On Oct. 21, the Gibson Southern boys cross country team and members of the girls team competed at the Angel Mounds Regional. This year, after the restructuring of the cross country postseason, there were 240 runners and 25 teams, along with 75 individual runners.
“The competition was tough at the new Regional,” Coach Jeremy Aydt said. “It was similar to the old Semi-State.”
Senior Alex Spindler advanced to the State meet, placing 30th individually, making him a two-time State finalist.
“It feels pretty good … I’m the best there is,” Spindler said.
At the Regional, senior Hayden Pennington placed 81st, senior Cooper Maurer placed 92nd and freshman Aidan Alston placed 94th.
“I enjoyed running with these guys all of high school,” Pennington said. “It’s been extremely fun running with Alex and Cooper and being able to compete with them and push each other was really special.”
The boys team was projected 15th out of 25 schools and ended up placing 11th out of 25.
“Overall the boys performed really well,” Aydt said. “We beat some teams at Regional that had beaten us earlier in the season.”
The two girls who ran for the Lady Titans were sophomore Molly Spindler and senior Courtney Heldt.
“In a very competitive field, Courtney finished 57th overall and Molly was 122nd,” Aydt said. “There were 142 finishers in the girls’ race.”
Heldt struggled some in the Sectional and Regional but was happy with her performance.
“The day I ran Sectionals, I was actually sick with tonsillitis, so that entire week after Sectionals I was still pretty sick,” Heldt said. “So, I didn’t feel totally like myself when I ran Regionals. I would have liked for it to go better, but I’m still thankful I was able to run and finish out my season.”
Alex Spindler hopes to perform well at State and beat his time from last year.
“Both he and I want him to improve on his time and place from last year as a junior,” Aydt said. “It is the same course as last year. He is the type of competitor who is not satisfied with just being there. He wants to do his best and see what he can do against the best in the state.”
At the Sectional, Alex Spindler placed 4th, Pennington placed 27th, Maurer placed 31st and Alston finished right behind him in 32nd.
“It went alright,” Maurer said. “Thought we could have gone a little better, but I was still happy with what we did.”
Heldt placed 26th and Spindler placed 25th at the Sectional which gave them the nod to race at Regional.
“Making it to Regionals now is a big deal, and I was happy to make it,” Heldt said.
The boys’ team won the PAC race earlier in the year, making them back-to-back champions. Alex Spindler won the PAC meet finishing 1st, Maurer placed 7th, Pennington came in 9th and Alston was 10th.
“The PAC is a tough conference,” Aydt said. “To win back-to-back championships shows the hard work and dedication the boys have put in over the last four years. They were focused on keeping the title at Gibson Southern this fall.”
