Scouting the state cross country finals

When: Today, noon (boys), 12:45 p.m. (girls).

Where: Lavern Gibson Championship Course, Wabash Valley Sports Center, 599 S. Tabortown Road, Terre Haute.

Participating teams: (Boys) Bedford-North Lawrence, Bloomington South, Carmel, Carroll (Fort Wayne), Chesterton, Columbus North, Evansville North, Fort Wayne Snider, Hamilton Southeastern, Hobart, LaPorte, Lawrence Central, McCutcheon, Mishawaka, North Central (Indianapolis), North Harrison, Seymour, South Bend St. Joseph's, Terre Haute South, Valparaiso, Warsaw, Whitko, Zionsville.

(Girls) Avon, Bloomington South, Carmel, Carroll (Fort Wayne), Center Grove, Columbus North, Crown Point, Eastern (Greentown), Evansville Memorial, Fort Wayne Concordia, Hamilton Southeastern, Heritage Hills, Huntington North, Lake Central, New Albany, Northridge, Penn, Portage, Terre Haute North, Terre Haute South, Valparaiso, Warsaw, West Lafayette, Westfield.

Favorites: Columbus North boys, Carmel girls.

Darkhorses: Hamilton Southeastern boys, Columbus North girls.

Local individuals to watch: (Boys) Chesterton -- Tyler Rusboldt, Crown Point -- Daniel Walters, Tom Cierniak; Hobart -- Brent Dunn; Highland -- Jake Baranowski; LaPorte -- Mitch Hubner; Lowell -- Kyle Eller; Morgan Township -- Alec Kostelnik; Valparaiso -- Ari Coulopoulos, Peyton Reed, Ahmad Aljobeh, Pat Dalton, Landon Davison; Wheeler -- Kyle Nurse.

(Girls) Andrean -- Becca Conley; Crown Point -- Lauren McCarroll, Lyndie Pierce, Allison Wortel; Griffith -- Taylor Austin; Lake Central -- Shelby Carroll, Megan Zajac; LaPorte -- Elena Lancioni; Portage -- Megan Cassidy, Terre Norman; Valparaiso -- Katelyn DeVries, Alison Mundell, Tiffany Fortney, Lauren Bigger.

Fast facts: Columbus North's boys and Carmel's girls are defending team champions. Valparaiso's boys (10th) and girls (sixth) are the top returning local teams. North Central's Futsum Zeinasellassie is the two-time defending boys champion. Carmel's Sarah Bennett (third) is the top returning girl. Hubner (10th) and Lancioni (28th) are the top returning local runners. !~ Jim Peters