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           Girls' Results                     Boys' Results

Carmel sweeps cross country crowns

"I tried to tell them that I wasn't so sure we had won it," Williams said. "They kind of gave me a disbelieving look but cross country is a sport where you win as a team. I knew our fourth and fifth runners were quite a ways back."

Williams' premonition turned out accurate

On a muddy, slushy course following 4 inches of snow after midnight, Carmel's five turned out to be better than Ben Davis' two.

The No. 1-ranked Greyhounds edged Ben Davis 98-118 in the boys race before an estimated crowd of more than 3,000 that braved the conditions on a cold, windy day at Conner Prarie, where the meet was held for the first time.

"I always preach that you're only as good as your fifth man," said Carmel coach Chuck Koeppen. "I must admit when they finished 1-2, I was pretty depressed. I figured we would be hoping for a top-five finish, but as the field continued to come in and I saw how far back their four and five guys were, I knew we had a chance."

Carmel senior John Vyerberg was the Greyhounds' first runner overall, finishing 28th at 16 minutes, 58 seconds. Joshua Trisler was 35th, Tito Downer 45th, Matt Hettlinger 47th and Andy Smock was 48th.

The Giants' third through fifth finishers - Derek Eaton, Keith Crawford, and Brian Garden - finished 29th, 83rd and 84th overall.

Valparaiso finished third at 128, followed by North Central (150) and Portage (185).

It was quite a day for Koeppen and the Greyhounds. Not only did the top-ranked boys claim their 10th state cross country title, but the girls ran away with their eighth state crown.

What's more, Carmel's Julie Ham became Koeppen's first individual cross country state champion, capturing the girls race with a time of 14:50. Koeppen has now coached 18 team champions and one individual winner in 24 years with the Greyhounds.

"This really means a lot to me to be the school's first individual champion," Ham said. "We've had a lot of people finish second over the years. Coach told me before the race he thought I was one of the best runners in the state and he told me it was important to get a good start in these conditions. It was pretty much a seven-person race most of the way and then I was able to break away on the backstretch."

Carmel's girls title was very different from the boys. Four Carmel girls finished in the top 25. Brooke Bryenton was eighth, Cody Sohn 17th and Angela DeVoe 21st. Sophomore Erica Wolf was the Greyhounds' No. 5 runner in 47th place.

Carmel outdistanced second-place Columbus East by 40 points, 56-96. Portage was third with 151, Michigan City fourth at 155 and Chesterton fifth with 158.

Bizuneh and Bernhardt were impressive in running away with the boys race, even though the times were well off their normal paces. Bizuneh, who won the semistate last week with a time of 15:21, won Saturday in 16:09 in the soggy conditions. Bernhardt was right behind at 16:13, with Elkhart Central's Damien Sherck third at 16:20.

Bernhardt improved five positions from his seventh-place finish at last week's semistate.

"I was just in a zone, I can't really explain it," he said. "I knew if I stayed close to Fasil I would be in the hunt, and that's what I tried to do. The conditions were tough but they also gave me a chance in a race like this."

Bernhardt's day was capped when he was named the Charles F. Maas Mental Attitude Award winner. Bernhardt carries a 4.0 grade-point average and ranks 28th in his class of 827 students.

Bizuneh's individual title was also special because his coach, Williams, was the state's individual champion for Ben Davis in 1984.

Lake Central's Nicole Nigh took home the girls mental attitude award.

Girls' Individual Results (4,000 meters)

Girls' Team Results:

1)  Carmel.................56
2)  Columbus East..........96
3)  Portage...............151
4)  Michigan City.........155
5)  Chesterton............158
6)  Northridge............190
7)  Valparaiso............193
8)  Homestead.............214
9)  North Central.........226
10) Lake Central..........228
11) Floyd Central.........280
12) Columbus North........286
13) Center Grove..........324
14) West Noble............334
15) Northeast Dubois......339
16) Fort Wayne Snider.....385
17) Northfield............458
18) Jeffersonville........473
19) Terre Haute South.....489
20) Bedford N. Lawrence...518

Boys' Individual Results (5,000 meters)

Boys' Team Results:

1)  Carmel.................98
2)  Ben Davis.............118
3)  Valparaiso............128
4)  North Central.........150
5)  Portage...............185
6)  Lake Central..........200
7)  Hammond Gavit.........207
8)  Southport.............218
9)  Northfield............230
10) Terre Haute South.....257
11) Floyd Central.........292
12) Martinsville..........314
13) Goshen................317
14) Fort Wayne Northrop...321
15) Franklin..............349
16) Homestead.............363
17) Richmond..............383
18) Owen Valley...........418
19) Bloomington North.....419
20) LaPorte...............435