Springs Valley Community High School

It was a good day to have a great day. That’s the mantra that Springs Valley cross country coach Derek Freeman kept repeating to his runners, their parents, his assistant coaches, and pretty much anyone else who would listen on Saturday morning as his Blackhawks prepared to compete in the Jasper Sectional. He was right. Springs Valley entered the day with high expectations and, somehow, managed to not only surpass them, but blow them out of the water. Three of the six ‘Hawks who ran in the girls’ race qualified for regional, the entire boys’ team qualified for regional for the first time in school history, and a new boys’ 5K record was set. “They did have a great day. To a person, every single person completely emptied everything they had onto that course,” Freeman said. “They crossed the finish line and some of them were throwing up, some of them could barely walk, we gave everything we had and that’s all you can ever ask of them. “I just don’t think I have the words to express how proud of these kids I am and how excited for these kids I am.” On the girls’ side, it will be Jadyn Lynch, Sophie Harris, and Keira Lynch who advance to run at the Crawford County Regional for Springs Valley. The first two posted new personal records to finish 31st and 37th respectively and Keira Lynch placed 38th to punch her ticket to Marengo. Behind them Alexis Courtney finished her campaign strong with a season-best time in 51st. Josie Robison and Lily Hickman finished 53rd and 54th. All just sophomores, Harris and the Lynches will get their first taste of regional competition next weekend. It will be particularly rewarding for Harris, who missed out on making regional last year by just a single spot, and will surely be an important building block as their careers go on. “I love the fact that they get to experience it at a young age, as sophomores,” Freeman said. “Once you’ve done it once, you go back and you know what to expect, so they’ll know what’s going on and all that kind of stuff (in the future). I think it’s phenomenal for them to get there. “Those girls have blown me away all year and they continue to get better and better and better. This is a step toward showing that they belong with those top-tier girls and that they can continue to press and work harder and get better.” The day that Springs Valley’s boys’ team had at sectional was unprecedented. The best finish the Blackhawks boys had ever had at sectional was sixth, and for good reason. The field they’ve competed in recently has been loaded with bigger schools and quality small-school competition. Only the top five teams get to advance to regional, though, and because of that Valley has only sent individuals on from sectional. Until this year, that is. On Saturday, the Blackhawks didn’t finish sixth, fifth, or even fourth. They finished third, falling only behind Jasper and Tell City, to automatically advance all seven of their runners to the Crawford County Regional. Of the seven Blackhawks who raced on Saturday, six logged new personal-record times. Harold Dybsetter finished 58th, Max Pendley placed 32nd, Owen Weisensteiner ran his way to 28th, Carson Brown finished 18th, and the duo of Alan Marshall and Grant Brown cracked the top 10, placing seventh and third respectively. “I don’t even think this was a possibility nine weeks ago in my mind, but we added Max and Owen and these kids have absolutely poured themselves into it day after day and to see that determination and dedication out of them is unbelievable,” Freeman said. “They keep raising the bar. Every time they run I think, ‘wow, we’re better than I thought we were, we’re better than I expected,’ so I’ve learned to stop expecting and just start watching these guys do amazing things.” Each member of the Blackhawks’ star tandem broke a new threshold on Saturday. For Marshall, it was finally getting under the 17-minute mark with a time of 16:57.46 and solidifying himself as an elite competitor. For Brown, it was making history. On Saturday, the junior finally broke the school record in the boys’ 5K, finishing with a time of 16:37.50. Those accomplishments will serve as stepping stones in each of their careers, as Marshall’s already bound and determined to break Brown’s record and Brown has plans to set the bar pretty high for the next generation of runners at Springs Valley. “It feels amazing, but there’s still more to go for like (a) sub-16 (minute 5K),” Brown said. “There’s always going to be more to go for so I’m never going to stop trying to be better.” On top of everything else the Blackhawk boys accomplished on Saturday, they also got a little revenge by soundly beating Patoka Lake Athletic Conference rival Perry Central, who finished fourth. The Commodores narrowly knocked off Springs Valley for the conference title a week prior to the sectional meet, so the ‘Hawks were looking to get back at them and accomplished just that. It might have been icing on the cake, but icing is worth celebrating as well. “I have the utmost respect for Jason Barnett and Perry Central and I know that they’re battling some things over there, but for (our guys) to come back and get a little retribution for that and to show how good we are, it’s great,” Freeman said. “We’re going to face the same teams again next week and it’s another opportunity to go faster and beat them again and beat them even more soundly and to me, that’s exciting.” As a reward for their hard work, dedication, and success, the Blackhawks get another week of training followed by another big race. On Saturday, Oct. 15, they’ll travel to Marengo to compete in the Crawford County Regional. It’s a meet that Springs Valley has been preparing for throughout the season, running the course at Crawford County multiple times so far, and the Blackhawks hope that will pay off with a bundle of semi-state berths at the end of the day. “I’m pretty sure that they’re all super excited that they get to spend their fall break with me, but the thing I want to see is their experience,” Freeman said. “They’ve all run that course twice already this season and several of them have run that course even more, so they know what to do and what not to do. They should have confidence when they go out on that course and compete with every single person who steps on that course. “We’re excited, we’re looking forward to it, and I think that experience on that course is going to help us next week.” Jasper Sectional - Boys Jasper 35, Tell City 60, Springs Valley 88, Perry Central 114, Forest Park 118, Heritage Hills 147, Northeast Dubois 152, Southridge 231, Shoals 233 Top Ten 1. Jaryn Weinel, Jasper, 16:00.91. 2. Harrison Hulsman, Jasper, 16:25.39. 3. Grant Brown, Springs Valley, 16:37.50. 4. Reece Wolf, Forest Park, 16:43.14. 5. Wylee Kippenbrock, Jasper, 16:54.44. 6. Thomas Hogan, Perry Central, 16:55.15. 7. Alan Marshall, Springs Valley, 16:57.46. 8. Brayden Lain, Tell City, 17:02.23. 9. Lachlan Russell, Tell City, 17:10.44. 10. Pierce Lashley, Heritage Hills, 17:14.20. Other Springs Valley — Carson Brown 17:29.53, Owen Weisensteiner 18:17.96, Max Pendley 18:47.76, Harold Dybsetter 21:39.57, Matthew Woolsey 23:24.14. Jasper Sectional - Girls Jasper 44, Tell City 72, Forest Park 88, Northeast Dubois 96, Southridge 127, Perry Central 142, Heritage Hills 146, Springs Valley 194 Top Ten 1. Ally Wigand, Jasper, 19:02.7. 2. Sara Livingston, Northeast Dubois, 19:32.3. 3. Maddie Graber, Southridge, 19:37.7. 4. Karli Kitten, Forest Park, 19:57.7. 5. Riley Hinson, Forest Park, 20:05.0. 6. Andyn Lampert, Jasper, 20:15.7. 7. Paige Wildman, Northeast Dubois, 20:25.2. 8. Emma DeWeese, South Spencer, 20:36.1. 9. Summer Guillaume, Perry Central, 20:37.7. 10. Monica Lorey, Jasper, 20:41.6. Other Springs Valley — Jadyn Lynch 22:52.4, Sophie Harris 23:56.4, Keira Lynch 24:18.1, Alexis Courtney 27:20.3, Josie Robison 28:19.8, Lily Hickman 28:46.9