Valparaiso High School Boys and Girls Cross Country dominated the Chesterton-hosted triangular meet at Sunset Hill Farm. Competing in the meet were Valpo, Chesterton, and Crown Point.
Boys ran first with perfect conditions out on the course. Sunny conditions and cool temperatures allowed for the runners to push a little harder. First place was Ari Coulopoulos with a strong time of 16:09.
Coulopoulos said, “We ran as a team the whole time up until the end and it was a great team effort.”
Andrew Jankowski finished 2nd with a time of 16:22. He said, “This was the best feeling I’ve had for a long time, probably the best feeling I’ve had in my cross country career so far. We were leading all the way and we kept the top guys in a pack running together. We all knew going into this meet today that we wanted a strong start to the season and we accomplished that.”
Rounding out the top three was Corey Alfredson setting a new PR (personal record) of 16:32. He said, “Our goal was to run as a team and we accomplished that goal. I felt the energy of my team pushing me and that helped me to accomplish my goal of setting a PR.”
Valpo Coach Aaron Crague was very pleased with the team’s performance. He said, “We came into this meet trying to start the DAC off right. Our guys have been hungry to compete. We came into this meet looking ahead to the State Preview Meet on Saturday. We wanted to use this meet as a dress rehearsal and they did really well.”
Valpo girls came out just as strong as the boys. They broke onto the field cheering, “One Team, One Dream, One Family.” The proved they were a united team running and pacing together and pulling off the win over both Crown Point and Chesterton.
First place finish went to Alison Mundell with a time of 19:33 followed closely by teammate Michaela Gazdich who took 3rd with a time of 19:49. Crown Point runner Kayla McGurk was 2nd with a time of 19:42.
Mundell said, “It’s nice to be able to go out there and have a really good run with my teammates.”
Boys scores:
Valpo 15 – Chesterton 50
Valpo 16 – Crown Point 43
Crown Point 15 – Chesterton 50
Girls scores:
Valpo 27 - Chesterton 28
Valpo 22 – Crown Point 33
Chesterton 20 – Crown Point 36