Westville girls send five to state, boys rewrite record book

Westville Middle School didn’t simply close the Porter County Conference round-robin season Wednesday afternoon.

The Blackhawks changed the program’s history.

Westville’s girls delivered a landmark performance at Hebron, placing five runners inside the Indiana Middle School Cross Country State Championships qualifying standard and becoming the first girls team in school history to qualify five runners for state as a group.

Brooklyn “BB” Burger led the breakthrough with one of the best races of her season, finishing second overall in a season-best 12 minutes, 30 seconds. Makayla Doyle followed just four seconds later, taking third in 12:34 and giving Westville two runners among the first three finishers.

Lily Jamieson gave the Blackhawks a third runner inside the top 10, placing ninth in 13:05.

Then came another piece of Westville history.

Eighth-grader Genevieve Nettrouer finished 14th with a season-best 13:27, becoming the first Westville middle school girl to qualify for the state championships three consecutive years.

Tessa Musgrave completed Westville’s state-qualifying five, placing 16th in 13:39.

The performance capped the best PCC round-robin regular season in program history. Westville finished conference competition with a 12-2 record, another benchmark for a girls program that has continued climbing throughout the fall.

The Blackhawks’ depth extended beyond their five state qualifiers. Lily Barbahen placed 25th in 14:36, while Sarah Purcell finished in 18:32, giving Westville seven finishers on a day that belonged to the entire girls program.

Boys continue rewriting Westville’s all-time list

The Westville boys added several milestones of their own.

Eighth-grader Gavin Hutchison led the Blackhawks with a 25th-place finish in 12:48, continuing a strong season at the front of Westville’s boys lineup.

Behind him came a surge of personal bests and movement on the program’s all-time rankings.

Leland Hall raced to a personal-best 12:56.90, finishing 30th overall and moving into No. 4 on Westville’s middle school boys all-time list.

Henry Golden followed with another breakthrough, running a personal-best 13:55 for 46th place and climbing to No. 5 all-time.

Zachary Brady crossed in a personal-best 14:38, placing 58th and moving into the No. 6 position on Westville’s all-time list.

Sixth-grader Bow Kohler added another personal best, finishing 89th in 21:43, giving the boys four PR performances on the afternoon.

It was the kind of September meet that showed two sides of Westville’s growth.

For the boys, the school record board continues to gain new names.

For the girls, the ceiling moved again.

A 12-2 conference record. Five state qualifiers. Two season-best performances. The program’s first three-time girls state qualifier. And another collection of performances added to Westville’s all-time lists.

The PCC Championships are still ahead.

But on Wednesday at Hebron, the Blackhawks made one thing clear:

Westville cross country isn’t waiting for history anymore. It’s writing it.