Races opened up on this cold windy morning on October 1, 2011 with the running of the Junior Varsity teams in the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) Meet. Valpo immediately took, and kept, the lead without much other competition there to push the Vikings to run harder other than their teammates. The top four places went to Valpo with Murry Banks placing 1st at 17:17 followed by Corey Alfredson (2nd), Zach Schwartz (3rd), and Jordan Galligan (4th) closing out the top four at 17:27 each.
The Valpo JV team won their race with 17 points. Portage 56, Crown Point 87, Lake Central 120, LaPorte 121, Chesterton 130 and Michigan City 224 followed behind.
JV times were:
1 Banks 17:17
2 Alfredson 17:27
3 Schwartz 17:27
4 Galligan 17:27
7 M. Halfman17:46
13 Mangel 18:00
14 Molina 18:00
15 Finley 18:04
22 Chapman 18:25
23 Devine18:25
24 Meyer 18:28
30 Ranegar 18:38
31 Miles 18:38
35 Sandberg 18:47
37 Ritzi 18:49
T. Schwartz 19:03
47 Hardesty 19:06
49 R. Halfman 19:08
52 Kroll 19:13
62 Palin 19:24
67 Perez 19:32
70 Workman 19:34
75 C. Davison 19:38
76 Marciniak 19:40
78 Kahrs 19:45
81 Southwell 19:53
83 Warner 19:57
88 Studebaker 20:08
93 J. Halfman 20:19
100 Schenk 20:50
109 Neis 21:46
Following up the JV win was the Varsity team winning with 52 points. Ari Coulopoulos took first place, nudging out last years All-Conference winner Mitch Hubner of LaPorte. Coulopoulos also set a new course record with a time of 15:44. Coulopoulos said, "I felt great. The last 'K' hurt so bad, but it was a great race. My previous PR was at New Prairie with 15:46, I couldn't be happier." He added, "Winning a DAC sophomore year is awesome, I mean I don't know how often that happens."
Taking a fall was Landon Davison. Davison was almost spiked as runners kept running over him, but he managed to get back up. Coach Prow told him, "I love how you just popped right back up! Good job!" Davison still managed to place 13th despite the hard fall.
After the race, Coach Crague said, "Having Ari and Peyton place1st and 3rd is phenomenal and we are very happy for the new course record too. Ari is champion in his sophomore year. Peyton didn't have his best race, but he still placed 3rd. But we need our 3rd and 4th runners to be there too. Runners three through seven need to be there. We are pleased with Kevin and Andrew, we love sophomores battling like that and having a competitive spirit, but we need to do a better job staying together. We did not execute our game plan."
VHS Athletic Director and head football coach Mark Hoffman was out cheering for Valpo. Hoffman said, "It's great to see the kids compete, It's going to be a good day for the Vikings. Coach Prow and Coach Devries along with assistant coaches Crague and Nellesen have done an excellent job, even despite injuries. Valpo has done very well. It's a tribute to the coaches of how well their training is."
Also cheering on Valpo were VHS cross country alumni Michael Bobos, Colin Stiscak, Karl Rinkenburger, Jason Watson and Drew Sims. All are former VHS XC runners and graduates of 2011. They came out "because we want to support the team and a fallen teammate." said Rinkenburger in rememberence of Matt Erickson.
Varsity team scores: Valpo 52, LaPorte 55, Crown Point 72, Portage 102, Chesterton 121, Lake Central 134, Michigan City 175, Merrillville 216
Varsity times:
1 Coulopoulos 15:44 (record)
3 P. Reed 16:19
13 L.Davison 16:56
17 Dalton 17:03
18 Hickey 17:09
27 Bisacchi 17:18
31 Jankowski 17:37
Thank you to Kathy Mangel and Kelly Coulopoulos for contributing photos!