All-RTC4 girls cross-country: Now with team support, Rochester’s Calloway wins Runner of Year for 2nd straight year

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

RTC Runner of the Year Allyson Calloway

It was not that Rochester senior Allyson Calloway ran alone, but she was a runner who had accomplished outstanding things in search of a pack to lead.

She finally had one this year, and Rochester was better off for it, going from incomplete team to second place in the Three Rivers Conference in one year.

From lone wolf to leader of the pack, Calloway, a Purdue Northwest signee, is our RTC Runner of the Year for the second straight year.

Calloway finished fifth among individuals at the TRC meet to make the all-conference team, and she advanced as an individual to the regional, where she ran a personal best 20:11 in what turned out to be her final high school race.

Calloway also headlines our All-RTC4 girls cross-country team.

We would like to thank area coaches for sending us meet results and for sharing their insights with us. Having said that, this list is ours and ours alone, and we take full responsibility for it. We place extra emphasis on conference and postseason meets and advancement in the state tournament series.

The good news about cross-country is that there is plenty of head-to-head evidence to make logical choices.

Top Row: Avery Wegner Kandace Kroft Daniela Ochoa

Bottom : Vivian Miller Hannah Rogers Adison Hayes

All-RTC4

• Allyson Calloway (Rochester) (Runner of the Year) – She was our Runner of the Year last year and basically started this year faster than she ended last year. Then, Calloway had an up-and-down last few weeks of the season, going from 20:41 at conference to 21:41 at sectional before the best race of her life at the regional, where she ran a 20:11/

• Avery Wegner (Winamac) – Wegner won the Hoosier North title in 20:28 and was the senior frontrunner on a Winamac team that finished second in the Hoosier North. She also was an individual regional qualifier.

• Kandace Kroft (Winamac) – Kroft took third in the Hoosier North in 21:22 and was an individual regional qualifier after running a 22:49 at a tough Logansport course.

• Daniela Ochoa (Rochester) – Ochoa showed from the home Hokum Karem at the start of the season that she was no ordinary freshman and that she was going to be up near the front of the pack just a little behind Calloway. She stayed under 23 minutes all year and had few bad races.

• Vivian Miller (Rochester) – Miller just started cross-country this year as a junior but got to the point where she was a solid No. 3 runner behind Calloway and Ochoa behind the end of the year. She made honorable mention all-TRC when she ran a 22:57 at Manchester, and then showed it was no fluke when she ran a 22:59 at the Manchester sectional and advanced to regional.

• Hannah Rogers (Caston) – Rogers, a sophomore, was an All-Hoosier North runner after she ran a 21:38 and finished fifth at conference. Then she ran a 23:04 at the Logansport sectional and advanced to the regional. She is a consistent, hard-charging performer who leaves it all out on the course.

• Adison Hayes (Rochester) – There might have been some questions whether Hayes would have a sophomore season due to a calf injury at the start of the year, but as it turned out, she just missed honorable mention all-TRC, and then she qualified for the regional as an individual. Like Calloway, she runs at an even pace. If she stays healthy, we think she gets under 23 minutes next year.

• Camila Hernandez-Rios (Caston) – Hernandez-Rios might be at her best as a sprinter on the track team in the spring, but she also ran 22:37 on the Winamac road course at the conference meet and a 23:54 at the Logansport sectional to advance to regional as an individual.

• McKenna Lowe (Tippecanoe Valley) – Lowe, a senior, ran a 24:05 to make the All-Indiana Northern State Conference team, and she was consistently under 25 minutes all year.

• Myli Rude (Caston) – Rude, a senior, surpassed a couple teammates this year to become Caston’s No. 3 runner, and she wound up making honorable mention all-conference and qualifying for the regional as an individual.

Honorable mention

• Brooklyn Chandler (Rochester)

• Madelyn Goodman (Winamac)

• Lexi Gibson (Argos)

• Alexa Lowe (Caston)

• Jaded Aguilar (Caston)

• Avery Haselby (Pioneer)

• Kadence Bradley (Rochester)

RTC Girls Runners of the Year

• 2020: Madilyn Calloway (Rochester)

• 2021: Madilyn Calloway (Rochester)

• 2022: Zoe Seward (Rochester)

• 2023: Chesnee Miller (Tippecanoe Valley)

• 2024: Allyson Calloway (Rochester)

• 2025: Allyson Calloway (Rochester)