Indiana Runner

2009 Girls Cross Country State Finals Preview

By Colin Altevogt
Girls Coordinator

“If you need a big speech to get ready, you aren’t ready.”
--Hines Ward

TEAMS

The Favorite
Carmel
Ranked number one for all but one week of the season, the Greyhounds enter as the favorite to defend their crown from last year. Typical frontrunner Renee Wellman has been solid all year, and her usual sidekick Sarah Bennett actually won the semistate last weekend. Those two will make Carmel tough to beat by any team without some heavy frontrunning.

Still, the ‘Hounds have looked mortal in the tournament thus far. They actually lost in the sectional to Noblesville and needed the sixth runner tiebreaker to avenge that defeat in the regional round. The margin of victory was a little greater at the semistate, but still not a complete runaway. Carmel is certainly the favorite, but isn’t a shoo-in like last year’s team. Returning All-Stater Alex Chitwood is key.

The Contenders
Fort Wayne Carroll
The Chargers can certainly match-up their frontrunners with Carmel. The trio of Ciersten Deardorf, Brianna Johnson and Kaylee McClanahan are all potential top 15 girls. Still, the top teams will be decided more by their fourth and fifth runners than their heavy hitters, and Carroll has some questions in that department.

While dominating, the Chargers semistate performance would not be good enough to win the state championship. Carroll’s fourth and fifth runners placed 26th and 31st in the race. Three teams in the tougher Carmel Semistate had all five of their runners finish in the top 30. The Chargers’ usual number four runner Alexis Norris didn’t run at the semistate. If she is ready to go this week, she could prove to be the X-factor for Carroll.

Noblesville
The Millers had a quiet regular season but have made a lot of noise thus far in the postseason. Noblesville was able to upset Carmel in the sectional and nearly did so in the regional when the Millers put all five runners under 19:20. Noblesville was a little farther back at the semistate, but another good performance could bring the Millers their first state title.

Freshman Kendra Foley has developed into a solid frontrunner through the season. Teammate Helen Willman’s performance will be very important for the Millers. If she can tag along with Foley, as she has in many meets this season, Noblesville will be really dangerous.

The Darkhorses
Columbus North
The Bull Dogs weren’t a team many people have talked about as a state title contender, but a great semistate race could create some buzz. North was dominant in its relatively mediocre sectional and regional. The Dogs also ran very well at Culver, finishing second to Carmel. According to last weekend’s semistate results, that gap between the ‘Hounds and the Dogs has shrunk slightly. Can it shrink enough to make a run at the champs?

Junior Jessica Richardson is a potential All-Stater. Seniors Virginia Steilberg and Siri Retrum, who is a two-time individual medalist, will be important to North’s chances. If they can close the gap to other teams' frontrunners, and the team’s four and five runners can shut the door quickly enough, the Dogs could pull one of the decade’s greatest upsets.

Franklin Central
Once ranked as the number one team in all of the land, the Flashes have been on downward spiral since FlashRock. Still, with one of the best duos in the state with Dani Sullivan and Jasmine Al-Anzi and a very talented freshman in Carolyn Talhelm, FC could legitimize its one-time spot atop the rankings.

Sullivan figures to contend for the individual title. If the Flashes can keep its score under ten points through two runners and get some improvement from its depth, it could make a run for Carmel, Carroll and Noblesville. After results from the other tournament meets, that seems unlikely, but the Flashes’ runners have performed that well recently.

Podium Potential
Crown Point
The Bulldogs have been quietly lurking just outside of the top five for most of the season. An impressive tournament run thus far, including last weekend’s semistate title at New Prairie in relatively dominating fashion shows that CP is running well at precisely the right time. Frontrunner Laicee Pierce could give the ‘Dogs single digit points, and the depth is there for a podium run.

Terre Haute North
The Patriots have two of the top ten runners in the state with Tapring Goatee and Chanli Mundy, and they will be banking on that to take a shot at medals. North blew the field away at Brown County, where times were completely irrelevant. The Pats lost one important girl midseason, but if any of the top five teams trip up, the Pats will be lurking to nab them.

Podium Longshots
Bloomington South
The Panthers have, at points, been ranked as high as sixth. A perennial state finalist team, South should feel at home in Terre Haute. Like Terre Haute North, the Panthers have two great frontrunners in Anna Voskuil and Nicole Lucas.

Lake Central
The two-time state runner-up, LC has three runners that should keep them in medal contention. After that, however, the four and five are a little far back for podium contention. The Indians could potentially score four runners as Dana Payonk is the individual favorite.

Valparaiso
The Vikings were a distant fourth at the New Prairie Semistate but looked awesome in the regional round. Any cross country historian knows not to sleep on Valpo. Under coach Karen Devries, the Vikes once had an eight-year string of finishing either first or second at the state finals.

Highly Competitive
Brownsburg
The Bulldogs rode three horses to the state finals as Madelyn Webster, Sydney Lesko and Veronica Goduto finished eighth, 11th and 16th at the semistate. Brownsburg nipped perennial state finalist Westfield by two.

Huntington North
A highly-regarded preseason team, the Vikings were able to advance out of the semistate despite not having their best race at the semistate. Though a top five finish is a little far-fetched, Huntington should be competitive against many of the state’s best.

Indianapolis Cathedral
The Irish turned away many good teams in a great race at the semistate. Cathedral lacks some of the great frontrunners it has possessed in the past but makes up for it with a great pack. The 1-5 gap was under 30 seconds last weekend in perhaps the Irish’s best race of the season.

Northridge
As always, the Raiders are back in the state finals. All-Stater Skylair Hilton is back to her old self after finishing fourth at the semistate. Allie Pladson gives Northridge a good 1-2 punch.

Portage
The Indians have been competitive this season against Crown Point and Lake Central, beating the latter multiple times. Portage is perhaps too far back to make a podium run but could finish in the top ten.

West Noble
The Chargers were very impressive in their runner-up semistate finish. As they have been for years, West Noble is led by the Sisters Peterson.

Happy to be Here
Bedford North Lawrence
The Stars have a penchant for nailbiters in the semistate. BNL advanced this year by just eight points.

Bloomington North
Like usual, the Cougars make another trip to the state finals. North ran very well at the semistate to finish third.

Columbia City
The Eagles are back to the state meet for the first time in many year after upsetting FW Concordia and Penn.

Culver Academy
For the fifth time in six years, the Eagles are back in the state finals.

DeKalb
Year after year, the Barons run their best at the semistate. Often, that equates a trip to Terre Haute.

Evansville Memorial
Memorial lost a tiebreaker to Bloomington North for third at the semistate.

Heritage Hills
One of the highest ranked southern teams coming into the season, Heritage Hills didn’t disappoint by advancing to another state meet.

Tri-County
One of the smallest schools ever to make the state meet, Tri-County ran its best race of the season to advance.

Predictions
1. Carmel
2. Fort Wayne Carroll
3. Noblesville
4. Columbus North
5. Franklin Central

6. Terre Haute North
7. Crown Point
8. Valparaiso
9. Lake Central
10. Bloomington South
11. Brownsburg
12. Indianapolis Cathedral
13. Portage
14. Huntington North
15. Northridge
16. West Noble
17. Columbia City
18. Evansville Memorial
19. DeKalb
20. Culver Academy
21. Bloomington North
22. Heritage Hills
23. Tri-County
24. Bedford North Lawrence

INDIVIDUALS

The Favorite
Dana Payonk, Lake Central
With the exception of a loss to Dani Sullivan at the early-season Harrison Invitational, Payonk has been the dominant runner in the state for most of the season. Fourth last year after a dominating  semistate victory, Payonk is again coming off a big win at New Prairie heading to Terre Haute. She certainly isn’t Alex Banfich, but it will be tough to deny the Lake Central senior a state title.

The Contenders
Ashley Erba, Warsaw
Erba has been very strong all season. Just a freshman, she holds one of the five best performances in the state. Erba has easily been the most dominant runner in the northeast area that is loaded with returning All-Staters.

Tapring Goatee, Terre Haute North
Goatee might be perhaps the most intriguing runner in Indiana. After running Waverly Neer tough in the State Preview, she was MIA for a few weeks. She came back to a tough return at the Culver Invitational but has since rebounded well. Last week’s incredibly dominating semistate win displays her potential.

Dani Sullivan, Franklin Central
The favorite for most of the regular season after beating Payonk at the Harrison Invitational, Sullivan was a slightly disappointing fourth at the semistate. Still, she had been undefeated until that point and has run 18:23 this season.

Renee Wellman, Carmel
Wellman is certainly among the state’s best, and a slightly subpar performance at the semistate shouldn’t change many opinions there. She was dominant in the state’s toughest sectional and regional, including beating the eventual semistate champion by over 30 seconds in the first round of the tournament.

The Darkhorse
Sarah Bennett, Carmel
Bennett, who has run with Wellman since sixth grade, won just the second cross country of her life at the semistate last weekend. Can lightning strike the same place (or runner) twice?

Predictions
1. Dana Payonk, Lake Central
2. Tapring Goatee, Terre Haute North
3. Dani Sullivan, Franklin Central
4. Renee Wellman, Carmel
5. Ashley Erba, Warsaw
6. Sarah Bennett, Carmel
7. Brianna Johnson, FW Carroll
8. Katelyn Devries, Valparaiso
9. Chanli Mundy, Terre Haute North
10. Kendra Foley, Noblesville
11. Maya Nagy, Avon
12. Ciersten Deardorf, FW Carroll
13. Laicee Pierece, Crown Point
14. Anna Voskuil, Bloomington South
15. Jasmine Al-Anzi, Franklin Central