The men’s cross country team had a season to remember.

The cross country team was led by senior Sam Grimes. He was the first State qualifier from the school since 2015. Grimes was the champion of many meets this year, dominating the competition.

“My favorite meet was the Johnson County meet. I was the County champ in back to back seasons, and the team was able to place 3rd against difficult competition,” Grimes, 16:08 PR, said. 

The Woodmen advanced to Regionals as a team for the first time in three seasons. They had to place in the Top 5 at the Sectional meet. 

“At Sectionals, we were able to place 5th, beating out tough teams, such as Roncalli and Mooresville. It was a very big accomplishment for us because we had been training hard all season. We put in a lot of training to prepare for the meet, such as traveling to the course in Shelbyville during Fall Break to learn the course,” senior Stuart Luhigo, 18:15 PR, said. 

The Woodmen came out on top in three different meets: the Mooresville Invite, the Whiteland Invitational, and the Golden Spike Invitational. The Mooresville Invite led to many personal bests.

“The Mooresville Invite was one of my favorite meets this season. The team won the meet, and I also ran my personal record of 16:36,” junior Jake Squier said.

Winning the Whiteland Invite was a huge accomplishment for the team. 

“One of my favorite meets this year was the Whiteland Invitational. Everyone on the team ran good times, and we were able to win the meet for the first time in many years. It felt very good to beat Whiteland, who have been one of our biggest rivals,” Luhigo said.

The Golden Spike Invite was another meet that the Woodmen came out on top of for this first time in many seasons. A big part of the win was because of Grimes and Squiers’ performances, placing 2nd and 3rd respectively.

“Another meet we won this year was the Golden Spike at Decatur. It was a big deal because we beat conference opponents like Whiteland, Perry Meridian, and Martinsville,” Squier said.