By Colin Altevogt
Girls Coordinator
Honorable mention: Katy Achtien, Indianapolis Cathedral; Chelsea Blanchard, FW Carroll; Lauren Hardesty, Valparaiso; Megan Jackson, Northridge; Brianna Johnson, FW Carroll; Sarah Kehe, Chesterton; Kristina Krasich, Westfield; Dana Payonk, Lake Central
10. Sarah Higgens, Center Grove
Higgens’ career started from rather humble beginnings. She was the third runner on Center Grove’s first state finals team in seven years, finishing 55th the state meet that season. In fact, she wasn’t even the best freshman on the team that year, as those honors went to All-Stater Shelbi Burnett. The next season, Higgens moved up only five spots, finishing 50th in Terre Haute, but this time helping the Trojans to the podium.
After that season, Higgens really blossomed into one of the state’s best runners. She was just nipped for the last spot to the state meet in the 3200 in the spring of her sophomore year after leading much of the race. The next fall, she finished 11th at the state finals in cross country. After exorcising her demons in track by qualifying for the state meet, Higgens lit the state on fire in her senior season of cross country. She ran 18:05 in the regional round, dominating three-time All-Stater Siri Retrum of Columbus North by 30 seconds. After a slightly sub-par semistate race, Higgens ran away with the state title, setting a state meet record for the girls 5k distance that still stands.
9. Racheal Marchand, Valparaiso
Marchand never won any state titles, thanks mainly in part to a loaded class in which five of the ten girls on this list graduated in a two-year span, but she was a three-time All-Stater and a part of three state championship teams. After finishing 32nd at the state finals her freshman year as Valparaiso’s sixth runner, Marchand medaled the next three years.
The legacy of Marchand came after the state meet her senior year. Her final three years of high school had garnered finishes of 11th, sixth and fourth in the state finals. In late November, however, she was a surprise qualifier for the Foot Locker national championships. Marchand wasn’t just happy to be there, either. Once in San Diego, she finished tenth to grab All-American honors.
8. Adele Mitchell, FW Concordia
Mitchell followed in the footsteps of one of her teammates, all the way to an individual state title. Somewhat of a running prodigy who was convinced to give up volleyball even though her own relative coached the team at her high school, Mitchell was a three-time state medalist. As a sophomore she was tenth, beating teammate Alissa McKaig for the first time in her career.
Mitchell, who went on to earn a scholarship at Wake Forest, didn’t relent there. She was seventh as a junior and the second non-senior. That role as the number two returner certainly didn’t put a limit on her either. Mitchell exacted revenge on the state in her senior year, sweeping through the tournament untouched on her way to becoming Concordia’s second individual state champion while holding off perennial All-Stater Rachel Stichter and future state champion Alex Banfich.
7. Jessica Gall, West Lafayette
Criteria keeps Gall from climbing even higher up the rankings. She ran in only the 2000 and 2001 state meets in this decade due to graduation so her ninth place finish as a sophomore in 1999 doesn’t factor in. However, Gall’s fifth place run in 2000 and state championship in 2001 are fair game, grabbing her a spot in the top ten. Like many others on the list, Gall was also a Foot Locker Finalist in her senior year.
6. Alissa McKaig, FW Concordia
Like her teammate Mitchell, McKaig gave up another sport (soccer in this case) in her pursuit of running. She didn’t run as a freshman and split time as a sophomore, where she was a surprise third place finisher at the semistate and eventually ended 14th at the state finals. The next year, despite much improvement, McKaig was sub-par at the state meet and placed a disappointing 15th.
As a senior, McKaig took advantage of her opportunities. Reportedly training much harder, she easily ran away from the field at the semistate. At the state meet, McKaig downed defending champion Katie Harrington of Carmel, who had suffered an early season injury that inhibited her training. That title wasn’t the end of her season either as McKaig was one of three Hoosier girls to qualify for Foot Locker that season.
5. Rachel Stichter, Wawasee
A reported intjury may have kept Stichter from moving further up the list. A highly-touted runner out of middle school, Stichter was seventh as a freshman in a field that included six other girls in this top ten list. As a sophomore, Sticther ran into some problems in the closing stretch on the course in Bloomington but still finished 11th. The following year, Sticther finished third in the midst of three Foot Locker finalists.
That third place finish in ’03 made Sticther the top returner and favorite heading into her senior year. Sticther was hobbled midseason, which nearly crippled her training, and she finished second to Adele Mitchell at the state meet. She did get her state title in the track season, running 10:41 to win the 3200. Stichter was never a Foot Locker finalist, though she never made an attempt to make the national meet through the regional qualifier in Wisconsin.
4. Maggie Bingham, Westfield
Running during the time of one of Indiana’s all-time greats, Bingham never even sniffed a state title, but she is one of five girls in this decade to earn an individual medal all four years. Certainly it is no coincidence that Bingham’s four years at Westfield resulted in four rings (one runner-up and three championships) for the Shamrocks. As a freshman, she was eighth, which would be the worst finish of her illustrious high school career.
As a sophomore, Bingham was third overall just ahead of teammate Kristina Krasich as the ‘Rocks pulled a rabbit out of their hat in upsetting favored teams Valparaiso and Carmel. The next year, she was second to Culver’s Alex Banfich with her team again winning a state title. As the racing distance moved to 5000 meters, Bingham was fourth in her senior season. Like Stichter, Bingham never attempted to qualify for the Foot Locker national meet, mainly due to constraints of the basketball season.
3. Tiffany Redlarczyk, Lake Central
Redlarczyk was the quintessential “almost” runner of the decade, finishing second in ’00, ’01 and ’02 to three different girls. As a freshman, she was sixth in ’99. Interestingly enough, Redlarczyk was the third freshman that season, and none of the top two beat her in the next three years.
Beginning her quest for a state title, she was first turned away by freshman Amanda VanWanzeele, who barely grabbed All-State honors the next season before falling off the cross country map. The next season, senior Jessica Gall to the better of Redlarczyk before Katie Harrington bested her as a senior. Still, Redlarczyk’s sixth, second, second, second finishes add up to 12, which is second only to Alex Banfich in terms of a four-year career. She never qualified for the Foot Locker finals, but she was tenth as a senior which would make it currently. Redlarczyk went on to a career at Arkansas.
2. Katie Harrington, Carmel
Harrington was a state champion, and very possibly could have been a two-time winner had it not been for a slight setback in her senior year. Like only five other girls on this list (and very few others in the decade), she was a four-time All-Stater. She was also a key player in two classic duels between Carmel and Valparaiso in ’00 and ’01 as the two programs split the battles.
As a freshman, Harrington snagged the last All-State spot by two seconds when she finished 25th. The next year, she was tenth as her team upended the defending state champions with just 56 points. Carmel had its worst team finish in history at 15th in ’02, but Harrington was the pride of the Greyhounds with her individual state championship. She then qualified for Foot Locker nationals where she finished 17th, just missing All-American status. Her senior year was arguably better. Harrington rebounded from an early season injury to finish second to McKaig at the state finals, then went on place fourth at Foot Locker.
Harrington was the only runner in the decade to finish first and second in the state meet and the only girl to win an individual title and team championship in the same career (albeit different years). Harrington is one of only two in the decade to have qualified twice for Foot Locker.
1. Alex Banfich, Culver Academy
Banfich lost one meet to Indiana competition in four years. That came when, as a freshman, she finished third at the state finals. Beyond that, the Culver harrier was undefeated except for ventures outside the state to races like Foot Locker Regionals and Nationals. Banfich is one of only three female runners to have won three cross country state crowns and her eight individual state championships (including track) rank second to none.
As a freshman, Banfich finished nine second behind the champion Mitchell. The next year, she won by ten seconds over Chesterton’s Sarah Kehe. It was the closest anyone would be in a state finals cross country race to her as the next two year’s victories were 17 and 16 seconds respectively. When she won as a sophomore, there was a smaller gap between second and 14th as there was between first and second.
Banfich is one of only two Indiana girls to qualify for the national championship three times, and she finished All-American in her senior year. Considering only this decade, there certainly is no argument to where Banfich belongs in the rankings. With the entire 29 year history of girls cross country in the spectrum, the case could be made as to her being the best of all-time.
Photos courtesy Jed Pearson