High school cross country has officially entered post season with the DAC (Duneland Athletic Conference). The DAC Meet for teams from Valparaiso, Crown Point, Michigan City, La Porte, Portage, Chesterton and Merrillville was held at Kesling Park in La Porte.
On La Porte High School’s course, a course known for runners attaining their personal record, there were some astounding victories, including another double victory for La Porte’s Anthony Didion and Elena Lancioni, who each took home 1st place and made the All-Conference team.
During the girls varsity race, Coach Tim Beres commented on the potential double victory once again for La Porte. He said, “Unless someone can gain one up on [Lancioni], we will get the double victory again.”
Anthony Didion commented after his race that he would really like to see all the guys on his team make it to state. Didion said, “We have a young team and I think it would be a really great experience for them to experience a state meet and then they can learn from it and build a great team in the years to come.”
Cheering all of her teammates on after her 1st place victory was Elena Lancioni.
She has had an almost perfect season, winning virtually every DAC meet during the season. She explained, “It feels great to win DAC but I want to do well as a team. We want to make it state and my goal is to earn a medal this year.”
Valparaiso took home the boys’ team title with a score of 40 points. The Vikings had a solid performance with three of Valpo’s top varsity runners making All-Conference.
Valpo ‘s Ari Coulopoulos finished 2nd overall for with a time of 16:06. Andrew Jankowski came in 4th with a time of 16:21 and Corey Alfredson was 7th with a time of 16:30, launching their team into 1st place victory.
Coulopoulos said, “Now that I’m able to run more [after running with a sore hip for quite a while this season] it’s time to get faster and focus on running with the team and running at state.” He added, “I want to be back up on that podium and see my team up there again too.”
VHS Head Coach Mike Prow was proud of the DAC win today for Valpo.
Prow said, “The team did what they were asked to. They ran as a team and did great. We want them to keep doing the same and get faster in the mean time.
It’s all about focusing on the team but today individually I want to recognize Jacob Chapman. He ran well today and came in before most schools 3rd and 4th guys, which can be the difference in points between a win or not.”
Making All-Conference for the boys:
1 Anthony Didion La Porte 16:03
2 Ari Coulopoulos Valparaiso 16:06
3 Tyler Gray Crown Point 16:16
4 Andrew Jankowski Valparaiso 16:21
5 Ryan Kepshire Crown Point 16:24
6 Zack Hupp Lake Central 16:28
7 Corey Alfredson Valparaiso 16:30
8 Jake Langbehn Crown Point 16:32
9 Tyler Kramer-Stephens Lake Central 16:32
10 Mitchell Wilborn Chesterton 16:36
11 Sam Miller La Porte 16:41
12 Casey Garvey Lake Central 16:45
Making All-Conference for the girls:
1 Elena lancioni La Porte 18:38
2 Kayla McGurk Crown Point 19:05
3 Kailee Schoof La Porte 19:18
4 Michaela Gadzich Valparaiso 19:22
5 Sarah Hunsley Lake Central 19:26
6 Rebecca Timm Portage 19:40
7 Alison Mundell Valparaiso 19:52
8 Kyra Ball Portage 19:54
9 Megan Zajac Lake Central 19:58
10 Haley Orshonsky Portage 19:59
11 Kristin Cave LaPorte 19:59
12 Rhyan Sloan Portage 20:07
Team victory for the girls was narrowly won by only 1 point. La Porte girls claimed the team victory with a score of 48 points with Portage taking 2nd with the 1 point margin of 49 points.
For individual results of all the races visit T & H Timing at www.thtiming.com