Westville Makes Its Mark at Indiana Middle School State Championships

Westville Middle School capped a historic cross country season Saturday with a strong showing at the Indiana Middle School Cross Country Championships at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

Competing under ideal racing conditions at an event promoted and widely recognized as the largest middle school cross country meet in America, Westville’s girls placed 30th out of 47 scoring teams in a field of approximately 420 runners.

Lily Jamieson led the Blackhawks with a personal-best 12:32.2, finishing 94th overall. The seventh-grader became just the second Westville girl to place inside the top 100 at the State Championship, adding another milestone to an impressive season.

Makayla Doyle followed in 12:38.9, placing 108th, while Tessa Musgrave delivered a personal-best 12:57.7 to finish 144th. The trio gave Westville three runners under 13 minutes on the State course.

Genevieve Nettrouer finished in 13:38.0 and Lily Barbahen ran 14:24.4 to complete Westville’s scoring five. Winifred Schoff finished in 17:07.6, while Sarah Purcell closed her season with a season-best 17:18.3 on the State stage.

Westville’s top five combined for 1:06:12 with a 13:15 average, scoring 732 points in the program’s first State Championship appearance as a complete girls team.

The Blackhawks were also represented in the boys race by Leland Hall and Gavin Hutchison, competing among approximately 495 runners.

Hall continued his breakout season with a 12:16.5, while Hutchison closed his middle school cross country career in 12:46.0 despite dealing with an ankle issue suffered in PE class.

Saturday put the finishing touch on a breakthrough season for Westville. The girls earned the highest PCC Championship finish in school history with third place, placed five runners inside the conference’s top 25 and advanced a full team to State for the first time.

At Terre Haute, they showed they belonged.

With Jamieson and Musgrave recording personal bests, Purcell finishing with a season best, three girls breaking 13 minutes, and Hall and Hutchison representing Westville in a massive boys field, the Blackhawks left LaVern Gibson with another important step forward.

Westville didn’t just reach the State stage this season.

The Blackhawks began building a foundation to return.