Girls Running Sports Coordinator
TERRE HAUTE ���?? It was
just another day at the office for No. 1 Westfield and Culver Academies senior
Alex Banfich. The Shamrocks won their third straight state title, while Banfich
cruised to her third consecutive individual state championship as well Oct. 27
at the muddy Laverne Gibson course in Terre
Haute.
The ���?�Rocks
got a big race from sophomore Alex Holland, whose 48th-place finish
was fifth for Westfield
to end the scoring. The 81-point total was Westfield���?�s lowest of their four
championships under coach Scott Lidskin.
The
frontrunning of senior Maggie Bingham (fourth) and Kaitlyn Love (eighth) put
the ���?�Rocks up early, and the domination didn���?�t stop there. Westfield���?�s third, fourth, and fifth runners
outran their counterparts from every other school.
Second-ranked Lake Central finished second with 114
points, led by junior Rachel Zajac���?�s 13th-place finish. Typical
frontrunners Megan Plenus and Dana Payonk were 25th and 26th, respectively. No.
4 Carroll (Fort Wayne)
benefited from the fifth- and ninth-place finishes of freshman Brianna Johnson
and senior Chelsea Blanchard for third in the team race with 119 points.
Running in
a pack, third-ranked Carmel
totaled 146 points for fourth place, while No. 10 Bloomington North finished
fifth for the final podium spot.
The win by
Westfield moves
the ���?�Rocks up to a third-place tie with Floyd Central for the most state
titles. Carmel holds the distinction of the winningest
program in Indiana
history by virtue of its remarkable 10 championships.
Individually,
Banfich becomes just the third girl to win three state crowns, and only the
second to complete the feat consecutively. Banfich���?�s time of 18:21 was 17
seconds better than junior runner-up Megan Ranegar of Valparaiso. Franklin Central
Semistate champion Lorna
Whaley was third, with Bingham ���?? last year���?�s runner-up
���?? finishing fourth and Johnson rounding out the top
five.
Banfich
and Bingham have both finished in the Top 10 in all four state finals. (Blanchard,
who was ninth her freshman year and fourth as a junior, ran through illness as
a sophomore and did not make the podium.) The trio all cap off their high
school careers with a combined 11 individual state medals.
LET���?�S
HEAR IT! Share your thoughts on our Girls Cross Country message board.
Processing your request, Please wait....
