At the 9th annual Terre Haute Savings Bank State Preview Meet, the #13 state-ranked Valparaiso Vikings boys’ cross country squad ran to a 2nd place finish in a field of 34 teams that included #1 Carmel, #2 Brebeuf Jesuit, #12 Indianapolis Cathedral, #14 Zionsville, #22 Terre Haute South, pre-season #10 Homestead, always-tough Ben Davis, and meet host Terre Haute North.
The Vikings were led by the gutsy performance of senior Corey Alfredson, whose fantastic second half of the race catapulted him to individual medalist honors and a new Personal Best time of 16:30. Senior Ari Coulopoulos stopped the clock next for the Vikes at 16:38, good for 15th place overall, having also moved up very well over the last 3k after struggling with some nagging joint pains early on.
The pack of senior Andrew Jankowski, sophomore Danny Dalton, and senior Kevin Hickey got out hard, held on strong through the middle of the race, and finished within moments of each other. The trio broke the 17:00 barrier and provided the Vikings with some much needed depth as the team’s 1-5 gap was only a mere 22 seconds and the Vikes put 5 guys in front of every team’s 4th except for meet winner Carmel.
Rounding out the Valpo Cross varsity Top 7 were seniors Connor Ritzi and Drew Finley, who both had strong showings in their State Preview Meet debuts. Seniors Jacob Chapman, Kevin Mangel, Zack Hardesty, Oscar Palin, and Kenton Greene also battled the warm, less than ideal conditions and tough, Indy-area competition, and represented the Green & White really well on a course not known for being particularly fast.
Congrats to all Valpo Cross runners on a job well done! A big thank you to all the parents, families, fans, and alumni who made the trip out to see us and support us this morning!
Next Up: The Vikings return to action Tuesday night at Merrillville High School as we take on longtime DAC rival Portage and the host Pirates. The gun fires at 4:45 PM.
Go Green!
Photos contributed by: Kelly Coulopoulos