Benton Central Jr-Sr High School

Steady growth over the season led to a successful sectional appearance for Benton Central's Cross Country Teams. Temperatures were in the 40's but the Rensselaer’s course is flat and fast. Our girls' team lacks the minimum number of athletes to qualify for Regionals as a team, but quality has a quantity all its own. The boys used consistency and a firm goal to make it to Regionals to spur them Saturday. Four Lady Bison harriers toed the line and all four earned the right to toe the line next week at Regionals. Freshman Lillian Weigle placed 3rd with a time of 18:20. Behind her was sophomore Harlo Holder in 4th at a Personal Best time of 19:30, sophomore Maggie Rayman in 9th, and Junior Loralei Rayman finished 14th. The girls move on as individuals to Regionals. The Bison boys are a young varsity team led by seniors Matthew McKinnis and Sam Fleming, who each set Personal Best times for the third meet in a row at 17:32 and 17:37 respectively. Each of our boys set personal best times to place 5th in the team standings and advance to Regionals. These runners were Louie Pyke, Landon Dennis, Jacob Pitstick, Gideon Fisher, and Cameron Glotzbach. Even with many younger runners, this year’s squad dropped their team average time by 13 seconds compared to last year. Eight of the bison set Personal Best times and all of our boys made up key spots to beat out a tough Twin Lakes team. The girls faced up against two previous State-Qualifying runners from Kankakee Valley and a solid DeMotte Christian team. Benton Central advanced every runner to the Regional meet at New Prairie High School next Saturday. Good luck to the teams as they represent BC!