By TED SCHULTZ, for The Democrat
An unseasonably hot October morning yielded times that were slower than usual for this time of year, but that didn’t stop the Columbus North girls and boys from winning cross-country sectional titles at Brown County.
The 16th-ranked Bull Dog girls won with 26 points, while Columbus East finished second with 63. Seymour (74), Brownstown Central (112) and Martinsville (126) also earned berths in the Brown County Regional.
Brown County did not have enough girls to score as a team, but all three runners qualified as individuals. Emelia Koester finished eighth in 21:29.04, while Anna Fleetwood was 11th (21:51.96) and Maris Wyman 27th (23:21.03).
“The times were a little bit slower,” Brown County coach Rob Abraham said. “It was an a little bit of an adjustment, and the sectional race has a tendency to go out pretty fast, so when it goes out that fast, it’s one of those deals where we just see what type of guts they end up having. They did a pretty good job.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]North’s 11th-ranked boys scored 26 points for first; runner-up Seymour had 84. White River Valley took third with 98, while Martinsville (122) and Brown County (127) also qualified for regional.
Marino Dolph finished fifth in 17:21.19 to lead the Eagles. Jackson McPheeters took ninth in 17:52.10, while Branden Leslie was 19th (18:36.76), Jason Stratton 49th (20:51.18) and Josh Parry 52nd (21:24.68).
“Out top three ran well,” Abraham said. “It wasn’t necessarily the best day for us, but to make it through is always good. We get to run at home next week.”
