The Munster Mustangs boys and girls cross country teams competed at the IHSAA Regional Championship Saturday at New Prairie High School, delivering impressive performances highlighted by a historic team finish for the girls and an individual state qualification for the boys. The Munster girls finished third out of 25 teams with 127 points, earning their second consecutive trip to the IHSAA State Championship. The third-place finish marks the highest finish ever by a Munster girls cross country team at a state-qualifying meet and just the third team qualification for State in school history. Sophomore Lekha Patel led the Mustangs, placing seventh out of 242 runners in 18:27.01. Senior Beatrissa Pitcher finished 15th in 18:54.99, giving Munster two runners in the top 15. Sophomore Vivian Koncalovic placed 28th in 19:50.33, followed by freshman Lucy Sandefur in 45th (20:08.74) and senior Ellis Choi in 47th (20:09.74). Freshman Aubrey Earnshaw finished 68th in 20:35.11, while junior Riley Sechowski placed 79th in 20:45.43. Lake Central won the girls regional title with 40 points, followed by Penn with 119 and Munster with 127. The Mustangs' back-to-back state qualifications establish a new milestone for the program, with five of the seven regional competitors returning next season. The Munster boys finished 12th out of 25 teams with 301 points, averaging 17:20 across their top five runners. Although the team season concluded at regional, junior Robert Covarrubias secured an individual berth to the IHSAA State Championship with an outstanding 26th-place finish out of 244 runners in 16:38.39. Sophomore Keegan McGee was Munster's second finisher, placing 48th in 17:08.91, followed by sophomore Noah Cunningham in 68th (17:23.24), sophomore Beau Bliss in 75th (17:30.34) and junior Thomas Burns in 128th (17:59.34). Sophomore Daniel Snyder finished 137th in 18:06.39, and sophomore Timothy Maldonado placed 190th in 18:56.15. All seven regional competitors are expected to return next season, providing a strong foundation for continued growth. The girls will now prepare to compete against Indiana's top teams at the IHSAA State Cross Country Championship, while Covarrubias will represent Munster in the boys' individual state race. Congratulations to both teams on an outstanding regional performance, and best of luck to the girls and Robert as they represent Munster at State! Go Mustangs!