Costelow and Maple lead teams to podium finishes at Junior Olympic championships in Kentucky

Results

Last weekend (12-13 Dec) 143 athletes from the Indiana association competed at the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in Paris, Kentucky.  

A total of 1346 athletes from across the country competed in the championships.  Historically all ten championship races have been conducted on one day but this year the meet was conducted over two days to ensure proper COVID-19 mitigation procedures could be achieved.  One of these procedures included races being broken into wave starts which created an unprecedented level of suspense as athletes in each division had to wait to the final wave to learn of their placing.  The course, considered challenging by most, included an uphill finish.

The storylines of the day for the Indiana athletes were the four (4) top-five finishes turned in by Drew Costelow, Jack Capes, Eli Lesnet, and Sarah Maple and the second place team finishes for the Three Rivers Racing and Center Grove Track & XC Club teams.  A total of 21 locals earned all-American honors for their top-25 finishes.

On Sunday the three oldest age divisions (13-14, 15-16, 17-18) took to the course as Drew Costelow (Center Grove Track & XC Club) ran to a second place finish in the 15-16 boys race.  Costelow ran 15:41 over the 5 km course and was just five seconds behind winner Nathan Lopez of Massachusetts.  This was the second national title for Lopez as he won the 13-14 division last year in Wisconsin.  Finishing not far behind Costelow were a trio of fellow Hoosiers; Nolan Bailey (4th; 16:02; Unattached), Kyle Clark (5th; 16:06; Unattached), and Carter Miller (6th; 16:07; Unattached).  

Costelow led all five of the scoring members of the Center Grove team to all-American honors and a second place team finish.  The team scored 58 points; just 2 more than that of the winning squad New England Elite TC.  Supporting Costelow's low stick were; Raef Sauer (11th; 16:15), Griffin Hennessy (15th; 16:24) Jarret Rockwell (16th; 16:31), and Parker Mimbela (17th; 16:38). 

Competing in the 15-16 girls race Lilly Brunsman (Center Grove Track & XC Club) finished 14th running 19:32 to earn all-American honors.

In the last race of the day, the 13-14 boys, three Hoosiers earned all-American honors.  Leading the way was Jack Capes of Carmel who finished third running 13:32 and Gavin Rockwell (Center Grove Track & XC Club) in fifth in 13:41. Abdu Hardin (Indiana Elite RC) finished 17th running 14:04.  Just missing all-American honors were the top two finishers in this year's Hoosier Grand Prix - Jack Holden (27th place) and William Gilhooly (31st place). The Center Grove team finished 6th in the team competition scoring 176 points.
 

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IN THEIR WORDS - JACK CAPES

I felt nervous about how hilly the course was going to be and the competition because I had not run a national race in 2 years. I had worked hard all season and am happy that all of my hard work paid off.  The experience in Paris was fun and I was excited to run against and meet other distance runners that were the best in the country. 

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On Saturday the three youngest age divisions (7-8, 9-10, 11-12) competed. The 7-8 race was run on a 2 km course while the 9-10 and 11-12 divisions competed on a 3 km layout.

In the 7-8 boys Landon Tragesser (unattached) and Samuel Lesnet  (Coram Deo Athletics) finished 16th and 17th, respectively.  Their times were 8:10 for Tragesser and 8:12 for Lesnet.  Tragesser ended the season as the Hoosier Grand Prix champion.

In the 9-10 boys race Eli Lesnet, Samuel's older brother, finished third running 10:51.  He was just eight seconds behind race winner William Malueg of Georgia.  Placing 47th was Kenneth Harris who captured the Hoosier Grand Prix title in the division.

In the 9-10 girls race Chloe Tragesser, Landon's older sister, finished 20th running 12:53 to earn all-American honors.   Like her brother, she ended the year as the Hoosier Grand Prix champion.  She was also the selected as the USATF Indiana Athlete of the Month in October.  

In the 11-12 boys division, another Hoosier Grand Prix champion, led the way for the Indiana athletes.  This time it was Jacob Mitchell (unattached) as he finished 18th running 11:12.  The Indiana Elite Run Club finished seventh in the team competition with Columbus Running and Southern Indiana RC finishing 10th and 13th, respectively.

The 11-12 girls race saw four members of the Three Rivers Racing team earn all-American honors as they finished second as a team.  Leading the way for the team was Sarah Maple as she finished fifth, the highest finish for an Indiana girl during the weekend.  She stopped the clock at 11:28.  Also picking up a top 10 finish was Caterina Perego who finished 10th in 11:41.  Hannah Suvar (23rd), Daisy Niezer (25th), and Audrey Fraser (31st) were the final three scorers for the team.  They finished with 42 points to only trail the Louisville TigerSharks by 4 points.  Finishing 39th in the race was Taylor Tragesser, the Hoosier Grand Prix champion.  

To see the full Indiana Results Scoreboard click here

The 2021 national championships will return to Paris, KY next year.