Dalton, a sophomore and one of the state’s elite runners, finished in 18 minutes, 15 seconds, 26 seconds off the winning pace in the 219-runner field. Greenwood was 18th among 26 teams in the upper division race. Avon won with 67 points.
Center Grove senior Griffin Miller (15:48.3) led all Southside boys with a sixth-place finish among 237 runners. Franklin Central senior Kyle O’Malley (16:26.8) was 24th. The Flashes and Trojans finished 14th and 19th, respectively, and were the only boys teams from the Southside in the championship division.
Southside girls team finishes with leading runners: Franklin Central, 11th, senior Cailyn Adams, 40th, 19:34.8; Center Grove, 14th, sophomore Valerie Clark, 35th, 19:26.6; Perry Meridian, 26th, Shannon Murphy, 146th, 22:21.0.
In the Flashrock Cross-Country Invitational 5K run on the same course Saturday, Greenwood junior Hunter Smith (16:50.8) was fourth; all of his teammates were among the top 36 finishers. The Woodmen earned 121 points and finished second to Fort Wayne Snider with 95 points.
Roncalli was fifth among girls teams. Junior Emily Barron was 16th (21:03.7) and freshman Kate Morse was 20th (21:13.9).
Area team finishes with leading runners: boys – Southport, ninth, Michael Crook, fourth, 18:17.5; Perry Meridian, 10th, freshman Chris Switzer, 43rd, 18:16.4; Beech Grove, 16th, junior Vilis Vuskalns, 10th, 17:24.5; girls – Southport, 10th, Heather Blankenbaker, 27th, 21:32.8; Beech Grove, 18th, Kyli Luna, 21:11.2.
Rebels No. 1 in volleyball
Roncalli (17-2), ranked No. 1 in 4A among state coaches, dominated Franklin Central 25-12, 25-12, 25-18 last week.
The Flashes went 1-3 in the Franklin Invitational, defeating Southport 25-15, 23-25, 15-8.
Greenwood remained unbeaten in Mid-State Conference play with a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Decatur Central on Sept. 16. The host Hawks dominated the first set 25-13, but the Woodmen bounced back to win the match in five sets. Greenwood freshman Hannah Anderson had 35 assists; junior Olivia Stilley had 19 kills.
Greenwood was 1-3 at Franklin, defeating Decatur Central 25-13, 25-16 for its only win. Southport was 0-4.