2021 Boys Cross Country: State Meet Preview
Top 24 Team Rankings:
1. Columbus North
2. Brebeuf Jesuit
3. Hamilton Southeastern
4. Carmel
5. Center Grove
6. Fishers
7. Zionsville
8. Northridge
9. Bloomington North
10. Noblesville
11. Goshen
12. Franklin Central
13. Floyd Central
14. Northview
15. Valparaiso
16. LaPorte
17. Chesterton
18. Bloomington South
19. Austin
20. Carroll (FW)
21. Penn
22. Morgan Township
23. Warsaw
24. Crown Point
Teams in the mix to win:
* Columbus North – The Bulldogs are the defending state champions and much of this season they have looked like a strong candidate to repeat. They have experience (4 seniors returning from last year’s title team), elite frontrunners in Kilbarger-Stumpff and Newell, and the depth to repeat. In a loaded team field, this is the team most likely to win.
* Brebeuf Jesuit – The Braves looked like a preseason favorite and then two of their best runners (Burrell and Todd) missed the entire regular season with injuries. They finally have a full roster here in October and they keep getting better every week. They are right back in the mix to win the title, which would have been hard to believe 5 or 6 weeks ago.
* Hamilton Southeastern – The Royals just missed the podium, finishing 6th place last year. They are coming off an impressive, borderline-dominant win at the New Haven SS last weekend. They have multiple frontrunners (Satterfield being the best of them all) and they are loaded with seniors. They could certainly contend for the team title.
* Carmel – The Greyhounds have been either 1st or 2nd in the boys state meet every year since 2012, so it would be silly to count them out this year. They have arguably the best 1-2 duo in the state in Mathison and Schuman. They need to rely on big races at 4-5 if they can challenge for the win. This is one of Carmel’s best teams of the 2000s and they are ranked 4th, which goes to show you how deep this team competition is.
* Center Grove – They were 4th place at the state meet a year ago and they are even better this season. Last weekend they were 2nd place at Shelbyville, splitting Brebeuf and Carmel. Mimbela has developed into a legit frontrunner this season. With a great team race they could be in the mix to win the team title.
Teams in mix for podium:
* Fishers – This team was 5th last year and return a solid group of seniors from that squad. This year’s team is very similar to last year’s team and once again they find themselves right on the bubble for a podium finish.
* Zionsville – They finished 9th last year and they are looking to improve on that performance. They had an impressive 31-second gap from 1-5 at Shelbyville SS last weekend.
Teams looking for top 10:
* Northridge – The Raiders looked great a week ago at New Haven SS, with two runners in the top 7 and solid performances from their 3-5 runners.
* Bloomington North – This is team full of experience. Their semi state roster last week included 6 seniors and 1 junior. Senior frontrunner Nolan Bailey is running his best races of the season the past two weeks.
* Noblesville – They were 7th place a year ago and they would do very well to match that performance this weekend. Mumaw is a potential podium finisher up front.
* Goshen – They have once of the best duos in the state in Hogan and Johnston. With good efforts from their 3-5 they could be a top 10 team.
* Franklin Central – The Flashes make their first state meet appearance since 2012. Henkle is solid up front. Four of their top 7 runners at semi state will return next year including two freshmen, this is a program on the rise.
* Floyd Central – Will Conway leads up front and FC had one of their best team performances of the season last weekend at Brown County SS.
* Northview – Senior Nolan White leads this squad, who have really been very consistent and steady this season. They need strong races from their 4-5 runners to make a push for the top 10.
* Valparaiso – New Prairie Semi State champions with 3 freshmen in their top 5. They are an intriguing team that is probably a year away from being a podium threat.
* LaPorte – Raymond is an elite frontrunner and I feel like they are stronger than they showed last week at New Prairie SS. Look for a solid bounce back performance this week.
Top 25 Individuals:
1. Izaiah Steury, 12, Angola
2. Kole Mathison, 11, Carmel
3. Reese Kilbarger-Stumpff, 12, Columbus North
4. Krishna Thirunavukkarasu, 12, Brebeuf Jesuit
5. Jack Moore, 12, Northridge
6. Charlie Schuman, 12, Carmel
7. Spenser Wolf, 12, Forest Park
8. Kai Connor, 12, Westfield
9. Abe Eckman, 12, Jasper
10. Drew Hogan, 12, Goshen
11. Nolan Satterfield, 12, Hamilton Southeastern
12. Cole Raymond, 12, LaPorte
13. Parker Mimbela, 11, Center Grove
14. Cole Johnston, 12, Goshen
15. Austin Hall, 12, Columbia City
16. Deion Guise, 12, Bellmont
17. Nate Killeen, 11, North Central (Ind.)
18. Bennett DuBois, 12, Hamilton Southeastern
19. Jaxon Miller, 11, Northridge
20. Matt Newell, 12, Columbus North
21. Karsten Schlegel, 12, Concordia Lutheran
22. Alex Hooten, 12, Evansville Central
23. Griffin Hennessy, 11, Center Grove
24. Joel Mumaw, 12, Noblesville
25. Garrett Hicks, 12, Hamilton Southeastern
In Mix to Win:
* Izaiah Steury, 12, Angola – The defending state champion put up an impressive performance, winning the New Haven SS by 35 seconds and running 15:09 – the fastest time in the state this past weekend. Steury is undefeated this season and is looking for back-to-back state titles.
* Kole Mathison, 11, Carmel – Mathison ran a solid 15:16 and won the Shelbyville Semi State. Mathison gave Steury a great race at the FlashRock Invitational back in September, finishing 2nd place by one second. Mathison beat Kilbarger-Stumpff by one second head-to-head at the Eagle Classic.
* Reese Kilbarger-Stumpff, 12, Columbus North – Kilbarger-Stumpff won Brown County Semi State in 15:11. He is an elite runner who should be right with Steury and Mathison throughout this race.
Leading the chase pack:
* Krishna Thirunavukkarasu, 12, Brebeuf Jesuit – Thirunavukkarasu has a season best time of 14:58 at the FlashRock Invitational, but he finished 5th at the Shelbyville Semi State last weekend. We debated whether or not he is a title contender (with the top 3) or if he is leading the chase pack. We will find out for sure on Saturday.
* Jack Moore, 12, Northridge – Moore was the New Haven SS runner-up behind Steury, but in that race he distanced himself from other elite runners (Hogan, Satterfield, Johnston, and others). Moore is a top 5 candidate on Saturday.
* Charlie Schuman, 12, Carmel – Carmel went 1-2 in the Shelbyville SS last week, with Schumann only 3 seconds behind teammate Mathison. Schuman was 25th last year. He should be a solid top 10, perhaps top 5 finisher this weekend.
* Spenser Wolf, 12, Forest Park – Wolf was Brown County SS runner-up last weekend behind Kilbarger-Stumpff. Wolf is having a great 2021 season, coming off a 9th place finish in the 3200 at the state track meet earlier this year.
* Kai Connor, 12, Westfield – Connor closed hard in the final meters of the Shelbyville SS to grab 3rd place. Look for him to be in this chase pack and contend for a top 10 finish.
* Abe Eckman, 12, Jasper – Eckman was 12th place here a year ago and he is better this year. Look for him to be among the top 10 finishers.
* Drew Hogan, 12, Goshen – Hogan was 35th last fall, but had a big track season capped off with a 9th place finish at the state meet in the 1600 meter run. He has the advantage of having a podium-level teammate (Cole Johnston) to train with each day.
* Nolan Satterfield, 12, Hamilton Southeastern – Satterfield was 9th here a year ago and should be in contention to match or improve that this year. He is a seasoned runner with a lot of state meet experience.
* Cole Raymond, 12, LaPorte – Raymond was the New Prairie SS champion by a wide margin last weekend. This week will be a much different race, as he will be surrounded by competition at his level.