FORT WAYNE — The 2022 Indiana prep cross country season will go on at least another week for both Carroll squads.

The Chargers were among the top five teams in both divisions at last Saturday’s Northrop Sectional, meaning they qualify for this Saturday’s West Noble Regional.

For the boys, the advancing teams were Concordia Lutheran (52), Carroll (78), Leo (101), Columbia City (103) and Bishop Dwenger (124).

The boys field was rounded out by Homestead (135), Northrop (140), Snider (226), Garrett (257), Lakewood Park (274), Blackhawk Christian (336) and North Side (364).

For the girls, the top five teams were Homestead (51), Concordia Lutheran (54), Carroll (54), Northrop (87) and Columbia City (158).

The rest of the girls field was Bishop Dwenger (166), Leo (189), Blackhawk Christian (227), North Side (267) and Garrett 281.

The runner-up Charger boys were led by freshman Aidan Borbiev, who was sixth overall (16:22.4). Senior Blake Nietert was seventh (16:22.5); junior Elijah Silcox 18th (16:55.1); senior Jacob Blackburn 21st (17:09.4); senior Jacob Kieffer 26th (17:21.4); junior Charles Basham 28th (17:33.9); and senior Sawyer Mattocks 30th (17:35.1).

The third-place Carroll girls were paced by sophomore Haile Schiffeneder, who turned in a top-10 finish (fifth, 18:53.0). Freshman Megan Lanning was eighth (19:02.1); junior Hadley Snell 10th (19:05.1); junior Marybeth Hall 12th (19:25.2); junior Maura Sloffer 19th (19:50.9); freshman Stella Kruse 31st (20:44.4); and senior Paige Hout 40th (21:07.0).

Carroll boys coach David Brooks said it was the best team race of the year for the Chargers. “Our top five guys ran anything from a slight to significant personal best,” Brooks said. “We were a little ahead of where we were seeded.”

The Charger boys have been to the state meet the past two years, Brooks said, so taking things a week at a time with regional and semistate meets still on the horizon, that’s the ultimate goal this year as well.

The Charger girls, meanwhile, also had a number of runners turning in top performances, according to coach Luke Miller.

Four Chargers finished in the top 15. “We’re pretty proud of the girls,” Miller said. “All of our top five either had a season best or for some, a career best.”

The margin separating the top three teams was just 3 points, and Miller said his Chargers exceeded expectations in terms of how close to Homestead and Concordia Lutheran they’d finish. Homestead had 51 points and Concordia Lutheran and Carroll both tallied 54. Concordia got second place based on the sixth-runner tiebreaker.

The Chargers won the Northrop Sectional in 2021. “So we’re kind of switching positions with Homestead this year,” Miller said.

Carroll’s girls will head to the West Noble Regional confidently expecting to move on to semistate, Miller said. “We don’t want to automatically assume it’s going to happen, but we want to be thinking ahead to the future.”

The West Noble Regional starts with the girls race at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The boys race follows at 11:15 a.m.