Midway through Saturday’s girls cross-country state finals, Carmel was in position to defend its state title.

But over the second half of the 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) race, Columbus North took control. The fourth-ranked Bull Dogs ran away with the championship with 96 points to 178 for the No. 1 Greyhounds, 183 for No. 9 Franklin Central and 186 for No. 3 Noblesville and No. 2 Fort Wayne Carroll.

“We’re disappointed because we feel like we’re the best team,” said Carmel coach Mark Ellington. "Sometimes, things don’t work out the way you want them to, no matter how much you plan and how hard you work. Sometimes, things just fall apart.

“We had a couple tough races (Saturday) individually and just couldn’t get it done as a team.”

The Greyhounds did have two All-State runners, led by sophomore Sarah Bennett, who finished fifth in 19 minutes, 37.1 seconds. Sophomore Allison Jacobsen was 24th in 20:00.9

“It was so exciting, especially with a really hard course,” Bennett said. “The course was a little sloppy. It was a hard day, but it was pretty good (to finish fifth).”

Sophomore Renee Wellman missed earning All-State honors by one spot, finishing 26th in 20:02.9. Sophomore Lauren Kahre took 70th in 20:54.5, while senior Lindsey Brown was 104th (21:26.4), senior Ellie Taff 114th (21:37.8) and junior Alex Chitwood 148th (22:26.8).

Times were about a minute slower than usual because of wetness — and in spots, mud — on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. Wellman and Chitwood were running with Bennett in the top 12 at the midway point for Carmel, which had beaten Columbus North in winning the Carmel Semistate.

“We’re disappointed in a sense that we wanted more, but we’re awfully dang happy to be here, and second place is not an awful place to finish,” Ellington said. “We’ll come back here next year ready to go again.”