Springs Valley Community High School

The Springs Valley cross country team was riding a high as it approached the Crawford County Regional on Saturday. Just a week before, the Blackhawks’ boys had made history by becoming the first boys’ team in program history to qualify for regional as a team and a trio of girls had also advanced. The fact that they were there at regional was a nice accomplishment. Their season could have ended in Marengo and, for the most part, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. The Blackhawk boys decided that good wasn’t good enough. On Saturday, Springs Valley’s boys didn’t just run at regional, they competed and, at the end of the day, proved themselves good enough to not just send a runner or two off to semi-state, but to qualify as a team, the first time any Springs Valley cross country team had done so. “It’s extremely special. I’m still almost speechless about it,” Springs Valley coach Derek Freeman said. “It’s hard for people to realize how difficult it is to get to that level, to get to semi-state as a (Class) 1A school. Sometimes it can be compared to reaching (the) state (finals) in a class sport and might even be harder in some instances because you’re facing the biggest of the biggest.” Springs Valley finished fifth as a team at Crawford County, beating Corydon Central for the final semi-state berth by 13 points, and perhaps the most impressive part of the feat is that the Blackhawks did it without their top two runners performing their best. Just two weeks after posting a time of 16:47 at Crawford County during the Patoka Lake Athletic Conference meet, scaring the school record he would eventually break at sectional, Grant Brown finished his regional run in 17:13 to place 17th. Alan Marshall ran a 17:01 at the PLAC meet, but at regional his time slipped to 17:45 and he finished 33rd. To be fair those runs are both strong, but they didn’t quite reach the high bar that Brown and Marshall typically set for themselves. It didn’t matter though because their teammates picked them up. Carson Brown raced his way to a 38th-place finish, Max Pendley set a new personal-record time of 18:24.6 to finish 43rd, and Owen Weisensteiner finished right behind him in 44th to give the Blackhawks the team score they needed to advance. Harry Dybsetter and Matthew Woolsey also had good days, each posting a new personal record. “They picked that team up on their shoulders and carried them to semi-state,” Freeman said. “That’s the best part about that — as a group — knowing that those guys didn’t run their best and we were still good enough. Because the other three just absolutely killed it, we were able to get this team to semi-state.” In the girls’ race, Sophie Harris led the way for Springs Valley. A year after falling short of running at regional, the sophomore finally got her chance to compete and did well for her first time on the big stage. She posted a new PR at 23:39.2. “Sophie’s worked really hard for everything that she’s done,” Freeman said. “She has a lot of grit that you can’t put a value on and I was glad to see it pay off with the best time of her life.” Keira and Jadyn Lynch also represented Springs Valley at regional and though Jadyn didn’t finish the race due to illness, it was still a valuable experience for all three of the young Blackhawks. “I think the experience of being there is something that you can’t quantify,” Freeman said. “Jadyn didn’t finish and we hated it for her, but she was sick all week. She qualified, so she knows that she’s capable, and she still got the experience of being there. Then Keira, I think she didn’t run her best because the stage got to her but that’s good because now we’ve been there, we’ve done it. When we go back we’ll know what to do.” Now, Springs Valley will head off to the Brown County Semi-State. There — on Saturday, Oct. 23 — the Blackhawks will compete with some of the biggest schools in southern Indiana. For example, Columbus North will be one of the better teams in attendance at Brown County. The Bulldogs represent a school that, per the IHSAA’s latest enrollment statistics, has 2,219 students. For reference, Springs Valley’s enrollment is listed by the IHSAA at 264. Of the 80 teams that will compete in either semi-state this weekend, Springs Valley is the only one that typically holds a Class 1A standing in classified sports. In the same vein, there are only nine Class 2A teams, then 20 Class 3A teams and 50 Class 4A teams. It might be hyperbolic to say that when the Blackhawks take the course on Saturday, it will be like the 1954 Milan boys’ basketball team taking the court at Butler Fieldhouse for the State Finals, but it’s also not that far off and the Blackhawks are excited to be the underdog. “We’re the only 1A school left in the state tournament, so we’re the smallest,” Freeman said. “It’s pretty cool for the kids to see that and know that we’re going to go face the Bloomington schools, Columbus North, Jasper, New Albany and Floyd (Central) and they might be on a different level, but we’ve kind of proven during track season that we can compete with those types of schools and now we’ve got to believe it here. “We just hope that they soak it up and realize that they’ve done something unbelievably special.” Crawford County Regional - Boys Floyd Central 55, Jasper 59, New Albany 70, Tell City 97, Springs Valley 145, Corydon Central 158, Perry Central 169, Forest Park 170, North Harrison 214 Top Ten 1. Aidan Lord, New Albany, 15:34.7. 2. Aaron Lord, New Albany, 15:55.9. 3. Jaryn Weinel, Jasper, 16:08.0. 4. Luca Cirincione, Floyd Central, 16:13.5. 5. Noah Nifong, Floyd Central, 16:15.4. 6. Reece Wolf, Forest Park, 16:23.8. 7. Ben Kelly, Providence, 16:25.1. 8. Benjamin Jacobs, New Albany, 16:25.5. 9. Harrison Hulsman, Jasper, 16:27.5. 10. Nathan Wheatley, Floyd Central, 16:32.0. Other Springs Valley — Grant Brown, 17:13.1, Alan Marshall 17:49.5, Carson Brown 18:01.3, Max Pendley 18:24.6, Owen Weisensteiner 18:27.0, Harold Dybsetter 21:04.6, Matthew Woolsey 22:20.9. Crawford County Regional - Girls Floyd Central 39, Corydon Central 68, Jasper 78, Forest Park 131, Tell City 141, Northeast Dubois 145, Christian Academy 172, Borden 175, New Albany 191 Top Ten 1. Kaitlyn Stewart, Floyd Central, 18:47.1. 2. Savanna Liddle, Floyd Central, 19:03.8. 3. Ally Wigand, Jasper, 19:27.6. 4. Sara Livingston, Northeast Dubois, 19:35.9. 5. Karly Kitten, Forest Park, 19:43.9. 6. Maddie Graber, Southridge, 19:52.9. 7. Addison Applegate, Corydon Central, 19:56.4. 8. Andyn Lampert, Jasper, 19:59.9. 9. Peri Leghart, Corydon Central, 20:02.4. 10. Riley Hinson, Forest Park, 20:06.5. Other Springs Valley — Sophie Harris 23:39.2, Keira Lynch 24:13.6, Jadyn Lynch DNF.