‘Wall of Green will be at state’

Valparaiso cross country standout Ari Coulopoulos laughs about it now, but an experience he endured four years ago wasn’t exactly funny.

As a Ben Franklin Middle School sixth-grader, Coulopoulos built a 40-second lead on his nearest competitor and was on the verge of winning the Willowcreek Middle School Invite.

Unfortunately for him — on a course that wasn’t clearly marked and didn’t have course officials — Coulopoulos made a wrong turn.

By the time he discovered it, he was off course and lost.

“When I got back to where I was supposed to be, there were 100 kids ahead of me,’’ he said. “I was so angry, so embarrassed and so disappointed. I started running as fast as I could and passing kids like they were going backwards.

“I was so angry because I was so far ahead. I would have won the race and likely set a course record. After I finished, I didn’t even turn my number (card) in, and I ran off. Eventually my dad (Peter) found me and asked me what happened. I told him I was going to quit cross country. He said: ‘No, you’re not. You made a mistake. It’s a learning experience.’ ”

The next day, some kids were laughing about the runner who got lost.

“That whole experience gave me fuel for the fire,’’ said Coulopoulos, who’ll lead a very talented Valparaiso team at the IHSAA boys state cross country meet Saturday in Terre Haute.

“The rest of the season, and over the next two years, I went undefeated and never lost another race. The whole experience is something I’ll never forget. It’s what you use to (motivate) yourself.’’

While Coulopoulos has lost races since then, it’s clear the Vikings’ sophomore was born to run.

Coulopoulos has demonstrated this season he’s not only one of the elite runners in the area, but the state.

He won the Duneland Athletic Conference title, took fifth at the prestigious Culver Invite, placed second at the Chesterton Sectional and New Prairie Regional, and placed fourth at the New Prairie Semistate.

“I was the first freshman to finish at state last year,’’ Coulopoulos said. “One of my goals this year is to be the first sophomore to finish. I also want to make all-state and finish in the top 15.

Valparaiso placed seven among the top 30 at semistate and cruised to an easy team win over LaPorte, a team it barely edged at the DAC meet.

“We’re hoping we’re reaching our peak right at the perfect time,’’ Valparaiso coach Mike Prow said. “We’re hoping we can have our best race at the right time. We hope that it’s the perfect time Saturday.’’

Anything short of a top five finish will be disappointing for Valparaiso.

In fact, Coulopoulos believes the team can win state.

“The way we’ve all been running, we’re not going to walk out of there without finishing as a top five team,’’ he said. “Top five is expected of us. Our goal has been state all along. I’m pushing the envelope, but to win state is a realistic goal for us. It’s going to take all of our guys having good races, but we can do it. We have a really talented team. We all believe we can win.’’

If Valparaiso wants to bring home a state title, it will have to perform like it did at semistate.

“Our top seven were right there — 39 seconds apart — so we’re going to go for it,’’ Coulopoulos said. “The wall of Green was there. The wall of Green will be at state, too. The semistate race was better than all the other races we had — and we had a lot of good races. State is just another race. Pack running is definitely going to be a key. How cool would that be, to come back home and say: ‘We did it.’ That’s the dream, you know?

“We have inspirational quotes we read and our latest is: ‘Be The Dream.’ We all have the dream to be it, and now we just have to ‘Be The Dream.’

“I think we can be state champions this year.’’

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