HIGH SCHOOL

HS cross-country: Dominant Carmel sweeps semistate

Oldenburg's Curtis Eckstein runs fastest time in state since 2011

Paul Shepherd
IndyStar correspondent
Carmel's girls led the pack in Saturday's Shelbyville Semistate at Blue River Park.

SHELBYVILLE — Those in attendance at Saturday’s Shelbyville cross-country semistate meet witnessed two of the most dominating performances in state history.

In a field featuring three of the top-five girls teams in the state, Carmel showed there’s a clear disparity between the best and the rest. The Greyhounds claimed the top five spots to notch a perfect score of 15 points, with defending state champion Sarah Leinheiser coasting to the individual win on the 5,000-meter Blue River Park course in a personal best 17 minutes, 20 seconds. Ninth-ranked Fishers finished second with 96 points.

Carmel’s boys completed the team sweep, winning with 53 points to Hamilton Southeastern’s 77, but it was Oldenburg Academy senior Curt Eckstein who stole the show.

The top returning finisher from last year’s state meet set a course and meet record with a blistering 14:35 (4:41 mile pace). Eckstein’s time is the best in the state this season and fastest since 2011 when Futsum Zeinasellassie from North Central ran a 14:36. He has a shot at breaking Curt Carey of Owen Valley’s 36-year-old state championship record of 14:42 at Saturday’s state meet.

“I’m just going to go out there, run how I always run – hammer it – and if it comes, it comes,” said Eckstein, who plans to run in college and has narrowed his choices to Cincinnati, Purdue and Notre Dame.

Oldenburg Academy's Curtis Eckstein getting ready to cross the finish line in a time of 14:35 to win the Shelbyville Semistate at Blue RIver Park on Saturday.

The top six teams and top 10 individuals on non-advancing teams moved on to the championship race at the LaVern Gibson course in Terre Haute.

The Carmel girls win came a week after the team finished second to host Noblesville in the regional. The Millers catapulted to third in the state rankings, while Carmel dropped from first to fourth. The defending state champion Greyhounds made sure the rest of the state took notice Saturday that they’re the team to beat again.

Leinheiser led from the start, with teammate Christina Geisler pushing her, but the senior pulled away halfway through and never looked back. The rest of the Greyhounds scorers packed up, with Maddie Dalton (17:44), Phoebe Bates (17:46), Rachel Anderson (17:48) and Geisler (17:49) all coming in before Hamilton Southeastern’s Lulu Black (sixth, 17:57).

“Obviously, today was a really good day,” Leinheiser said. “I knew that we could definitely do a perfect score, but I was not expecting that everyone would run PRs. It was amazing. One of my teammates showed me a video of the four of them coming down the straightaway together. I’ve never seen something so cool.”

The boys race was billed as a dual between Eckstein and Hamilton Southeastern junior Gabe Fendel for the individual title, and the duo did not disappoint. They were 100 meters ahead of the field at the 2,000-meter mark with Fendel right on Eckstein’s heels. As the two-man race wore on, though, Eckstein pulled away. Fendel went on to finish second in a personal best 14:47. Cathedral sophomore Cole Hocker broke through a crowded foursome near the finish to take third in 15:21.

“Right at the 3K mark, (Eckstein) just had an extra gear that I just did not have,” Fendel said. “That’s what happens when you have an extra year of training, an extra year of running. He’s stronger, he’s bigger, and he’s used to running that fast of a time. It’s the first time I’ve gone under 15. Hopefully by next week I’ll be ready, but I’m super hyped with how I performed.”

The Carmel boys won their fourth straight semistate, with junior Ben Miller finishing fourth overall and junior Colin Murphy placing sixth.

RESULTS

Top six teams, top 10 individuals on non-qualifying teams advance to the state meet

GIRLS

Carmel 15, Fishers 96, Noblesville 100, Zionsville 112, Westfield 146, Guerin 173, Center Grove 199, Franklin Central 248, Brownsburg 249, Avon 307, Southport 316, Batesville 316, Pike 332, Plainfield 401, East Central 401, Rushville 436, Franklin 465, Union County 514, Roncalli 539, Warren Central 581.

Advancing individuals (on non-qualifying teams):

Lulu Black (Hamilton Southeastern) 6th, 17:57; Emma Wilson (Greencastle) 7th, 18:00; Sabrina Bippus (Hamilton Southeastern) 12th, 18:23; Jenna Barker (Seton Catholic) 13th, 18:23; Valerie Clark (Center Grove) 15th, 18:36; Mary Ann Wehrle (Ritter) 17th, 18:38; Jada Reedus (Franklin Central) 19th, 18:42; Allison Lampert (Pike) 21st, 18:45; Grace Dean (Lawrence North) 24th, 18:52; Kendall Blake (Ritter) 27th, 18:57

BOYS

Carmel 53, Hamilton Southeastern 77, Fishers 95, Brebeuf 139, Avon 167, Zionsville 182, Cathedral 242, New Palestine 281, Franklin 302, Greenfield Central 302, Danville 322, Center Grove 350, Southport 359, Franklin Central 361, Brownsburg 400, Greenwood 415, Hagerstown 426, Roncalli 438, South Putnam 448, Batesville 489.

Advancing individuals (on non-qualifying teams):

Curtis Eckstein (Oldenburg) 1st, 14:35; Cole Hocker (Cathedral) 3rd, 15:21; Quinn Gallagher (Guerin) 5th, 15:24; Ian Hunter (North Central) 8th, 15:33; Aaron Bennett (Westfield) 9th, 15:37; Daniel Gerber (Danville) 13th, 15:44; Nicholas Leahy (Westfield) 14th, 15:44; Austin Scott (Decatur Central) 15th, 15:45; Jacob Hansen (Greenfield Central) 18th, 15:47; Levi Neuzerling (Noblesville) 19th, 15:48.