Valpo brought the heat on a cool afternoon with virtually perfect running conditions as they battled Michigan City for the win at Sunset Hill Farm County Park on September 17, 2013.
The Valparaiso boys team achieved a perfect score of 15 to Michigan City’s 50.
Coming in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd were Valpo runners sophomore Isaiah Smith, with a time of 17:56, followed very closely by sophomore Logan Meeter, with an identical time of 17:56, and sophomore Jack Gabrish, taking the third spot with a time of 17:59.
Michigan City senior Charles Kruger ran the Valpo course for the first time. Valpo is known to have the toughest course in the DAC.
Kruger said, “Valpo’s course is a tough course to run especially when you are looking at the huge hill called ‘roller coaster hill,’ and it sure felt like one. But I am glad our team got to come out here and run today.”
Kruger paced alongside Valpo sophomore Corey Sanders. As they crossed the finish line, they shook hands on a job well done.
Sanders said, “We encouraged each other through the whole second half of the race. We caught each other back in the woods and it felt good to run with someone from another school.”
Michigan City Head Coach Michael Liss said, “Valpo has a very challenging course, but they always host us very well. We were a bit short handed with the flu bug going around but I am glad that our team was able to be out here running.”
The Valparaiso girls team performed beautifully. Top three spots again went to Valpo with a close 4th place finish by Michigan City.
1st for Valpo was freshman Julia Rhode with a time of 22:00. 2nd was senior Emily Owens with a time of 22:20 and 3rd sophomore Shelby Kucharyski with a time of 22:34. The top three Valpo girls were followed closely by Michigan City junior Alexis Jackson with a time of 22:49.
Jackson said, “It felt good to get my coaches’ goals accomplished.”
1st place Rhode said, “I like the Valpo course. Everyone complains about the hills but we train on hills so that we don’t slow down. That way we can pass people on hills.”
Team scores were Valpo 17 – Michigan City 42.
Apparently a cross country meet is also a perfect place to ask a girl to homecoming, as Chad Timmons of Valparaiso High School did when he was standing at the finish line, holding flowers and brightly colored sign with his favorite cross country runner's name on it: Shelby Kucharyski. She said “YES!”