New Palestine High School

New Palestine senior Jake Cooper ran the best race of his career Saturday, finishing 26th at the Shelbyville cross country regional and clinching a spot in next week's State Finals. The top five teams and top five individuals from non-advancing teams advance from each regional. Cooper ran a career-best 16:09.2 to earn his State Finals berth. He finished 26th in the 244-runner field. The State Finals will be held next week at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course in Terre Haute. He helped lead the Dragons to a 17th-place finish out of 25 teams. NP scored 412 places. In addition to Cooper's run, Mike Bauer was 78th (16:59.0), Gavin Smith 113th (17:30.4), Carson Cooper 138th (17:54.7) and Zion Koch 167th (18:16.8). Noblesville (45) won the regional title, with Hamilton SE (78), Franklin Central (97), Fishers (100) and Mt. Vernon (134) also advancing. The Dragons girls finished 15th of 25 teams in the penultimate round of the state tournament series. Abby Journay led the Dragons with a 63rd-place finish (20:17.4). Taylor Burke was 94th (20:55.5), Taylor Stone 147th (21:58.6), Heidi Bloomer 161st (22:20.3) and McKenzie Hacker 169th (22:31.1) in the 243-runner field. Franklin Central won the regional title with 73 places. Noblesville (90), Hamilton Southeastern (140), Westfield (148) and East Central (157) also clinched State Finals spots. The Dragons tallied 453 places. They finished ahead of fellow HHC schools New Castle and Mt. Vernon.