By EVAN WEAVER

eweaver@kpcmedia.com

TERRE HAUTE — Only 24 teams and around 200 runners (204 this year) get an opportunity to run in the Indiana High School Girls Cross Country State Finals each year.

For Carroll, running at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the end of October is not just a goal each season, but an expectation, given the Chargers have been the cream of the crop in cross country for the better part of two decades.

This year was no exception, as the Chargers finished as the 12th best team in the state with 334 points Saturday.

“I thought they ran really tough, because it was actually not that easy out there today,” Chargers coach Luke Miller said of his team’s performance. “It was good weather, but it was actually pretty warm. This course is always very tough.”

It was a two-place demotion from last year, which isn’t bad when considering only one of Carroll’s top seven is a senior.

“A lot of the girls were really right where they were supposed to be,” Miller said. “We basically outperformed our ranking before the state meet and definitely outperformed our ranking from the regular season. All you can really do is look at where you were and where you are now, and there’s been a ton of growth this year, so as always, I’m super proud of them.”

The top runner for the Chargers was sophomore Haile Schiffeneder, who finished 73rd in 19:41.8. It was a major improvement for her, as she shed nearly 47 seconds off her finals time from a year ago and was the team’s seventh runner.

“I think it went good, but it was definitely a little rough,” Schiffeneder said of how her race went. “Last year, the weather was definitely worse and it was more muddy, so it was kind of like perfect conditions this year.”

Just tenths of a second behind her was junior Hadley Snell in 74th at 19:42.6, improving from her 103rd-place finish from last season and knocking 38 seconds off her time.

Freshman Megan Lanning was close to both of them, finishing just five seconds behind (19:47.5) in 78th as the third runner in their mini pack.

“We’re all really supportive, so running next to each other helps us run better in the long run and knowing that you have your teammates in the race with you definitely helps your performance overall,” Schiffeneder said.

Further behind the trio was junior Maura Sloffer, besting her previous finals time by over a minute to place 131st at 20:21.7.

Freshman Stella Kruse was the lone Charger on the day to record a personal record, finishing in 137th at 20:29.8 in her first race on the big stage. Her previous best was 20:38 set at the West Noble Regional two weeks earlier.

“It was exciting but nerve wracking in the beginning because I’ve never ran here before,” Kruse said. “It was definitely hard and challenging, but at the end of the day, I was just glad how I did and what my time was.”

Kruse considered her race a success, surpassing her season goal of 20:30 by two-tenths of a second.

“I’ve had this goal and to be able to meet it at the very last meet is really exciting,” Kruse said. “Training has been good and having these different experiences at meets has helped me to know what I should be doing.”

Junior Marybeth Hall made her second appearance at the State Finals, placing 154th in 20:52.3, while the lone senior of the seven, Paige Hout, finished her career for Carroll by placing 182nd in 21:28.9 in her third appearance at LaVern Gibson.

The Chargers graduate five seniors from its roster of 21: Hout, Audrey Barb, Faith Behling, Isabella Hilaski and Jillian Yoder.

“Our seniors have really been through a lot,” Miller said. “They’ve seen really successful teams and have been through a coaching change, and I like to tell the people that graduate, ‘Hey, the things that you did, especially to just set up a positive culture, no matter what place your team got at state, you made an impact for those kids that you might not ever meet in the future,’ so that’s really cool that our seniors have kind of set the tone for the underclassmen that then become the upperclassmen in future years.”