On Tuesday, August 30, the Valparaiso High School boys cross country (XC) team took on the Michigan City Wolves and the Crown Point Bulldogs for a three-way meet. The meet was held on the Crown Point course at Lemon Lake County Park. Valpo Vikings took the win with scores VHS-20 to CPHS 41 and VHS-15 to MCHS 50.
This was a new course for many running, but it didn't stop Valpo from taking the "W". Coach Mike Prow said of the course, "It's not as difficult as ours, but it is a course with rolling hills."
Valpo had competitive times taking most of the top 10 places. Ari Coulopoulos took 1st with a time of 16:54 followed closely by Peyton Reed 16:57 for 2nd and Murry Banks 16:59 took 4th, narrowly being edged out for 3rd by CPHS Daniel Walters.
This is the second win for Valpo XC winning their Jamboree on August 23.
In the top 20 for Valpo were:
Ari Coulopoulos, Sophomore 16:54-1st
Peyton Reed, Junior 16:57-2nd
Murry Banks, Senior 16:59-4th
Pat Dalton, Junior 17:13-6th
Zach Schwartz, Junior 17:15-7th
Andrew Jankowski, Sophomore 17:18-8th
Kevin Hickey, Sophomore 17:22-9th
Landon Davison, Junior 17:28-10th
Xavier Reed, Junior 17:30-11th
Jordan Galligan, Junior 17:36-13th
Danny Westmoreland, Senior 17:43-14th
Corey Alfredson, Sophomore 17:44-15th
Taylor Bisacchi, Junior 18:11-19th
Kevin Mangel, Sophomore 18:12-20th
Next meet is the State Preview Meet in Terre Haute, IN, Saturday, September 3 on the LaVerne Gibson Championship Course. Race is set to start at 8:30am. Remember Terre Haute is one hour ahead of Valpo so set your watches accordingly.
If you are not able to attend in Terre Haute, the next meet will be at home held at Sunset Hill Farm against Chesterton on September 6. Race starts at 4:30pm. Girls race to follow.
Thank you to Kelly Coulopoulos and Kathy Mangel for helping with photos!