The Batesville High School Cross Country team left before the sun came up Saturday morning and headed to the west side of Indianapolis to compete in the 20-team Ben Davis Invitational.
The BHS ladies stepped up to the start line first at 9am and finished with 8 of the varsity runners in the top 30 of the meet. They were led by Senior Kaylynn Bedel who placed 7th with a time of 20:04. Then the Bulldogs had a really nice pack and took spots 12th – 15th, Lexi Harris (20:42), Jayla Bedel (20:54), Paige Allgeier (20:54.6), Sam Adams (21:01). They were closely followed by Caitlin Raver, placing 23rd (21:24) with Hilary Ziegler (21:33) and Bayleigh Demaree (21:36) closely behind in 26th and 27th. With these finishes, Batesville placed runner up, beating many 5A schools. The top 5 places of the girls meet were: Brebeuf, who almost scored a perfect score (16 points), then the Bulldogs coming in a strong 2nd (61 points), followed by Avon (89 points), North Central (141 points) and Westefield (171 points).
Next to the line were the varsity boys and they also had a pretty good day. Jake Chapman was runner up of the meet, running a 16:43. He was closely followed by Cannon Clark who placed 4th at 16:53. Then the Dogs had a bit of a gap and coming in 3rd was Isaac Trossman at 36th (17:59). Then there was a nice little group with Levi Essick out in front placing 55th (18:16), followed by Cash Myers, 61st (18:29), Jaden Basler, 66th (18:39) and Ethan Rahschulte, 69th (18:44). These places help the Dogs secure a solid 4th place finish with 150 points. Ben Davis was the overall winner (36 points), Brebuef, 2nd (105 points), Center Grove, 3rd (128 points). Valparaiso, Mooresville and Danville came in 5th, 6th and 7th, each separated by one points (176, 177 and 178).
Separate JV races were held Saturday and Jade Martin led the Batesville girl’s team with a 20th place finish (24:06) and Abe Trossman came through first for the boys team in 44th place (21:24). The Bulldogs had personal bests from Levi Essick, Cash Myers, Landon Raver and Abe Trossman.
(Provided information)