Springs Valley Community High School

As great as this week has been, the boys' cross country trip to Evansville didn’t go exactly as planned.. The boys' team had lost to only 8 teams all season. Today at the regional, they matched that total with their 9th place finish. Granted the competition was much tougher, but the bar has been raised so much by this team with their incredible success this season. Coming in, they hoped for a high finish with the outside chance of qualifying as a team. There were also high hopes to get at least 2, maybe 3 runners individually to the state finals, if not the whole team. It was probably inevitable to have to come down a notch or two from those high expectations. Putting all that aside and looking at it from a different view, when the dust settled today it was still an amazing day. As Coach Freeman said at the beginning of the day, “I believe it’s a good day to have a great day!” The Hawks indeed had a great day. They beat 16 quality teams and for the first time in school history, a Springs Valley runner advanced to the State Finals Meet! Senior Alan Marshall placed 22nd overall and 10th among individual finishers to secure a ticket to Terre Haute for the 78th annual Cross Country State Finals in Terre Haute next Saturday.. Coach Freeman told the somewhat disappointed boys after the race, “This race will not define you. You have had the most historic cross country season in school history. You had the entire state of Indiana small school's cheering for you today. I have received messages from so many coaches from around the state wishing us well. You put Springs Valley cross country on the map. Be proud of yourselves because it is much more than today’s race.”. Besides the boys, there were 2 SV girls that raced today as well. The very competitive girls' race was ran after the boys and it was much warmer, with the temperature saying 72 degrees and feeling like a hot 78 degrees. The hot, sunny weather impacted the times but Sophie Harris and Addi Moffatt gave it their all. Sophie was 139th in 23:09. Addi Moffatt ran a 23:52 in 175th place. Both girls are underclassmen and will be back for next season. Great work girls!! The boys race started with 245 runners and most of Valley’s runners got out quickly to avoid the traffic. Grant, Alan and Carson were close together through the first 2K of the race. Alan pulled away during the 3K. He had settled in during the race around 35th place and stayed pretty much there through the first 4K of the 5K race. It was his final 1K that got him to the State Finals. He passed 13 runners down the stretch with his patented kick and moved into the 22nd spot. Overall the 30th finishing place was the individual cutoff for kids to make it to the State Finals, so Alan's passing so many runners at the end was crucial to him moving on to next week. Alan’s time of 16:11 is also a new PR for him. Reflecting on the day Alan said, “Coach Freeman put it best today, when he said ‘it's a good day to have a great day’. I hope that me making it to the State Finals opens the door to future runners who now know that it's possible to do. Grant Brown said that at the PLAC Championship we ran for the people that came before us in the program. I believe this too. This season, and today, is truly a big step in the right direction.” Valley’s other senior Grant Brown finished as the 19th individual and 41st overall runner missing going to the State by 4 individual places. The top 15 individuals, not on qualifying teams, made it to the State Finals . Grant who was consistently the Number #1 runner this season and is the current school record holder ran a course PR today with his time of 16:35. Grant said of today, ”I think today was a good test for our team. We previously won 8 meets and were Sectional runner ups. Our expectations were a little too high coming into this meet, and that caused some of us to put excessive pressure on ourselves. Even though we did great as a team, we were disappointed. We placed 9th out of 25 teams. I didn't expect this meet to be my last one. Alan, Carson, and I all had high chances to advance. Today just wasn't Carson's and my day. Carson still has a shot to advance next year. Hopefully, along with some other people. However, Alan did advance and will get the chance to avenge us and the team at State. I love this team and program. I'm grateful to have made an impact. I hope we've inspired others to join and continue to grow and succeed.” Carson Brown was the number #3 runner for the team finishing in 64th with 17:05. Our next 2 runners, Andre Ayres and Harry Dybsetter, steadily improved their race positions in the final 4K. Andre Ayres ran number #4 for the team, finishing in 68th in 17:12.9. He was 129th after the first 1k but moved 62 spots during the race to finish in 68th. Harry was 210th after the first 1K but passed 70 runners to finish in 140th with 18:13. Dane Harris ran a strong race to finish 19:20 while Henry Dybsetter was back after missing a few meets to run a solid race in 20:05. All of these athletes will be back for next season. Coach Freeman said, “How exciting that we got to see the first cross country runner in school history qualify for the state finals! Alan ran such a strong and aggressive race. Exactly what we ask of the team. All of our kids gave everything they had today. We expected nothing less from this team. I think our boys and girls learned a lot about themselves and how to race in these big meets. I know they will apply that and become stronger as runners. They are a hungry, determined group who won't be down for long. In the same breath, we unfortunately saw the end of a program changing career. Grant Brown has given his all to this program. He has helped knock down barriers and break the mold for Springs Valley distance running. He accomplished many firsts in program history. He is our school record holder, and I know that he will be even more determined for his senior track season. What a blessing it is to get to coach these kids and watch them grow as human beings. I think I speak for the entire coaching staff when I say we love these kids and they have made a huge impact on our lives.” The IHSAA State Finals is set for next week at the famed Laverne Gibson XC course. The boys race will begin at 12pm est. The race will be livestreamed by the IHSAA. Coach Freeman added, “We are so excited for next week and watching Alan represent our school, team and community at the highest level. I hope he is celebrated in a massive way by all who see him.” All of the results from today's regional and information on next week's State Finals event can be found at IHSAA.org.