Senior staff writer
Franklin Central finished eighth Saturday in the boys 5K championship meet at the prestigious FlashRock Cross Country Invitational at Carmel.
Robby Lawson and his 16th-place time of 16 minutes, 37.2 seconds led the Flashes. He was trailed by teammates Michael Parrish, 42nd, 17:03.2; Elijah Basile, 47th, 17:07.5; Trey Perry, 60th, 17:14.9; and Kyle McCann, 64th, 17:17.0.
Greenwood, led by Hunter Smith, 40th, 17:00.7, was 20th; Center Grove, paced by Ethan Stanley, 70th, 17:19.5, was 21st.
In the girls championship division, Greenwood Christian Academy junior Allie Dalton finished sixth, 18:39.4.
Franklin Central was 12th with 289 team points, Center Grove 15th with 388 points. Freshman Shayla Traas, 14th, 19:16.7, led the Flashes; junior Valerie Clark, 56th, 20:28.3, paced Center Grove.
Roncalli freshman Katie Minton was 52nd, 20:16.0; Greenwood’s Krista Robinson was 80th, 20:54.4.
Three Southside teams placed among the top 10 in the boys invitational.
Southport was sixth, led by sophomore Michael Crook, 13th, 17:18.25; Perry Meridian, led by sophomore Chris Switzer, fourth, 17:01.18, was eighth; and Beech Grove, led by senior Vilis Vuskalns, 18th, 17:27.30, was 10th.
Roncalli, paced by senior Michael Schiefelbein, 25th, 17:41.37, finished 15. Greenwood Christian Academy senior Hunter Slater (17:41.49) was 26th for the Cougars.
Southport was eighth in the girls invitational. Junior Heather Blankenbaker, 12th, 20.45.7, led the Cardinals. Perry Meridian, paced by junior Olivia Lemasters, 10th, 20:41.9, was 13th; Beech Grove, led by freshman Megan Goldam, 49th, 22:15.6, was 22nd among 25 teams.
A total of 436 boys and 422 girls ran Saturday.