For the second time ever and first since 1980, Bloomington High School North has won the IHSAA Cross Country State Championship. Five Cougars completed the 5k race in 16 minutes or under, led by highest finishers Jacob Mitchell and Caelan D’Onofrio, topping second-place Noblesville by 10 points, and finishing with a team average of 15:41. 

“Last year, we got 10th at state, when we projected like second or third. So we just had a sore feeling,” said Caleb Winders. “We worked hard every day, and that was our goal all year. We talked about it all year, and made it and then won.”

Both state championship teams were coached by the same man, Charles Warthan. He was a student-athlete at Indiana State from 1967 to 1971, where he broke every distance event record from the mile to the marathon, and was a four-time XC most valuable player and three-time conference champion. It’s also worth noting he finished 22nd in the 1976 Olympic marathon trials. Two years later, he took the job at North, a position he has held since. He also coached track from 1984-2009, with 12 sectional and 9 regional titles and two top-10 state finishes. In 2015, he entered the Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame. 

The amazing achievement both highlights the great talent and dedication of this roster as well as the valuable role of Coach Warthan in building the programming and shaping so many runners’ journeys. As North’s first state championship in any team sport since 1997, this team is definitely one to remember.