worth it, but it was very tangible of ‘Alright, I’ve been rewarded for all the years of focusing and early nights.’ It all paid off. It’s a great feeling. It does mean the world to me. I wish I had better words for it. But it’s something that will never be taken away, you know? I was thinking about all the people who helped me get here. I had to put on a show for them and myself.
“I’m happy with the result.”
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: High School cross-country: Cameron Todd, Carmel win championships
