Cross country: Valparaiso runs to DAC sweep

Updated: October 3, 2011 7:00PM

ST. JOHN — Valparaiso’s Ari Coulopoulos had grown tired of seeing LaPorte’s Mitch Hubner finish ahead of him in every race.

“I looked at him as the only guy in our DAC meet that was really threatening to me,’’ Coulopoulos said. “We were talking before the meet about how cool it would be if I could beat him. My teammates said I could do it. It was one of the goals I wanted to accomplish.’’

Mission accomplished.

The Vikings’ sophomore crossed the finish line a full 19 seconds ahead of Hubner and set course and personal records with a winning time of 15:44.

“Winning the DAC title as a sophomore....I don’t know how often that happens,’’ he said. “I wanted to beat him. It gives me so much confidence.’’

Coulopoulos said it was the first time in four races with Hubner he’s been able to accomplish the feat.

“For Ari to beat Mitch, that’s just huge for his confidence and for his training,’’ Valparaiso coach Mike Prow said.

His performance, coupled with Peyton Reed’s third-place finish and the performances of Landon Davison (13th); Patrick Dalton (17th) and Kevin Hickey (18th), helped the Vikings take the team title with 52 points.

LaPorte was a close second (55), while Crown Point was third (72) even though it placed three runners in the top 10.

Despite the fact Valparaiso didn’t have anywhere near its best day, the team still had enough to win.

“We’re disappointed a little bit with our execution in that our guys weren’t able to stay together,’’ Prow said. “We should have dominated. We thought we’d have five runners in the top 12 today, but we’re still happy. How many times can you win the DAC without your number one runner?’’

Valparaiso’s Ahmad Aljobeh is still recovering from an injury.

In the girls race, LaPorte’s Elena Lancioni broke former Lake Central star Dana Payonk’s course record, winning the race in 18:57.

Lancioni’s time was 15 seconds ahead of Valparaiso’s Katelyn DeVries, who was second, and 17 seconds better than Crown Point’s Lauren McCarroll, who placed third.

“I wanted to go out there and run my own race and not somebody else’s — and that’s what I did,’’ Lancioni said. “My time wasn’t near what I was planning on doing, but with the (cold, windy) conditions, I didn’t want to worry about it. My strategy today was to go out, be in front, and push the pace. I led the whole way except for one second.’’

Lancioni said her goal Saturday was to run in the 18:30s.

“I’d like to get 18:10, that’s the big goal,’’ she said. “I’m very happy with what I did today, because I did what I wanted to do.’’

Valparaiso’s girls won the team title with 48 points.

“Our depth, our pack, was really sharp today,’’ Valparaiso coach Karen DeVries said.

Katelyn DeVries and fellow seniors Lauren Bigger and Tricia Joll, all overcame injury problems earlier this season and returned to the line to repeat as DAC champions. It was the third time in four years Valparaiso won.

“We all wanted it real badly,’’ Katelyn DeVries said. “I’m slowly getting back. I have to work on my endurance. There’s a lot of things I need to work on to get better, but I’m happy with today.’’

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