By FRANK BONNER II, for The Democrat
A Brown County runner crossed the finish line first at Saturday’s Brown County sectional at Eagle Park.
Wyatt Wyman of Brown County won the boys race in 16:24.46, but Columbus North walked away with the team win with 27 points.
The Eagles were second with 85, while Seymour came in third with 90 and Martinsville had 121. Columbus East was the fifth and final boys team to advance to the Oct. 14 regional with 163.
“Wyatt wining was big for us,” Brown County coach Rob Abraham said. “Whenever you can have a single-digit person, it’s definitely going to be one of those things that’s a major benefit for us. My top three ran solid races.”
Other runners for the Eagles were Jackson McPheeters (fifth in 16:49.83) and Marino Dolph (12th in 17:17.50). Tim Kilburn finished 21st (17:54.62), and Jordan Dolph was 49th (19:33.30), Cameron Fox 51st (19:42.53) and Billy Webb 64th (21:38.28).
In the girls race, Columbus North’s Arig Tong finished in 19 minutes, 17.69 seconds for 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) to place first overall on her way to helping the Bull Dog girls finish with 25 points.
Seymour placed second with 53 and Columbus East finished third with 95 points. Brown County (125) and Brownstown Central (132) claimed the final two qualifying spots to this Saturday’s Brown County Regional.
North, Seymour and Brown County girls took the top 11 individual finishes, with the Bull Dogs accounting for six of them.
The top runner for Brown County’s girls was Emilia Koester, who placed fourth in 19:33.69. Anna Fleetwood took 11th in 21:04.29, and Emma DeBord was 19th (21:48.99), Maris Wyman was 37th (23:21.11) and Angel Meece 62nd (27:19.66).
“We have two (runners) who are in the top 11,” Abraham said. “They did well, and then I thought Emma DeBord ran a great race. We just need those other two — my fourth and my fifth, to move up a little bit in order to compete next weekend. It just gets tougher every week.”
The Brown County Regional will start at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 18 at Eagle Park with the boys race, followed by the girls race at 11:15.
