Columbus East High School

Sellersburg, IN - Led by a standout runner-up performance from junior Norman Dickson and a clutch tiebreaker victory for the boys team, the Columbus East Olympian boys and girls cross-country teams delivered strong performances Saturday morning at the Hoosier Hills Conference tournament. In the boys race, Dickson set the pace for Columbus East by finishing second overall with a time of 16:00.17. His front-running performance fueled a tight team battle that came down to a tiebreaker. Columbus East and Seymour tied for fourth place with 110 points each, requiring a sixth-runner tiebreaker to determine the final standing. Sophomore Caleb Reid delivered for the Olympians, placing 52nd overall in 18:58.92 to beat Seymour's sixth runner and secure fourth place for East. Following Dickson, the Olympian varsity boys packed closely together: senior Cullen Fullerton took 34th (18:05.44), freshman Daxton Wolf finished 35th (18:07.30), freshman Henry Meredith finished 37th (18:12.44), and junior Liam Wiltsey placed 40th (18:26.14) to complete the scoring top five. Junior Mick Emme ran 66th (19:40.20) as the seventh varsity runner. Also competing for the East boys were Zayden Weatherford (68th, 19:44.66), Evan Holley (76th, 20:36.65), Eion Totten (82nd, 21:07.35), Alexander Weatherford (83rd, 21:15.97), and Levi Eickmeyer (88th, 22:30.47). "Very happy with how they raced today, now to keep our heads down and focus on Sectionals in 2 weeks!" said boys head coach Chanel Thompson. In the girls race, senior Elizabeth Sztaba led the Lady Olympians by placing 26th overall in 21:40.66. Sztaba's effort anchored a compact group finish that earned Columbus East a fifth-place team result with 133 points, edging out sixth-place Jennings County (140 points). The Lady Olympians maintained a tight pack behind Sztaba, with less than a minute separating their top five finishers: freshman Lily Pendleton in 30th (21:52.10), freshman London Kareus in 34th (22:06.10), junior Abigail Morales in 36th (22:13.43), and senior Trinity Burns in 39th (22:30.26). Senior Abby Collins took 41st (22:38.50) and sophomore Brooke Newell placed 53rd (23:58.77). Daphne May (68th, 26:12.17) and Camilla DeVreese (72nd, 29:15.93) also competed for the girls team. HOOSIER HILLS CONFERENCE TEAM SCORES Boys Team Standings: 1. Bloomington South - 29 points 2. Floyd Central - 54 points 3. Jennings County - 99 points 4. Columbus East - 110 points (won tiebreaker) 5. Seymour - 110 points 6. Bedford North Lawrence - 126 points 7. Jeffersonville - 205 points Girls Team Standings: 1. Floyd Central - 33 points 2. Bloomington South - 64 points 3. Seymour - 79 points 4. Bedford North Lawrence - 82 points 5. Columbus East - 133 points 6. Jennings County - 140 points 7. New Albany - 197 points IHSAA Cross-Country Sectionals begin Saturday, October 17th starting at 10 a.m. in Nashville, IN hosted by Brown County High School.