The Valparaiso High School girls cross country team placed third at the IHSAA State Championship Meet, bringing home a bronze medal for their efforts. Coach Nellessen said, “It feels good. The girls did a great job and we are proud of them, especially our three seniors. It was a total team effort and that’s what it’s all about.”
The State Cross Country Meet was held in Terre Haute on October 29, 2011. It couldn’t have been a more perfect day for running, sunny with slight wind and cool temperatures. Valparaiso girls got the job done in bringing home a medal.
After the race, Katelyn DeVries said, “I tried to stay up there and push through the whole way.”
Tricia Joll said, “I raced a lot better than I did last year. We all had our eyes up looking at each other and we knew what we had to do, and our teammates carried us through.”
Lauren Bigger said, “This is my last race as a senior and I wanted to go out and be strong for my team.”
Varsity times:
17 DeVries 18:51.4
42 Bigger 19:22.6
43 Fortney 19:23.8
83 Mundell 20:05.8
102 Joll 20:21.6
171 Despoy 21:35.6
175 Gazdich 21:43.3
Coach DeVries was thrilled about the way the team performed saying, “If someone had told me last August that we would be third in state, I never would have believed it. With the team we had at the beginning of the year, not running a full team. The post season is all we had. These girls fought through it and gave it all they had.”
Top 10 schools:
1 Carmel 43
2 Columbus North 140
3 Valparaiso 213
4 Fort Wayne Concordia 223
5 West Lafayette 223
6 Hamilton Southeastern 242
7 Carroll Fort Wayne242
8 Westfield 245
9 Center Grove 250
10 Terre Haute North 266
For more individual results and team results, click here!