Courtesy photo
ELLETTSVILLE – Bedford North Lawrence’s Jonah Bailey advanced to the semistate during the IHSAA boys cross country regional race at Edgewood on Saturday.
Bailey, who also made the semistate race as a freshman last season, finished 16th overall to claim one of the 10 qualifying spots for individuals who are not members of qualifying teams.
BNL finished eighth in the 10-team field with 244 points. Bloomington North won the team crown with 44, followed by Bloomington South (54), Edgewood (90), Northview (97) and Terre Haute South (137). The top five teams and the individual qualifiers advanced to the semistate at Brown County on Oct. 22.
Bailey crossed the line in 17:23.22.
“Jonah ran his best race of the year,” BNL coach Nick Boyd said. “He competed well and raced hard from the start, earning himself a top 20 finish.”
Other scorers for the Stars included Alex Nicholson (49th in 18:40.06), Chase Turner (77th in 20:08.26), Kason Gulley (83rd in 20:53.88) and Max Klein (84th in 21:31.96).
“Our goal was to run our best races today, and we accomplished this,” Boyd said. “I’m proud of all of our runners for advancing to the regional as a team and being able to experience the regional atmosphere.”
Bloomington South’s Ryan Rheam was the individual winner in 16:11.38.
In the girls race, BNL’s Francesca Orozco (making her second straight regional appearance) finished 62nd in 23:26.83 as the program’s lone runner.
Bloomington South won the team title with 31 points, dominating the front of the race with four among the top seven finishers. South’s Lily Meyers was the individual champion in 18:56.79. Other advancing teams included Northview (56), Edgewood (57), Bloomington North (98) and Terre Haute South (169).
Mitchell’s Zoey Smith (63rd in 23:36.02) and Jennifer Guevara (64th in 23:42.42) also competed.
The top six semistate teams, and the top 10 individuals who are not members of qualifying teams, will advance to the state finals in Terre Haute on Oct. 29.
IHSAA REGIONAL
Saturday at Edgewood
