Batesville High School

The Bulldogs traveled to Rushville to compete in the 27-team Rushville Invitational and came away with an impressive 12 top-20 finishes, one individual champion, one team championship, one team runner-up finish, and 17 personal-best performances. Although all teams raced together by gender, results were separated into Division 1 (large schools) and Division 2 (small schools). Batesville competed in Division 1 against 12 teams in both the girls’ and boys’ races. Girls Take Home the Team Championship Batesville placed all seven varsity runners in the top 20 of the Division 1 competition. In fact, eight Bulldogs crossed the finish line among the top 20, although only seven are eligible to score for the varsity team. Sophomore Ava Wade led the Bulldogs, capturing 1st place overall with a time of 19:47. Junior Jayla Bedel followed closely behind, finishing 2nd in 20:01. Francesca Myers and Caitlin Raver continued the Bulldogs’ strong showing, placing 4th (20:35) and 5th (20:52), respectively. Paige Allgeier was the fifth Batesville runner across the line, finishing 7th in 20:52. Rounding out the varsity seven were Sydney Gilland, who placed 11th in 22:23, and Aubrey Weberding, who finished 14th in 22:53. Coming through in 17th place overall and earning recognition as Batesville’s top JV runner was Audrey Dieckmann, who crossed the line in 22:58. The Bulldogs’ strong front-running performances propelled them to the Division 1 team championship, scoring just 19 points. East Central finished runner-up with 64 points, followed by Centerville with 104. Richmond and Rushville rounded out the top five, each scoring 119 points. Boys Claim Runner-Up Honors The sun was a little hotter when the boys’ race began at 10:20 a.m., but the heat didn’t slow down the Bulldogs. In fact, 11 of Batesville’s 17 personal-best performances came from the boys’ team. Junior Levi Essick led the Bulldogs with a 7th-place finish in 17:38. Cael Luhman and Ryan Benz followed closely, placing 10th (18:02) and 11th (18:15), respectively. Freshman Duncan Fish also earned a top-20 finish, crossing the line in 15th place with a time of 18:42. Rounding out the varsity seven were Brody Gibson, 23rd (19:33); Timothy Quillin, 32nd (20:14); and Luke Raver, 33rd (20:17). Batesville’s top JV finisher was Varshath Rajesh, who placed 37th in 20:32. The Bulldogs finished runner-up in the Division 1 team standings with 66 points, trailing Richmond, who captured the championship with 22 points. Northeastern finished third with 85 points, followed by East Central with 93 and Centerville with 132 to round out the top five. 17 Personal Bests The Bulldogs continued to show improvement throughout the morning, recording an impressive 17 personal-best performances: Francesca Myers, Audrey Dieckmann, Sydney Gilland, Addison McGuire, Zoe Martin, Kayde Adams, Levi Essick, Cael Luhman, Ryan Benz, Brody Gibson, Duncan Fish, Luke Raver, Rhett Gibson, Timothy Quillin, Ayden Meyer, Varshath Rajesh, and Henry Jelinek.