Southerland shines at cross-country state finals, ECI football sectional results

MUNCIE, Ind. — Few East Central Indiana fall-sport athletes are still competing.

The IHSAA cross-country season officially ended on Saturday, with three area runners — Delta's Nicki Southerland, Wapahani's Nick Cook and Blue River's Charlee Gibson — competing in the state finals at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute.

Yorktown was also the only local football team to win its sectional semifinal game on Friday night, concluding the campaigns of Monroe Central, New Castle and Shenandoah.

Let's recap those performances:

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Cross-country state finals

Both the boys and girls races were tremendous, and all three ECI runners represented the area well.

Southerland was the state runner-up for the second consecutive year, finishing with a time of 17:17.5 minutes, about three seconds behind Bishop Chatard senior champion Lily Cridge. It was the same placement as in 2021, only that Southerland narrowed the gap by about 28 seconds despite Cridge running about 18 seconds faster.

The Delta junior was the only non-senior to finish in the top-6, so she should be the favorite to win the state title in 2023.

Gibson, a sophomore competing in her first state final, placed 117th with a time of 20:12.6.

In the boys race, Cook was ECI's lone runner and placed 131st with a time of 17:16.3, his slowest time of the season after coming off a personal-best time of 15:35.9 at semistate.

A sub-16-minute time, which Cook has ran on multiple occasions this season, would've landed him in the top-30, so he should have a good chance to improve his finish as a senior after gaining state meet experience.

High school football sectional semifinals

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Sheridan 42, Monroe Central 26

Monroe Central, after drawing a first-round bye to begin the postseason, lost 42-26 at Sheridan in the sectional semifinals.

The Golden Bears trailed in the opening frame after the Eagles returned a blocked punt 51 yards for a touchdown and later had a rushing score, putting Monroe Central in a 14-0 deficit it'd never recover from.

Senior quarterback Luke Jones finished his career well, completing 17-of-29 passes for 224 yards and four TDs and tallying 19 carries for 148 yards.

The offense was also led by senior Cole Munchel (nine receptions, 94 yards, two TDs) and sophomore Justus Ullom (five receptions, 91 yards, two TDs).

The Golden Bears’ defense was led by junior Ryder Bowlin (13 tackles) and senior Hunter Page (12 tackles).

Monroe Central finished the season 5-4.

Sheridan 14 14 7 7 — 42

Monroe Central 6 0 7 13 — 26

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Heritage Christian 21, Shenandoah 6

Shenandoah's season ended with a 21-6 loss at Heritage Christian.

The teams were scoreless after the first quarter, but the Eagles broke through with a TD early in the second quarter and held that 7-0 lead into halftime.

The Raiders allowed another score late in the third frame, and senior Mayson Lewis' 6-yard rushing TD narrowed his team's deficit to 14-6 with 10 minutes remaining in the game.

Heritage Christian scored on the following drive, effectively icing the game. The Eagles tallied 444 total yards in what was a balanced offensive attack.

The Raiders' defense was led by senior Gabe Lowder (one TFLs) and sophomore Levi Jackson each with nine tackles, and freshman Jarrett Helman had one interception and one forced fumble.

Shenandoah finished the season 6-5.

Heritage Christian 0 7 7 7 — 21

Shenandoah 0 0 0 6 — 6

Gus Martin is a sports reporter at The Star Press. Follow him on Twitter @GusMartin_SP, and contact him at gmartin@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: IHSAA football, cross-country: Nicki Southerland shines at state finals