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Val T.

Dec 11, 20243 min read

All-RTC4 boys cross-country: Hoosier North champ Dodt from Pioneer is 3-time Runner of Year

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

RTC4 Boys Runner of the Year Leighton Dodt

He did not make it back to the IHSAA state finals like he did in 2023, but Pioneer senior Leighton Dodt is our RTC4 Runner of the Year in boys cross-country for the third straight year.

Dodt won the Hoosier North title in 16:36, and he was sixth at the very tough Logansport sectional in 16:44.

By and large, this was a year of declining numbers in boys cross-country around the area, but Dodt’s strength, tenacity and endurance on the course would fit in any era.

Dodt also tops the fifth edition of our All-RTC4 boys cross-country team. We thank area coaches for their assistance in sending us times and results and for taking the time to share insights with us on their times.

But this list is ours and ours alone based on quite a few Saturday mornings spent on the course. We place an extra emphasis on the late-season meets, particularly conference and state tournament meets and we give extra credit for advancement in the state tournament series.

Leandro Javier Isaac Whetstone Christopher Marquez Kane Finke Reece Johnson

All-RTC4

Leighton Dodt (Pioneer) (Runner of the Year) – Dodt, a Goshen College recruit, ran a 17:10 at the Jacob Graf Invitational the first time he ran at Logansport this year. By the end of the year, he had snipped 26 seconds off that time at the sectional. He also ran a 16:43 at the Brownsburg regional.
Logan Fredel (Winamac) – Fredel, a junior, narrowed the gap on Dodt and became his biggest rival in the Hoosier North. He ran a 16:46 to finish second at conference and a 16:50 at the Rensselaer sectional. He’s prime for a big senior season next fall.
Dane Bowditch (Pioneer) – A sophomore, Bowditch is just a small notch below where Dodt was two years ago. Bowditch is tall and eats up a lot of turf with each stride.
Dylan Guilford (Winamac) – Guilford, a senior, got our attention when he ran a 17:15 to finish fourth at conference behind Dodt, Fredel and Bowditch. He was a regional qualifier who never quite got close to matching that 17:15 in later meets, but he still had a good career under coaches Adam Bennett and, later, Mike Haschel.
Reece Johnson (Rochester) – Johnson had a disappointing run at the Manchester sectional, but he was Rochester’s most consistent runner, consistently breaking 19 minutes.
Christopher Marquez (Tippecanoe Valley) – Marquez, a junior, is consistently between 18:30 and 18:50 most every race. He ran an 18:49 at the Indiana Northern State Conference meet, ran an 18:38 at the Manchester sectional and an 18:32 at the Huntington University regional.
Kane Finke (Caston) – The Caston boys team was extremely young, so Finke was the old man in the group as a junior. He ran an 18:20 on the fast Winamac course to make the all-conference team but was not quite as consistent beyond that.
Isaac Whetstone (Tippecanoe Valley) – Whetstone qualified for the regional as an individual for the first time this year. A supremely conditioned athlete – he also made state in swimming in multiple events last winter – he trimmed 17 seconds off his conference time at sectionals and another 13 seconds off that time at regionals, where he ran an 18:57.
Leandro Javier (Rochester) – Javier, a sophomore, is a success story that Rochester has produced in bunches over the years: He’s a young runner who racks up miles during offseason workouts, matures physically and learns to power through the inevitable moments of pain on the course. It paid off when he ran a 19:03 at the Manchester sectional and qualified for the regional.
Elliott Cooper (Pioneer) – Pioneer won the Hoosier North title by one point over Winamac, and Cooper making the all-conference team and running a 19:11 was a big reason why. But he had an even more impressive run at the Logansport sectional when he ran an 18:50 and qualified for regional. That came out of nowhere as he had run a 21:11 at the Jacob Graf Invitational on the same Logansport course.