Thursday, Sept , 27, 2023

Terre Haute, IN- 3,628  athletes from eleven states are entered in the 2023 Nike XC Town Twilight at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Championship Course, host of 15 national championships and this year’s IHSAA State and NXR Midwest Regional Cross Country Championships.  The meet entries are an all time high and are the most ever received for a high school cross country event at the famed LaVern Gibson Cross Country Championship Course. The meet is scheduled for Saturday, September 30. Races begin at 6:00pm with the JV divisions and conclude with the USA Race of Champions at 9:00pm. Admission is $5 per person with children under 10 are free.

In the USA Boys Race of Champions, DyeStat Preseason US#14 Carmel (IN), US#18  Jesuit (New Orleans, LA), US #34 Noblesville (IN), and US#35 Mason (OH) will square off in an exciting duel of some of the nation’s best teams. Upstarts,South (Plainfield, IL), Rock Bridge (Columbia, MO), Hamilton Southeastern (Fishers,IN), Brownsburg (IN), North (Liberty, MO), and Zionsville Community (Zionsville, IL) will be looking to improve their status and test themselves on the course that will serve as the qualifier for NXR Nationals on Saturday, November 11, 2023.

Last year, Jesuit came away with a 97-106 win without their top two runners. This year, they opened with a second place finish to Belen Jesuit (Miami, FL) 73-124 at the Southern Showcase in Huntsville, AL on September 16. Brady Mullen, Leland Crawford, Lucas Sampedro, and Brady Monahan return from last year’s team to help defend the title. Michael Vocke, the 5A state 1600m champion sat out last year’s race and is in the lineup for this year as well as Joe Accardo and Josh Quintana who have run 16:05.28 or better this year.

Carmel (IN), South (Plainfield, IL) and Noblesville (IN) finished third and fourth last year and come in with strong teams.

Carmel is led by Anthony Provenzano, last year’s Indiana 3,200m state runner-up (8:54.94). The Greyhounds top five have run under 16 minutes for 5k this season.

Noblesville will counter with veterans Caden Click, Jack Strong, Sam Rinker, Alec Moor, Ronnie Neal, and John Libs. South will have a top six who have run bests of 16:10.34 or faster. They are led by Camyn Viger, a 4:10.75 miler and state 1600m runner-up, Dylan Maloney,  Riley Fink, Joaquin DeAlba , Alex Batsala, and Dylan Burturusis. Cole Maranowicz and Tyler Miller, both sub 16:30, will add depth.

In the boy’s race, 10 runners with bests of 15:20 or faster for 5k will tackle the course. The top returnees from last year’s race are Jesuit’s Brady Mullen who finished fourth with a 15:04, Camyn Viger who finished eighth in 15:05.4, and Caden Click who finished 11th in 15:10.0.

However, the top entrant is Ravenwood’s (Brentwood, TN) Miles Ramer. The University of Tennessee commit sped to a blistering 14:39.50 as he was edged out by Belen Jesuit’s Joshua Ruiz who won in 14:38.79 at The Southern Showcase in Huntsville, on Sept 16.  Mullen was ninth in that race with a 15:02.11 with Leland Crawford 11th in 15:09.69. Rock Bridge’s Andrew Hauser, the Missouri State 1600m champion (4:12.79), Fisher’s Sam Quagliaroli, and  Breubeuf Jesuit’s Cameron Todd, the 1600m State runner up (4:08.76) have all dipped under 15 minutes this season  which could make for a fast and furious race.

Last year, Kole Mathison ran 14:51 and nearly took down the course record of 14:48 run by Fatsum Zienasellassie.  The top ten have a good shot at breaking into that record area and improving on last year’s finish that saw four runners dip under 15 minutes.

In the Girls USA Race of Champions , Hamilton Southeastern (Fishers, IN), the No-5 ranked team in the Midwest Region, will face top challengers Noblesville (IN), North Central (Indianapolis, IN), Franklin Central (Indianapolis,IN), and Carmel (IN). Hamilton Southeastern. Noblesville and North Central all have three runners under 19 minutes for 5k and will count on their fourth and fifth runners to seal their final places.

Individually, Homestead senior Addison Knoblauch comes in as the top seed with a 16:59.80 from this season. She boasts a personal best of 2:14.51 for the 800m and finished ninth at the New Balance Outdoor National mile with a 4:51.35.  Her challengers will be: Delta(Muncie, IN) senior Nicki Southerland who has run 17:01.90 and won the  Running Lane Championships 1600m in 4:43.54. She has a personal best of 2:05.06 in the 800m and a 4:41.07  in the mile; Pendleton Heights(Pendleton, IN) junior Ava Jarrell who has a best this season of 17:05.70. She has personal bests of 4:57.46 for the 1600m and 11:15.20 for 3200m; Indian Creek(Trafalgar,IN) sophomore Libby Dowty;  and William Floyd (Mastic Beach, NY) junior Zariel Macchia. Macchia finished 19th at the World Athletics U20 Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia to help Team USA earn a bronze medal. On the track, Macchia has a best of 16:27.29 for the 5k.

Sydney Thorvaldson(Rawlins High , WY), now at Arkansas, set the course and meet record of 16:38.3 in 2020. 

The event will be livestreamed here. Results will be found here and on 2023 Nike XC Town Twilight homepage.