Cross country: ND girls, SD boys win Pheidippides Cup titles
Sep. 6—North Decatur's girls team and South Decatur boys team won the Pheidippides Cup at the Southeastern Baptist Camp Tuesday.
For the girls, the Lady Chargers finished with 21 while South had 37.
North's Dorothy Robbins (25:09) was the individual meet champion followed by Jewel Verseman in third place, Ava Lecher in fourth, Lauren Miller in sixth and Olivia Reisman in seventh to round the scoring for the Lady Chargers. Freshman Emerson Gunn set a new personal best finishing in eighth place. Madison Rohls finished in 12th place and Cecilia Barber ran her season best time as she continues to improve from an early season injury.
South's Clair Schoettmer paced the Lady Cougars, coming in second, while South runners also took fifth, ninth, 10th, and 11th places.
For the boys, South posted 22 points and North finished with 34.
South Decatur took the top three spots in the boys race, led by senior Donovan Hale's personal best 19:10. The Cougars also had runners in fifth and 11th place.
For North, Logan O'Dell crossed the line fourth in a new PR in 20:04. Adam Wade (21:42) and Harper Gunn (21:48) continued their strong running, finishing in sixth and seventh place respectively. Noah Weisenbach eighth place, Jackson White ninth place and Sam Cathey 10th place rounded out the scoring for the Chargers. Sophomoore Jake Demitt continued to show toughness and grit with his run on Tuesday night as well, noted North Coach Nobbe.
The Pheidippides Cup is cross country's version of the Civil War competition between North Decatur and South Decatur. Pheidippides is the central figure in the story that inspired the modern marathon race. Pheidippides is said to have run from Marathon to Athens to deliver news of the victory of the battle of Marathon.
Greensburg
COLUMBUS — The Greensburg boys cross country team finished third and the girls cross country team finished fourth in Saturday's Rick Weinheimer Classic hosted by Columbus North at CERAland. More than 40 teams converged on Columbus to race in the A (under 1,000 students) and AA (over 1,000 students) divisions.
In the A race, Oak Hill's Owen Jackson won in 16:00, leading the Eagles to the team title.
The Pirates finished third out of more than 20 schools in the A Division. The Pirates had three medalists over the weekend. Senior TJ Gorman paced the Pirates, running a personal best 16:14.8 to place sixth overall. Gorman's time was the 11th fastest time in school history. Joe Hawkins had a personal best 16:22.5 to take seventh. Jake Hawkins broke the 17-minute barrier for the first time in 2023. He placed 16th in 16:59.5.
The next finisher for Greensburg was senior Cameron Schwartz in 35th in a season-best 18:15.0. Dante Hess continued his improvement, taking 50th place in 18:46.7 (personal best). Freshman Quinton Walker was 56th in 19:02.4 while teammate Zack Blodgett ran 19:11.4, his best time of 2023, for 64th place.
In the girls' competition, Tell City won the A Division while the Lady Pirates took fourth in the team standings.
Freshman Alaina Bedel finished 13th in 21:19.7. Junior Tori Gauck had her best race of the season and broke 23:00 for the first time in 2023. She placed 30th in 22:47.3. Hannah Crowell was 35th in 23:10.5, and Tiffani Gramman placed 44th in 23:29.0.
The next two finishers for Greensburg were Ally Foster (48th) in 23:39.2 and Brooke Welsh (92nd) in a personal best of 26:53.9.
Contact Aaron Kirchoff at aaron.kirchoff@greensburgdailynews.com
