Our South Knox Middle School girls cross country team brought home the championship Tuesday night at the Vic Betz Northeast Dubois Invitational in Celestine. It was a tough night to race. Temperatures were still in the high 90s, even after the start was moved back to 7 p.m. The course was challenging, the competition was strong, and the girls knew they would have to earn every place. They did exactly that. South Knox finished first out of 10 complete teams with 58 points. Barr-Reeve was second with 72, and Jasper finished third with 74. Both are strong teams we knew we would have to race well to beat. The victory moved our season record to 28–8. Haven Evans led the Lady Spartans with a tremendous fifth-place finish in 13:40.8. Lee Emma Dellinger was right behind her in sixth at 13:44.4, followed by Lydia Emmert in eighth at 13:45.5. Those three girls finished only 4.7 seconds apart. They beat every Barr-Reeve runner and all but one Jasper runner. That gave us three low scores and put the team in a great position. Molly Carnahan stepped up as our fourth runner, placing 17th in 14:14.7. Jacie Shepard completed our scoring with a 23rd-place finish in 14:30.2. Our top five finished within 49.4 seconds of one another. That tight split and the girls’ willingness to race together made the difference. Annie Nolting finished 43rd in 15:53.0, and Addie Blackwell placed 53rd in 16:15.6. Lyla Chesser was 56th in 16:24.8, Esther Singleton finished 60th in 16:35.7, and Dawsyn Perry placed 67th in 16:56.6. Alexis Hammond finished 92nd in 18:13.6, Kyleigh Smith was 100th in 18:28.9, Evie Schutter placed 111th in 19:09.1, Harper Snyder finished 116th in 19:38.3, and Lily Adams placed 142nd in 23:15.4. This win showed what this team is capable of when the girls race bravely, stay connected, and fight for one another. Different girls stepped forward when the team needed them, and every place mattered. We are very proud of how they handled the heat, the hills, and the pressure. Nothing given. Everything earned. Let’s go, Lady Spartans!