Mount Vernon High School

The Mt. Vernon Lady Wildcat Cross Country team participated in the annual IHSAA Sectional at Angel Mounds. Traditionally the course is difficult and the competition is also. This year was no exception as they battled wind gusts of 20 mph and 5 PAC schools added to the new alignment. When all was said and done, there were 5 course PRs, 4 career PRs and 3 qualifiers for next weekend's IHSAA Regional! Senior Krissy Bazan ran a new career PR as she led MV from start to finish. She dropped nearly 2 minutes from her previous course PR and 10 seconds from career PR set just last weekend. She crossed the line in 30th completing the course in 21:58.9. 2 spots behind her was Freshman Makayla Schneider. Schneider cut over 2 and half minutes from her previous course PR and cut 16 seconds from her career PR as she crossed in 22:15.7. Her freshman running mate, Maddie Abel, was a couple strides behind all race and held strong at the finish to earn her right to join Bazan and Schneider at the Regional next week. Maddie cut over a minute from her course PR and 6 seconds from her career PR as she pushed through in 35th place (22:21.7) Stepping up in a big way for Mt. Vernon was Sophomore Ellie Blackburn. In cutting over 2 minutes from the last race at Angel Mounds and over 50 seconds from her career PR, Ellie finished 4th for MV and set her new career PR at 24:33.7. Two spots behind her and just seconds from her career and course PR, Senior Ashley Lilleston gave her all in the 5th scoring spot for the 'Cats (24:50.7). Senior Destin Gentry also completed her XC career for MV seconds off of her career PR, but setting a new course PR by cutting over 20 seconds (26:57.7). Completing her last race as a Junior for MV was Brynn Davis. Davis went out strong before her injuries took over. Despite that, Davis ran a gutsy race in cutting over 30 seconds from her time last weekend. We are proud of our seniors Ashley and Destin and appreciate their dedication to MVXC. We look forward to both Ellie and Brynn being healthy next season to build upon an already strong foundation that they have. In the meantime, we look forward to another week of work to help Krissy, Makayla and Maddie prepare for the IHSAA Regional which will have the feel of the former Semi-State as 200 runners will be at the starting line next Saturday at Angel Mounds. Good Luck, Ladies!