By Kevin Leibrock
Hendricks County Flyer
DANVILLE —
The Avon cross country teams picked up a pair of victories Tuesday at Danville.
Led by first-place finisher Jordan Mueller (17:23), the Orioles accounted for eight of the top 10 times in the boys' meet.
Not a bad showing for coach Brandon DeHart's Orioles squad.
"We have a strong group and we're really pushing the team aspect," DeHart said. "Last year, Mueller showed some promise as a freshman. We're expecting him to be a front of the pack runner this year."
Other Orioles to finish in the top 10 were Ross Hughes (third, 18:10); Zach Berner (fourth, 18:23); Luke Briggs (fifth, 18:32); Zach McCormack (sixth, 18:44); Derek Heeger (seventh, 18:51); Ashar Hussain (eighth, 19:09); and Calvin Wieczorek (10th, 19:11).
For Danville, Maddison Russell finished runner-up (18:05). Mitch Coffman also cracked the top 10 with a ninth-place time (19:10).
Warriors coach Pat McKenzie said Tuesday's meet was about building the runners' endurance and getting them used to running 5k events.
"There is a little bit of summer rust," McKenzie said. "It doesn't mean that a couple of them aren't fit, it's just learning how to race 5k again and establishing that pace."
McKenzie came away especially impressed with Russell's performance.
"Maddison's improved a lot over the years," McKenzie said. "When he first started running he was probably running 21:05 as opposed to 18:05. We're trying to get some of the others to close that gap between Maddison and them."
On the girls' side, Avon's Jesse McNealy cruised to victory in 21:39. Other Orioles in the top 10 were Taylor Smith (fourth, 22:37); Fiona Brown (fifth, 23:13); Gabi Borges (sixth, 23:46); Becca Pitcock (seventh, 25:25); Stephanie Iraheta (eighth, 25:30); and Katie Kirchhoff (10th, 25:36).
"She and Taylor (Smith) are typically our top two runners," Avon coach Brad Rosebrock said. "I'm not surprised at all to see them perform the way that they did today."
Rosebrock agreed with McKenzie - Tuesday's meet helped build endurance for larger meets later in the season.
"It's our second 5k and three fourths of our girls are brand new to high school cross country," Rosebrock said. "So this is definitely an eye-opening experience."
Danville's girls were not far behind, as Lauren Callahan (22:18) and Megan Newcomer (22:23) placed second and third. Kelsey Miller (25:33) added a ninth-place finish for Danville.
The Warriors next travel to the Terre Haute Invite at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Avon is also back in action at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, traveling to the Harrison Invite.
