After a long and successful season for the men’s cross country team, it came to an end with a second place finish at the State meet. Head Coach Colin Altevogt and Tim Metken, JV runner and sophomore, both said they agree that second place is not what they were expecting, but they are still happy with the team’s performance and effort throughout the past few months.

“Overall we had a good season. With the culture that we’ve built and the program we’ve developed over the last five years and certainly the last 40 years as well, when you get second, there’s a kind of disappointing aspect to it. But overall, Carroll was a really really good team, one of the best teams of all time,” Altevogt said.

Carroll High School was one of the rivals CHS faced going into State. According to Metken, the times of the seven runners representing CHS came down to the weather, but also admits that Carroll had a better race overall.

“It (the results) certainly werem’t what we were hoping. It was a super hot day and it really affected our times by about a minute really. Our guys were really affected by that, some more than others. The other team Carroll was just able to outlast us more,” Metken said.

Looking ahead to next year, Altevogt said he thinks that with a strong group of returning runners, the team should be strong if they continue to do what they’ve been taught all season long.

Altevogt said, “Colin (Murphy) and Ben (Miller) have developed into some of the best guys of all time in Carmel and they’re both coming back next year. I think Calvin (Bates), and Thomas (Gastineau), and Trey (Harris) could join them with good training and good improvement next year. I think through the spring and next fall we could be really good if those guys continue to do what we do.”