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FORT WAYNE, Ind. — on a clear sunny day at the new Haven cross country semistate, fans could almost see the future. Madison County was represented by three schools and two individuals across the boys and girls races, and the finishes were solid, if unspectacular, across the board. but it was hard to miss the sense of anticipation already building for next fall. The Pendleton Heights girls team had the best finish, 12th overall and six spots out of a trip to Terre Haute for next week’s state meet. Coming off the first regional title in program history, the Arabians have high hopes for next season. six of their top seven runners are returning, and a promising eighth-grade class is set to join the team. “I can’t help but think we’ll be back next year,” head coach Melissa Hagerman said. “And we’ll be in the top six.” There’s a similar sense of hopefulness surrounding the Frankton boys. a year ago, the Eagles fell just short of advancing out of the sectional. This year, they jumped all the way to a 16th-place semistate finish. And head coach Brian Williams said they are just getting started. “given the fact that we have no kids graduating, this year was really part of a two-year plan for us,” Williams said. “next year, we want to get to the next step which means finishing in the top six and going to state. but we did what we had to do today.” For the Pendleton Heights boys, a 13th-place finish was something of a disappointment. but it’s a sign of just how far the Arabians’ program has come that anything less than a state finals appearance somehow doesn’t feel quite good enough. “The competition is so great up here,” head coach Alan Holden said. “I think we could have done a little better, but I’m satisfied. we had a nice season. we were psyched up, hoping we could go that direction (to state). we gave a run for it.” Pendleton Heights’ Sam Bayliss was the top local finisher overall. he finished in 16:37.08, good for 23rd place. The Arabians’ team score took a hit when Brandon Smith re-aggravated an injury that had bothered him during the sectional. he gutted out a 73rd-place finish, but Holden estimated that was some 40 spots below where Smith might have run if he was healthy. Jordan McCool (55th), Forrest Ockomon (66th), Spencer McCool (106th), Matt Finnegan (108th) and Jacob Chestnut (130th) rounded out Pendleton Heights’ lineup. “I think Sam ran an excellent race,” Holden said. “he really bounced back from the regional, and he didn’t miss going to state by that much by himself. Brandon tweaking his injury really hurt us. You can’t have a setback at the semistate. You gotta have all five cylinders firing, and we only had four.” Frankton’s top finisher was T.J. Eads in 84th place. he was followed by Dylan Doan (98th), Garrett Allen (112th), Blake Wetz (121st), Aaron Cawthorn (133rd) and Bobby Brown (135th). “we probably finished about where (their seeding) said they were,” Williams said. “but the times were good.” Lapel’s Lucas Mendel finished 64th overall, running as an individual. Fellow Bulldog Sierra Ratzlaff, a freshman, finished 81st as an individual in her first semistate appearance. Pendleton Heights’ Emma Manchess was the top girls finisher with a time of 20:05.47 in 34th place. She was followed by teammates Chelsea Blackwell (47th), Kelsee Wendling (83rd), Maddi Hinton (98th), Makindsay Carper (112th), Anna Dudley (114th) and Kristina Reed (142nd). “they did a great job,” Hagerman said. “Emma was a little ahead of where we had her placed. a lot of the girls wanted to be under 100, and many of them reached that goal.” Mishawaka claimed the boys team title and Fort Wayne Carroll repeated as the girls champion. South Bend St. Joseph’s Joey Zelinski won the boys race in 15:40.32. Warsaw’s Ashley Erba won the girls title in 18:07.66. “This reminds me a lot of the state meet,” Hagerman said of the crowd and atmosphere. “This was the same type of weather as when (her son) Brock won state his senior year. (The girls) all ran hard. The course was in decent shape, considering all the rain we’ve had lately, and I don’t think the girls were ever by themselves out there without some fans cheering for them. “This is great competition. we need to get up here and run throughout the season.”