Published: November 03, 2009 04:20 pm      

Bulldogs excel at state meet

TERRE HAUTE — The Brownsburg cross country program capped off a memorable season at the state championship meet at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute Saturday.

Two Brownsburg runners reached the podium — Scott Vicenzi (third, 16:02.5), Sydney Lesko (12th, 19:50.4) — and the girls’ team placed 13th with 323 points, just five out of 12th place.

“It’s been a great year,” Brownsburg coach Bret Neylon said. “I’ve never had a team make the state finals. They got there and ran very well. I never had a girl reach the podium and Sydney did that. And I’d never had a boy place as high as Scott did.”

Vicenzi finished his high school career with a third-place run, missing a runner up finish by only 1.5 seconds.

“I’m definitely happy with third, I came in here wanting to get top three,” he said. “For the race, the course was extremely muddy, so the times weren’t good or anything. I felt good for most of the race, got a little bit of a cramp, but it wasn’t bad and I just kept pushing.”

The third-place finish at state put the finishing touch on a season that saw Vincenzi win at county, conference, sectional, and regional.

“It was a great way for him to finish the year,” Neylon said. “We knew he could get top five and were really hoping for top three. It’s a great accomplishment and just goes to show you all those 70-mile weeks paid off.”

North Central’s Futsum Zeinasellassie (15:51.6) won the race and Columbus North (63 points) took top team honors.

The Lady Bulldogs surprised everyone by getting to state and didn’t disappoint in Terre Haute.

Lesko, who battled the flu for a good portion of the season, paced the Bulldogs with her 12th place finish.

“That’s the great thing about it – three weeks ago she couldn’t even run,” Neylon said. “She kept getting better. We knew if she ran like she was capable she’d be all-state. She’s always been a big-meet runner and loves tough courses and Saturday’s race was as tough as they come with the course conditions.”

Maddie Webster narrowly missed all-state honors with a 28th place finish for Brownsburg (20:05.5). She was sectional champion this season.

Rounding out the scoring for the Bulldogs were Veronica Goduto (48th, 20.38.7), senior Haley Wittig (146th, 22:26.1), and Kyra Jo Gaerke (153rd, 22:35.8). Rachel Smith also competed for Brownsburg (186th, 24:41.1).

“I kept telling the girls, you have to make sure you’re not just happy to be there,” Neylon said. “I was very happy with how they responded. They raced hard.”

Avon’s Maya Nagy also competed in Saturday’s state finals for the second consecutive season. She finished 30th in 20:13.4. Nagy was regional champion and semistate runner up this season.