Carmel Depth on Display at County Championship


Both the guys and girls teams at Carmel entered the season ranked in the top five in the Saucony Flo50 National Rankings. In one of the first big races of the year, the Greyhounds showed they are well deserving of those spots.

December 12th, the day of the Foot Locker National Championship, is a long way off. With that being the finish line for Carmel's Ben Veatch senior season, the Greyhounds entered the Hamilton County Championship without their defending state champ. With Veatch limited to spectating, it was up to a pair of freshman to pull through for the Greyhounds in the critical four and five spots. Against some of the best teams in the state, the Greyhounds responded to continue their streak of victories at the County Championship. Below is a breakdown of their top five runners to show exactly how well they performed without Veatch in the lineup.

Team PlaceNameTimePR Prior to Meet
1Teddy Browning15:5715:51
2Thomas Revard16:1115:52
3Evan Bouillet16:2116:38
4William Harris16:2916:42
5Thomas Gastineau16:38N/A

Outside of the top two, a pair of well established seniors, the rest of the top five recorded personal bests including freshman Thomas Gastineau. His time of 16:36 ranks within the top 15 in the nation for freshman this year.

On the individual side, it was super sophomore Gabe Fendel who took the victory in 15:37.82, the second best time in the state and the second best time for a sophomore in the nation. The Hamilton Southeastern star didn't wait long to make his move as he was well in front of the pack from the start of the race. Alec Hartman of Westfield did his best to make up the gap but came up a little short finishing seven seconds behind Fendel. Hartman lead a very strong Westfield squad that showed the potential to being a tough team to beat. Through the first four runners they were tied with Carmel, but the depth of the Greyhounds led to a 13-point victory.

The girls from Carmel came out guns blazing in this one, showing exactly why they are one of the best teams in the nation. Without holding anything back, the Carmel girls put on a show scoring only 21 points. They did this without a full squad as Christina Geisler, their fifth best returner from last year, did not run for the Greyhounds. Many expected sophomore Maddie Dalton to vie for a state title this year after the graduation of Anna Rohrer. However, her teammate, Sarah Leinheiser, has proven to be the girl to beat through the early part of the season. She took the win yesterday in 18:08, the fastest time in the state. In second was Dalton who clocked a very respectable 18:22. Even with the top time in the state leading the Greyhounds, they still only had a 1-5 split of just over a minute as their fifth place runner, Rachel Anderson, crossed the line in 19:12. While it may be early, it's hard to imagine a squad that can beat these girls this season.

Hamilton County Championship Photo Album

Saucony Flo50 National XC Rankings: