By BRAD BAUGHMAN | For The Democrat
One team sport in Brown County that has much to celebrate at both the middle and high school levels this fall is cross-country.
Performances by some middle school and high school runners have been more than just exceptional, they have been record setting.
The Brown County Middle School girls team, coached by Chasity Smith, recently capped off a highly successful season with a Western Indiana Conference championship on the Edgewood Junior High School course, a title the program had yet to achieve since the school began competing in the WIC.
Brown County High School cross-country runners Chase Austin and Hadley Gradolf both advanced to the Indiana High School Athletic Association cross-country state meet scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 30 in Terre Haute after successful runs in the IHSAA semistate Oct. 23 at Eagle Park. Austin finished 17th with a time of 15:53, the second fastest time in school history, while Hadley finished 13th with a time of 18:48.
Smith was overjoyed with her team’s performance at WIC.
“The race was delayed due to a storm, so the girls fought through the rain and mud to take the win. Last year we finished second in the WIC because we couldn’t run our fifth graders. This year we had a full returning varsity roster and they set their eyes on winning WIC at the beginning of the season and they were determined to get it,” Smith said.
Five days prior to the event, the Eagles had lost a dual meet to Edgewood by two points on the Edgewood course, but the Eagles reversed the outcome when it mattered most.
“We came back on Saturday without our number three varsity runner, who was quarantined, and beat Edgewood to win the WIC by three points,” Smith said.
Running what Smith called “the hardest race I’ve seen them run all year,” several of the Eagles were 20 seconds faster and a few were even 30 seconds faster than they had been five days earlier on a dry, more manageable course.
Kodi Smith, a sixth-grader, finished second overall to lead the Eagles who had six runners earn All-Conference honors.
Other members of the team include fifth-grader Ela Robinette; sixth-graders Piper Silbaugh and Annie Stowers; seventh-graders Charly Eddins, Izzy Miller, Avery Wagler, Della Hitchcock and Laura Crandall; and eighth-graders Sadie Hiatt and Jordyn Nicols.
Some strong runs during the regular season may have been an indication the Eagles were primed to make a statement in the conference meet. The girls had a third place finish in the 17 team Greensburg Invitational and grabbed second in the 13 team Franklin Invite.
Still, the well deserved conference championship may have caught the team a bit off-guard.
“I love these girls and their personalities, but I’m not sure they even realized they won until they announced ‘Brown County.’ Dan (assistant coach Dan Smith) and I were both listening to them announce the top three teams and when they said Edgewood was second, he and I both jumped up and clapped because we knew,” Chasity said.
“It took the girls a minute to realize what that meant. But then the cheering and screaming began. There were definitely some happy tears from the girls, especially our eighth-graders.”
It was quite a different story for the middle school boys who were unable to field a full team, and therefore could not qualify for a team score. However, eighth-grader Eli Wrightsman finished fourth in the field to earn All-Conference honors.
Chastity is proud of her runners and is especially interested in their development.
“I’m excited to watch these runners as they continue to get faster and more successful in their cross-country careers. I hope we can gain more runners to be a part of this awesome sport,” she said.
Brown County High School varsity cross-country coach Rob Abraham took notice of the middle school girls’ accomplishment.
“It is always great to see the middle school win a WIC in the sport that you coach. The future will be bright on the girls’ side if they stay together and run in high school,” he said.
Runners that do decide to move on will be joining an already successful high school program that made a bit of history of its own this fall.
For the first time in school history, the Eagles had the individual IHSAA sectional champion in both the girls and the boys races.
Gradolf and Austin, both juniors, claimed those honors on Oct. 9 at Brown County Schools’ Eagle Park. Austin was also recently selected to the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches Academic All-State team.
The pair also had strong runs in the IHSAA regional in Columbus where Gradolf finished fourth and Austin took sixth. Both runners qualified for the IHSAA semistate Oct. 23 at Eagle Park.
“I thought Hadley and Chase have done a great job over the last two weeks. With Hadley, sectional was a workout, and in regional, we came up with a pretty good plan. Her set-up for the last two races for the year should go well,” Abraham said.
“Chase was the only one that was able to run with Columbus North’s top five. He is going to have to have a solid race in order to get to state.”
Also advancing to the semistate by virtue of a fourth place finish in the regional was the Brown County boys’ team.
This marks the 11th time the boys have qualified for the semistate.
In addition to Austin, other members of that team are Rhett Silbaugh, Cord Smith, Case Smith, Rafe Silbaugh, Charlie Webb and Waylon Patrick.
With a middle school conference title already claimed and high school runners competing in the upcoming state meet, it is safe to say that Brown County’s cross-country program is running in the right direction.
