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Val T.

6 days ago3 min read

All-RTC4 girls cross-country: After strong finish, Rochester’s Calloway is Runner of Year

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

RTC4 Girls Runner of the Year Allyson Calloway

Rochester’s Madilyn Calloway was our RTC4 Runner of the Year in 2020 and 2021 for cross-country.

This year, it is her younger sister’s turn to win the honor.

Allyson Calloway has done nothing but consistently get faster throughout her career. As a junior, her strong finish to the season has made her worthy to be our Runner of the Year for 2024.

Calloway ran a 20:57 and finished 10th at a loaded Three Rivers Conference meet at Manchester on Oct. 5.

She came back to Manchester two weeks later and ran a 20:26 at the sectional to qualify for regional. Given the course and the competition, that was the race that put her over the top for our consideration.

Coach Alex Gudeman consistently praised her work ethic over the summer during the year, and that paid off this year.

Calloway is also the headliner of our list of the area’s top runners.

We would like to thank area coaches for sending us their times and sharing their thoughts with us throughout the season. Having said that, this list is ours and ours alone, and we take full responsibility for it.

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.

Camila Lexi Gibson Bailey Bussard Hannah Rogers Alexa Lowe

Hernandez-Rios

All-RTC4

Allyson Calloway (Rochester) (Runner of the Year) – Calloway runs something of an even pace. She does not have an extraordinary kick, but it is hard for much of the competition to stay with her for the full 3.1 miles. She made the all-conference team for the first time and only got faster from there. In a grueling season, that does not always happen.
Kadence Hoover (Winamac) – The only area cross-country team to advance to regionals – girls or boys – was the Winamac girls, and Hoover was the frontrunner all year. The highlight was her running a 20:46 to win the Hoosier North meet.
Lexi Gibson (Argos) – They teach runners to try to stay together as a pack, but in Lexi Gibson’s case, she is the pack. She moved from the Hoosier Plains to the Hoosier North and finished second in a tougher conference meet and then qualified for regional.
Avery Wegner (Winamac) – Wegner, a junior, is the latest star strider from a running family. She finished third at the Hoosier North meet in 21:23 and then took 14th in 22:34 at a tough Rensselaer course for the sectional.
Hannah Rogers (Caston) – Rogers, a freshman, was Caston’s frontrunner for much of the season, and she ran a 21:43 to finish fourth at conference. She followed that up by running a 23:01 at a tough Logansport course at the sectional to advance to the Brownsburg regional.
Kandace Kroft (Winamac) – Kroft, a junior, took fifth in 22:02 at the conference meet and made the all-conference team, and she added a top 20 finish in the sectional to that.
Camila Hernandez-Rios (Caston) – Hernandez-Rios, a junior, finished eighth at the conference meet at 22:19 and then shadowed Rogers across the finish line at the Logansport sectional in running a 23:05. But her most impressive run might have been at the Brownsburg regional, when she was Caston’s frontrunner and ran a 22:12.
Bailey Bussard (Tippecanoe Valley) – Bussard, a senior, took seventh in the first Indiana Northern State Conference meet in 22:58. Two weeks later, she came up clutch, running a 22:08 at the Manchester sectional to earn a return trip to regional.
Alexa Lowe (Caston) – Lowe made honorable mention all-Hoosier North before qualifying for regionals with a 23:23 at the sectional. She then ran a 22:52 at the Brownsburg regional.
Claire Goodman (Winamac) – Goodman was the last key cog of the Winamac team along with Hoover, Wegner and Kroft. She made honorable mention all-conference and broke 24 minutes at the Logansport sectional.