The Valparaiso High School varsity boys' cross country team took home the first place trophy at the New Prairie Invitational on Saturday, September 17, 2011. The Viking boys' Freshman-Sophomore team took 3rd.
Valparaiso keeps coming back to the invite because "It's a chance to preview the semi-state course and run with other teams that we don't normally run with and who we may come against at state. It's good to run against teams like Mishawaka and South Bend St. Joe and also run with such teams as LaPorte." said Coach Aaron Crague.
Warsaw was a team to contend with at the Invite, proud mom Cindy Rheinhardt proudly wore their team colors sporting the team motto "Shut Up And Run." She was there to support her son Spencer, running for Warsaw's varsity team.
Valpo ran hard and "ran like Vikings", said fan John Borman. Varsity placed 1st with a team score of 73 points. There were 34 schools in three different divisions running at the invite, featuring both boys and girls teams.
Jim Holloman, father of Jordan, a Senior from South Bend St. Joe said, "This is the largest sporting event for Indiana in high school sports." He estimated there were about 3,000 runners on the course.
Race Official Curt Parrish noticed top Valpo runner Ahmad Aljobeh, not running this year and made sure shake the hand of Aljobeh, a senior at VHS. Aljobeh was injured during a practice run and hopes to be healthy by state. Parrish commented, "Aljobeh has mental toughness. He has a beautiful long stride and is a great all around runner."
Valparaiso Varsity places and times:
Coulopoulos 3- 15:46
P. Reed 6-15:57
Dalton 21- 16:26
Bisacchi 23- 16:29
L. Davison 26- 16:30
X. Reed 73-17:21
Banks 88- 17:35
Boys Fresh/Soph took 3rd with a team score of 104. 1st was Warsaw with 38 points and 2nd went to North Ridge with only a 2 point margin of 102.
Fresh/Soph times and places:
Jankowski 7- 17:00
Hickey 9- 17:04
Alfredson 15- 17:10
Mangel 34- 17:51
Finley 39- 17:57
Chapman 44- 18:08
Palin 99- 19:21
Reserves ran as individuals. Valpo did exceptionally well placing 3 runners in the top 15.
Reserves places and times:
Meyer 2- 17:26
M. Halfman 6- 17:38
Molina 10- 17:52
Miles 52- 18:38
Divine 55- 18:41
Ranegar 59- 18:43
Ritiz 63- 18:44
T. Schwartz 65- 18:46
R. Halfman 66- 18:46
Hardesty 81- 19:00
Kahrs 86- 19:03
Perez 106-19:16
Kroll 114- 19:19
Southwell 124- 19:26
C. Davison 164- 20:03
Warner 171- 20:11
Marciniak 219- 20:40
J. Halfman 250- 20:59
Schenk 285- 21:30
Neis 356- 22:54
Sandberg 373- 23:40
The next meet for the Vikings will be at Lake Central High School in a 3-way meet against Portage. Meet starts at 4:30p.m.
Photos for article contributed by Tony Ranegar