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Concordia junior Weller runs to girls XC state championship
TERRE HAUTE – Turns out Swifties are swift afoot.
Mallory Weller is anyway.
Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran coach Scott Steffen said she “freaked out” Friday when the team bus passed by Lucas Oil Stadium, site of Taylor Swift’s Indianapolis concert Saturday night. She had tickets.
“First things first,” the coach told her.
She was first.
The junior runner broke away from a strong field to win the individual title at the IHSAA girls state cross-country meet. She covered the 5,000-meter LaVern Gibson Championship course in 17 minutes, 12.19 seconds, beating two state champions and two Nike nationals qualifiers.
And the best part? Weller need not choose which is bigger, state title or Eras Tour.
“I’ll have to see how the concert goes. But this is pretty high right now,” she said.
Ava Jarrell and freshman Anya Zoeller were second and third, making Pendleton Heights the first school to have teammates in the top three since Chesterton did so in 1996. Times were 17:21.42 and 17:35.09, respectively.
Jarrell, winner of the Mental Attitude Award, is a state 3,200-meter champion. Zoeller’s 1,600 of 4:55.27 ranked No. 4 nationally among 2024 eighth-graders, according to athletic.net.
“In practice, we try to push each other, just kind of help each other out,” Jarrell said.
Macey Thompson of Lake Central was fourth in 17:36.63, Julia Score of Bishop Chatard fifth in 17:37.41 and Libby Dowty of Indian Creek sixth in 17:48.79. Another freshman, Daphne Weller, sister of Mallory, finished eighth in 17:56.00.
Dowty won state last year in 17:06.7 and on Oct. 5 clocked 17:00.79, a record for an Indiana girl on this course. At last year’s Nike nationals, Dowty was 17th and Score 41st.
Weller was fourth in state track in the 800 meters in 2:09.87. She said her results suffered this season until she was diagnosed with low hemoglobin, or iron deficiency.
Dowty led through an opening mile of 5:28, Jarrell went ahead in the second kilometer, and Weller seized control before the closing kilometer.
“Once I made my move, I knew I had to stick with it,” Weller said. “I stuck. I fought the entire race.”
In team standings, Carmel returned to the top after a three-year hiatus and extended its record to 20 state titles in this sport. (Valparaiso is second with five, none since 2004.)
With individual qualifiers displaced, Carmel scorers went 5-6-11-23-31 for 76 points. Concordia Lutheran scored 91 and was second for the second straight year.
The Greyhounds won under first-year coach Scott Williams, who arrived at Carmel after 33 years as a teacher, coach and administrator at Ben Davis.
“The program has a rich tradition, but you’ve still got to come down and get it done,” Williams said. “This team today, Concordia, they were tough.”
Lake Central was third, 2023 champion Homestead fourth and 2022 champion Noblesville fifth.
Teams outside Indianapolis and its collar counties took six of the top 10 team spots.
Carmel’s top finishers were sophomore Larkin Tayor in 10th and junior Sadie Foley in 12th.
No. 6 runner Olivia Mundt, a senior who was 71st, said Williams changed the culture and the workouts. The coach said he added core strength to the training in an attempt to reduce injuries.
“I think in years past, we all kind of had the mind-set, ‘it’s either you or nothing.’ We never thought that your teammates could really help you through,” Mundt said. “This year we learned that finding your teammate in a race just really helps propel you.
“Honestly, it makes you feel stronger when you can find a teammate to run with. And this year, we’ve all gotten so close. We all look at each other as family now.”
Williams said he advised the team not to panic if the two Weller sisters were way out in front of them. The Greyhounds' strength was the pack.
“So today, just bring it all together,” he said. “They did a great job of not losing sight of the plan at hand.”
Contact David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.
Pendleton Heights' Ava Jarrell wins Mental Attitude Award
During the awards ceremony, Ava Jarrell of Pendleton Heights High School was named the winner of the Mental Attitude Award in Girls Cross Country by the IHSAA Executive Committee.
Jarrell ran to a state runner-up finish today to become the highest-finishing cross country runner in her school's history. A three-time state finals qualifier, Ava was named a team captain, holds the school record and also participates in track and field for the Arabians where she is the defending state champion in the 3200 meters.
Ava is the daughter of Reno Jarrell of Ingalls, Ind. and will attend Indiana University beginning next fall to study exercise science while running for the Hoosiers' womens' teams.
The award is annually presented to a senior participant in the state finals who best demonstrates mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability and is nominated by their principal and coach.
Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the proud corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a $1,000 scholarship to Pendleton Heights High School in the name of Ava Jarrell.
