Championship week is here for the Valparaiso University men's and women's cross country teams as the Beacons prepare for Friday's Missouri Valley Conference Championships, which will be hosted by Drake at A.H. Blank Golf Course in Des Moines, Iowa. The women's 6k is slated to begin at 10:30 a.m. before the men's 8k begins at 11:30.
"This course is interesting because this is not a course that they run throughout the regular year, so only a handful of coaches in the league have actually coached at this course before," Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Vincent Walker said. "From what I understand, it should be pretty flat and pretty fast. We've got some nasty rain that is expected to come in, and to me, that is exciting, because some of our best meets have been on rainy, cold and muddy days. I know that we're a team that handles adversity well. We know that here at Valpo, we have to be Midwest tough because we have to deal with running outside in the heat, wind, cold and rain."
The Beacons started the season with a stellar day at Minnesota's Roy Griak Invite, as six runners posted program all-time top-10 times – two women and four men. Sophomores
Samantha Rowley (Barrington, Ill. / Barrington) and
Joey Yaros (Bloomington, Ill. / Normal Community) swept the Missouri Valley Conference weekly awards following the season-opening meet.
"Joey and I both agree that he's a guy who deserves to be in the top 10 of the conference," Walker said. "He's backed that up at Griak, Pre-Nats and Notre Dame, showing that he can be in the top half of any field that he's in. He's hungry to go out there and back that up at conference. He's worked really hard to get to where he's at, and he's fearless to stand on the line with anyone."
Yaros' 8k time of 24:20.6 ranks third in program history, while Rowley turned in a 6k of 20:52.2 in the season's first meet.
Tim Jochum (Glen Ellyn, Ill. / Glenbard South),
Braden Hoff (New Lenox, Ill. / Lincoln-Way Central) and
Nick Dul (New Lenox, Ill. / Lincoln-Way West) also turned in program all-time top-10 times for the men, while
Alina Worzella (Martinsville, Ind. / Martinsville) also recorded a top-10 time for the women.
At Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invite, Rowley delivered the program's fastest women's 5k in 12 years.
"Sam had a really phenomenal freshman year and has continued that this season," Walker said. "She was someone who was overlooked out of high school, and just needed someone to really believe in her and give her a little bit more of that college structure. Since she's been here, she's been lights out with everything she has done. She's taken a big jump in mileage this year and put a lot of emphasis on the little things like hydrating, fueling, sleeping and recovery."
Walker praised the depth of both the men's and women's teams this season.
"We haven't really shown our full cards all year with some people being injured or sick through the middle part of the season," Walker said. "One of our goals at the beginning of the year was to fit into the middle or top half of the standings at conference. Can we walk away being a top-5 team? That's something that has eluded us the last couple of years. We've come close, and that's something we're continuing to chase. I really believe in what we're building here, and our athletes believe in it."
