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NASHVILLE – Cooper Holmes ran in elite company and Bedford North Lawrence laid the groundwork for future improvement with its performances in the prestigious Eagle Classic during high school cross country action at Brown County on Saturday.
The Stars finished 8th in the boys AA team event, while Holmes qualified for the Elite race and finished 46th in a field of 110. BNL’s girls team, with Grace Tanksley matching her career-best, settled for 17th place.
Holmes earned his way into the Elite event – the first BNL runner since 2012 to qualify – with a previous time of 16:30. And he zipped through the course (which is the site for the IHSAA semistate) in 16:29.8 to finish 46th overall in the field of 110 runners.
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“Hitting that time tells me he is getting ready to drop more time in the next couple of weeks, which will be fantastic,” BNL coach Jon Calhoun said.
With Holmes out of the mix, the Stars still finished 8th with 230 points. Lawrence North won the title with 45 points. Ethan Vaughn was 27th overall in 17:45.9 while Isaac Williams was 32nd in 17:51.9 (his first time under the 18-minute barrier).
“We had a couple of great things today and a couple of things to work on,” Calhoun said. “There are times you are going to have a bad race, but if you tried your best then that is what you have to worry about. Lace up the shoes next race and come to do some work.”
Carmel won the boys Elite division with 83 points while North Central’s Alex Frey was the individual champion in 15:19.
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In the girls AA race, Tanksley toured the flat, fast course in 21:34.1 to finish 26th overall. Lindley Steele recorded a career-best 22:59.4 while crossing in 65th place.
“That’s going to give Grace some motivation going into our next big race,” BNL coach Jill Vance said. “Lindley still hasn’t tapped her potential. She’ll definitely be one to watch as we head into the late-season races.”
BNL totaled 395 points. Lawrence North won that team crown with 37 points.
Carmel won the Elite division team title with 72 points, and Edgewood’s Annalyssa Crane was the individual winner in 17:37.
BNL will host Martinsville in a dual meet on Tuesday.
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EAGLE CLASSIC
Girls AA results
Team scores
Lawrence North 37, Lebanon 115, Perry Meridian 156, Jennings County 158, Jasper 160, Greensburg 195, Terre Haute North 224, Silver Creek 232, Martinsville 246, South Dearborn 285, Corydon 290, Madison 293, East Central 296, Owen Valley 309, New Albany 325, Evansville North 359, BNL 395, Scottsburg 413, Jeffersonville 507
BNL – 26. Grace Tanksley 21:34.1; 65. Lindley Steele 22:59.4; 85. Lynnae Greene 23:56.9; 114. Myra Roberts 25:32.7; 123. Emily Bartlett 26:42.6; 124. Adalyn Banks 27:03.0; 134. Katelyn Moody 30:35.1
Boys AA results
Team scores
Lawrence North 45, New Albany 89, Warren Central 107, Greensburg 136, Perry Meridian 139, Lebanon 159, Lawrence Central 169, BNL 230, East Central 233, Corydon 234, Edgewood 246, Silver Creek 298, Evansville North 313, Evansville Central 346, Evansville Harrison 394, Jeffersonville 473, Martinsville 477, South Dearborn 516, Scottsburg 535, Madison 540
BNL – 27. Ethan Vaughn 17:45.9; 32. Isaac Williams 17:51.9; 46. Colton Sons 18:08.6; 54. Cole Baker 18:23.2; 87. Jacob Morris 19:09.6; 93. Andrew Rohloff 19:29.3
