Delta Regional Preview
GIRLS PREVIEW
Delta Sectional Qualifying Teams
Monroe Central
Yorktown
Delta
Daleville
Muncie Central
Pendleton Heights Sectional Qualifying Teams
Hamilton Southeastern
Pendleton Heights
Fishers
Blue River
Alexandria-Monroe
Delta Sectional Qualifying Individuals
Kendyl Thrasher (Wapahani)
Sydney McFarren (Burris)
Haileigh Allen (Randolph Southern)
Brynn Wright (Cowan)
Allie Black (Randolph Southern)
Lilly Pierce (Union)
Alexis Sibray (Jay County)
Maddie Felton (Wapahani)
Ava Jefferis (Union City)
Mariah Manning (Winchester)
Pendleton Heights Sectional Qualifying Individuals
Sophie Goodwin (Lapel)
Abby Etchison (Liberty Christian)
Ella Wall (Liberty Christian)
Katelyn Foor (Elwood)
Clara Fulton (APA)
Evelyn Croy (Frankton)
Addy Doster (Liberty Christian)
Emma Sheward (Frankton)
Alexis Finney (Frankton)
Madison Cooper (Shenandoah)
The Team Race
Assuming that three non-ECI schools (Hamilton Southeastern, Fishers and Pendleton Heights) will take three of the top five Semi-State qualifying spots, that leaves two openings for ECI schools to punch their ticket to IWU on what figures to be a blistering fast state-qualifying course. Here are each of the remaining ECI girls teams' likelihood to advance to the next round.
Monroe Central
The Lady Golden Bears are coming off their best meet of the year with a Sectional Championship at Taylor University last Saturday. Monroe Central saw PR’s out of all seven of their runners last week, including a :47 PR by freshman sensation Avery Thomas whose 7th place finish at the Delta Sectional was vital for the Bears’ victory. Along with Junior Addison Coe (who finished 6th at the Delta Sectional) look for this squad to be very much in the thick of things for a semi-state qualifying spot.
Yorktown
The Delta Sectional runner-up stood on top of the ECI Coaches Poll for most of the season will figure to come out swinging this Saturday as they look to compete in next weekend’s Semi-State.The Lady Tigers, as they have all season, will rely on senior lead runners Ali Smith and Rachael Stagge to get their team to yet another semi-state berth.
Delta
The gap between the third place team finishers and the two top teams from the Delta Sectional figures to close this weekend as Delta’s Nicki Southerland’s presumptive top finish will mean even more in the team standings as the Eagles hope to close the gap to reach the Semi-State meet. The Lady Eagles will also need Southerland’s teammates, namely Olivia Bohannon and Kylee Robles continue to improve for their team as well.
Daleville
The Lady Broncos have enjoyed a bit of a “Cinderella Run” as of late as they have gone from struggling to field a full team, to getting back senior runner Kadence Aikin from medical issues (just in time for the tournament), to becoming team regional qualifiers for the first time in school history. Leading the charge for Daleville will be junior Faith Norris who will have ambitions not only to be a Semi-State qualifier but to also punch a ticket to Lavern Gibson for the state meet by season's end.
Blue River
Led by sophomore Charlee Gibson (another runner who has state-qualifying thoughts on her mind), the Lady Vikings have more than enough firepower to make things interesting in this weekend’s regional. Along with fellow lead runners Sydney Fellers and Lilyan Guffey; Blue River will definitely be in the hunt for that last top five spot.
Muncie Central
The Lady Bearcat Quintet come into this weekend’s regional doing what every team aspires to do, be running their best come tournament time. And that is exactly what Muncie Central did last weekend, led by junior Samathan Fowler, whose PR of 21:17 set at the Delta Sectional not only helps make the Muncie Central team competitive this weekend but also puts her in the conversation to make it to semi-state as an individual should the Bearcats not advance as a team.
The Individual Race
The always complicated individual advancement out of the XC Regional round can always at least seem simple going into the race: the top 10 finishers from non-advancing teams will advance to the semi-state round. Here’s our breakdown from how we see it:
The “Probables” to advance to Semi-State out of ECI
Kendyl Thrasher (Wapahani)
Sydney McFarren (Muncie Burris)
Haileigh Allen (Randolph Southern)
Brynn Wright (Cowan)
These four girls have been running strong all year and after impressive sectional showings all seem to be favorites out of the “individuals” group to advance to next weekend’s Semi-State at IWU. Pay attention to Wapahani’s Kendyl Thrasher in this race in particular, as she ran a PR of 19:39 in last weekend’s Delta Sectional, not only making her a favorite to advance to next weekend’s Semi-State at IWU but puts her on the bubble to punch a ticket to the state meet at Lavern Gibson as well.
The “Fighting for the last Semi-State qualifying spots” out of ECI
Allie Black (Randolph Southern)
Lilly Pierce (Union)
Alexis Sibray (Jay County)
Maddie Felton (Wapahani)
Ava Jefferis (Union City)
Mariah Manning (Winchester)
Madison Cooper (Shenandoah)
Here’s where things become fluid in the Delta Regional because depending on what teams do and do not advance out of the Delta Regional will determine how many spots are left for these individuals. The ECI Runner Analytics Team prophecies that once things are sorted out from the team side of it, and you take out the individual girls that figure to make it to semi-state outside of ECI then there is probably room for somewhere between 1-3 runners out of this group to advance.
Boys Delta Regional Preview
Delta Sectional Qualifying Teams
Wapahani
Yorktown
Monroe Central
Muncie Central
Muncie Burris
Pendleton Heights Sectional Qualifying Teams
Hamilton Southeastern
Fishers
Pendleton Heights
Lapel
Blue River
Delta Sectional Qualifying Individuals
Clay Batio (Delta)
Aidan Moystner (Winchester)
Joseph Boggs (Jay County)
Caden Clark (Delta)
Gavin Ashby (Cowan)
Jackson Bradley (Cowan)
Sebastian Solis (Jay County)
Noah Colvin (Daleville)
Logan Walker (Cowan)
Ethan Colvin (Daleville)
Pendleton Heights Sectional Qualifying Individuals
Seth Price (Liberty Christian)
Hunter Smith (Frankton)
Kenyan Troxel (Shenandoah)
Jack Melvin (Frankton)
Jayden Reese (Elwood)
Spencer Proctor (Anderson)
Sam Hinshaw (Shenandoah)
Owen French (Anderson)
Conner King (Anderson)
Logan Hill (Alexandria)
The Team Race
Like the girls race, assuming that three non-ECI schools (Hamilton Southeastern, Fishers and Pendleton Heights) will take three of the top five Semi-State qualifying spots, that leaves two openings for ECI schools to punch their ticket to IWU on what figures to be a blistering fast state-qualifying course. Here are each of the remaining ECI boys teams' likelihood to advance to the next round.
Wapahani
The Raiders are coming off of back-to-back sectional championships and are seeking reaching the single-class semi-state as a team for the 9th time in 10 years. Leading the charge for Wapahani will be Junior Nick Cook, who turned heads from across the state last weekend with his Delta Sectional winning time of 15:36. Behind Cook will be the trio of seniors Payton Baker, Colton Boggs and Jon Shrock who, if they can close the gap behind Cook, can start thinking of team goals beyond advancing to the Semi-State meet next weekend.
Yorktown
The Tigers were a solid second in last week’s Delta Sectional and put themselves in good position to advance to next weekend’s Semi-State at IWU. Yorktown was led last week with their consistent number one runner Johnathon Loney who finished 11th but was given a huge assist by junior Aidan O’Donnell who finished right behind Loney in 12th. And the Tiger recipe for success did not end there. In total, Yorktown’s top five finishers finished within :39 seconds of each other, a formula that if they can replicate will give them an excellent chance to move on to the next round.
Monroe Central
Monroe Central is a team that is used to one thing in recent memory; success. And that expectation for success was very apparent at the Delta Sectional last weekend as two-time team sectional champion runners Eli Chamberlain and Caden Landis ran big time races to get the Bears to advance to this weekend’s regional. The hill will be even steeper to climb this week for the Bears as they eye for semi-state but this is not a squad you can count out.
Muncie Central
Despite running their last two races without junior Daelin Green, the Bearcats have seen a resurgence of sorts out of sophomore Hayden Bradford who appears to be returning to form after a very successful freshman season. On paper, this Muncie Central team can be scary, and if they have their whole team running 100% they can very well find themselves at IWU next weekend.
Blue River
The Vikings all year have been a pack running team that will have to rely on that to find some success this weekend. Senior James Crull, who has been Blue River’s lead man all year, will lead the charge for the Vikings as they hope to reach their first team semi-state appearance since 2016.
Muncie Burris
The Owls come into the Delta Regional as the last sectional qualifying team from the Delta Sectional but definitely should not be overlooked. The low sticks of Henry Cooper and Ryne Wagner will be key to keep Burris in the hunt but just as important will be where their ever so important 3-5 land in comparison to the other contending teams across ECI.
The Individual Race
The always complicated individual advancement out of the XC Regional round can always at least seem simple going into the race: the top 10 finishers from non-advancing teams will advance to the semi-state round. Here’s our breakdown from how we see it:
The “Probables” to advance to Semi-State out of ECI
Clay Batio (Delta)
Aidan Moystner (Winchester)
While it looks like non-qualifying semi-state teams could take up a lot of the 10 individual spots from this weekend’s regional, these are the two individuals that the ECI Runner Analytics Team feels really good about advancing to the next round. Clay Batio, like his mustache, has been impressive all year-long and he has a lot of momentum going into Saturday’s regional as he has finished the last three weekends by 1) winning the Delta Invite 2) finishing All-Conference at the HHC and 3) becoming the 2nd runner in ECI to break 17 minutes this year at the Delta Sectional. For Winchester, senior Aidan Moystner has used a huge second half of the season surge to propel him back into great position to qualify for semi-state for the second consecutive year.
The “Fighting for the last Semi-State qualifying spots” out of ECI
Joseph Boggs (Jay County)
Caden Clark (Delta)
Gavin Ashby (Cowan)
Jackson Bradley (Cowan)
Sebastian Solis (Jay County)
Noah Colvin (Daleville)
Logan Walker (Cowan)
Ethan Colvin (Daleville)
Kenyan Troxel (Shenandoah)
Sam Hinshaw (Shenandoah)
A lot of names for what will in likelihood will only be a spot or two left for ECI Runners. Sticking out on this list are a pair of freshmen including Jay County’s Joseph Boggs and Cowan’s Jackson Bradley who will be looking to build their XC resumes as their freshmen seasons start to near the end. Also, Delta senior Caden Clark is one to watch as he is more than capable of running aggressively and running well enough to earn himself one of the final semi-state qualifying spots.
Let the fun begin.
