Carmel's title in '03 was its third of the decade and came in longtime coach Chuck Koeppen's last season at the head of the Greyhounds

Carmel is Indiana cross country. Paralleled by a highly successful boys program under a shared head coach for more than a quarter of a century, the Greyhound girls finished on the podium eight teams in the decade and earned four rings. The ‘Hounds added on to their state finals successes with five semistate titles and seven sectional and regional titles in the most competitive cross country area of Indiana.

Carmel got the decade off on the right foot with a runner-up finish to a historically good Valparaiso team in 2000 before upending the Vikings the next year with the ‘Hounds own historically good team. A brief “drought” of sorts followed that year, with Carmel finishing “just” 15th and eighth in the next two state meets. Since then, it has been all podium appearances for the ‘Hounds, including title and runner-up seasons to end the decade.

The story of individual success has been just as storied at Carmel. Katie Harrington won the state title as a junior in ’02 then battled an early season injury as a senior but still finished runner-up and went on to All-American honors at Foot Locker nationals. Five Greyhounds have finished in the top five at the state meet, including two (Renee Wellman and Sara Bennett) who will run for Carmel next year.

Heading into the next decade, the future looks brighter for Carmel than any other program in Indiana. The transition of power from Chuck Koeppen to Mark Ellington was seamless, as evidenced by Carmel’s number one ranking in most of Coach Ellington’s first season. The good majority of last year’s runner-up team, including four All-Staters return for what could be the preseason number one team.