The Valparaiso High School boys cross country team placed seventh at the 2011 IHSAA State cross country meet in Terre Haute on October 29, moving up three places from last years tenth-place finish. 24 qualifying schools from all over the state competed.
Ari Coulopoulos ran an all-state race placing him eighth overall in the meet. Coulopoulos said afterward, “It was awesome. It was so fun. I did better than last year and I am very happy with my experience personally.”
Kevin Hickey, after running his first state meet, said, “This was the toughest thing I’ve ever done. I was nervous in the beginning but I went out there and ran with my teammates.”
Landon Davison surprised fans when he came in as the second man on the team for Valpo. Landon’s reaction “I would have rather been the seventh man (for Valpo) with the same time. I really wanted our team to do better.”
Taylor Bisacchi said, “It was an excellent experience and a lot of fun. Some of us didn’t have our best race. I wish we could have done better as a team this year but we’ve worked really hard to be here and we’re going to come back and do better next year.”
Varsity times:
9 Coulopoulos 15:45.0
57 Davison 16:29.1
64 Aljobeh 16:31.2
82 Bisacchi 16:41.1
86 P. Reed 16:45.8
106 Hickey 16:57.5
119 Dalton 17:04.4
Coach Mike Prow said, “We had a good year. Ari being in the Top 10 is fantastic. He has had a great season and gained a lot of confidence; he has matured a lot and started believing in us (coaches).”
Viking senior Ahmad Aljobeh took home the 2011 Charles F. Maas Mental Attitude Award at the meet. The award is given out annually based on scholarship, mental attitude, leadership, and athletic ability.
Prow continued, “Ahmad being the first (for Valpo cross country) to receive the Mental Attitude Award is the same as having an individual State Champion. We are so proud of Ahmad and he deserves this.”
After the meet, Coach Prow thanked all the parents, family and team by saying, “It’s not about the finish, it’s about the journey and the process that brought us here. We’ve worked hard and we are proud of everybody on the team and we are going to come back next year and have an even better finish. We love our family and our team.”
Top 10 team results:
1 Columbus North 77
2 Hamilton Southeastern 109
3 Carmel 152
4 Mishawaka 155
5 Lawrence Central 179
6 North Harrison 192
7 Valparaiso 214
8 South Bend St. Joseph 216
9 Carroll Ft. Wayne 243
10 Zionsville 268
For more individual results, as well as, team results, click here!