PENDLETON, Ind. —
Cameron Mandrell never expected this day to come. For the first time in his high school career, he was the lead-man on an always-competitive Pendleton Heights cross country team.
Nathan Hendershot is gone. So too is Hunter Mills. This is Mandrell’s team, and he let the area know it at the Arabian Roundup Wednesday night.
After running neck-and-neck with Whiteland’s John Adams for much of the race, Mandrell settled for a second-place finish and a time of 17:08. Mandrell’s performance helped the Arabians claim the title, edging out second-place Mount Vernon by 46 points.
“This is something else. It was a good experience,” said Mandrell, a senior and four-year member of the PH cross country team. “I wish I could have come home with the title, but second was good.
“It’s hard being the leader now; I always had Nathan and Hunter to base off of. I trained a lot harder in the summer than I have in years past, mainly because I was going to be a senior and I wanted to make it my best year. As far as leadership goes, I can’t really joke around as much. I have to be serious and keep the guys in line.”
Mandrell led the way and his teammates followed closely behind. Junior Jordan McCool (5th), sophomore Brandon Smith (10th), junior Sam Bayliss (15th) and freshman Forest Ockomom (19th) also finished in the top 20. Senior Jared Burke was 29th.
“We don’t have a real frontrunner this year like we’ve had in the past, but we have a lot of good runners and they’re running as a pack more,” said PH coach Alan Holden. “Cameron is stepping up. He realizes he’s going to be the top runner for us.”
Lapel’s Lucas Mendel finished third in the race, nine seconds behind Mandrell, and Frankton’s Parker Williams and Garrett Allen were seventh and eighth, respectively. Frankton finished sixth as a team.
In the girls race, Anderson junior Chloe Miller stole the show.
Miller, who finished 24th a year ago, trained twice a day during the summer with one goal in mind – beat Leah Steele of Lapel.
She did.
Steele closed the gap late, but Miller hung on for a fifth-place finish, beating her close friend by four seconds.
“All I wanted to do was stay with Leah,” said Miller, who wore a wide smile for the duration of the interview. “I was really surprised when I stayed with Leah. I said ‘I can do this. I can really do this.’ All the summer running helped the most. My hard work really paid off.”
Anderson coach Garry Courters said Miller has done everything he has asked of her, and then some.
“She dedicated the entire summer to this. She never missed a practice,” he said. “She’s just so competitive, so focused. (Miller’s performance) is unbelievable. It brought some tears to my eyes.”
PH, led by Maddi Hinton’s 15th-place time of 21:38, finished fifth, 69 points behind first-place Whiteland. Anderson (11th) was the only other area team to finish in the top 15.
Sports
Related Photos
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Pendleton Heights Cameron Mandrell keeps Whitland's John Adams close during the Arabian Roundup Cross Country Meet Wednesday at Pendleton Heights. Mandrell finished second behind Adams. Don Knight
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Anderson's Chloe Miller finishes fifth with a time of 20:48 during the Arabian Roundup Cross Country Meet Wednesday at Pendleton Heights.
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The Pendleton Heights girls team huddles before the start of the Arabian Roundup Cross Country Meet Wednesday at Pendleton Heights. The Arabian girls finished fifth and their boys team captured first place. Don Knight
Discussion
Arabians boys keep on rolling
AHS’ Miller takes 5th in girls race, PH girls team 5th
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