Monday, Nov. 09, 2009

Recap: Spring Valley cross country

Spring Valley’s boys cross country team kept its status as a Class 4A Top 10 program in tact at last weekend’s state championship gathering at Sandhills Research Park.

The Vikings made the Top 10 cut for 12 straight season with an eighth-place finish with 219 points at the season finale. SV’s team score was two points higher than a year ago, but the team placed one spot lower in the standings.

Junior William Ivey was the SV individual leader of the pack, earning all-state recognition for the first time by placing 11th with a time of 16:29.89, which was just a bit off the personal record (16:28.0) he set on the same course at the Coaches Classic meet in September.

Seniors Matt Johnson, Mike Johnson and Zach Parker and junior Joey Cole were the other Spring Valley scoring runners at state.

The Vikings girls, however, missed the Top 10 cut for the second year in a row. But Spring Valley did show improvement over its 2008 performance – cutting 103 points off its team score better than in 2008 and moving up to 13th from next-to-last in the final team tabulations.

Junior Emily Bakaj was the top Vikings finisher, placing 29th in 20:20.45, which was a bit slower than the personal record (20:10.51) she established the week before at the Middle State qualifying meet.

Sophomore Christine Nixon and senior Annie Niehaus, Alanna Cates and Alexandria Berry rounded out the Vikings scoring lineup.

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