Center Grove senior Gavin Rockwell, left, is the Daily Journal’s Runner of the Year in boys cross country.
Daily Journal file photo
Like most runners, Gavin Rockwell is mindful of a specific race strategy designed to work for him.
The Center Grove senior doesn’t immediately bolt to the front of the pack, then hope to maintain the conditioning necessary to hold on during the leg-fatiguing waning stages of competition.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
“Gavin likes to run behind, almost out of sight,” Trojans coach Howard Harrell said. “He always — always — likes to finish strong. He’s literally sprinting those final 500 meters.”
In some ways, Rockwell’s four-year varsity career mirrored such game-planning. He saved the best for last, earning the Daily Journal’s Runner of the Year honors in boys cross country.
In late October, Rockwell finished 33rd in a time of 15 minutes, 48.5 seconds to lead Center Grove to a 15th-place performance at the state meet in Terre Haute. That followed his first-place performance at the Shelbyville Sectional (15:55.9) and third-place effort at regional a week later (15:45.7) on the same Blue River Memorial Park course.
Rockwell’s personal best time of 15:31.0 was at the Nike XC Town Twilight Invitational meet, conducted Sept. 30 on the same LaVern Gibson championship course in Terre Haute as the state meet.
He would have preferred such a time at state, but Rockwell is still pleased with how his senior season played out.
“I’m a little disappointed how I finished at the state finals this season, but that’s the way it goes sometimes,” Rockwell said. “You definitely want to keep in your head that one bad race doesn’t make you a bad runner. There’s always going to be another race.”
In previous seasons, Rockwell was for the most part surrounded by older teammates and classmate Kyle Montgomery. This time around, it was Rockwell and Montgomery, runners for the sixth-place squad at state in 2021 and last season’s program-best third-place finisher, leading the way.
“It was nice to always have older guys around me. Just by having a solid team around me, it gave me the ability to see the higher potential of running,” Rockwell said. “This season was a bit different.
“I still had Kyle there, and he would always push me. It made it a little more difficult to stay focused, but all the guys on the team still pushed me and made me a better competitor.”
Rockwell, who carries a 4.02 grade-point average, has yet to commit to a college but plans to run cross country at the next level.
This past season should make for a good launching pad.
“I was really happy with Gavin’s performance this season,” Harrell said. “For the number of great runners in the state this season, he’s right up there with them. He’s knocking on the door.”
ALL-COUNTY TEAM
The 2023 All-County team for boys cross country:
Cameron Cox, Center Grove sophomore: Placed seventh at sectional, 19th at regional and 143rd at state finals.
Liam Fennig, Franklin freshman: Finished 11th at Mid-State Conference meet, 13th at sectional and 69th at regional … Placed sixth at county meet.
Noah Greenwood, Indian Creek sophomore: Placed ninth at sectional, 33rd at regional and made state meet debut with 160th-place finish … Third at county and sixth at conference.
Sam Grimes, Greenwood senior: Finished third at sectional, 18th at regional and 154th at state finals … Placed first at Johnson County meet and third at Mid-State Conference meet.
Michael Leavitt, Center Grove sophomore: Enjoyed solid season by coming in 12th at sectional and 80th at regional … Starter for 15th-place Trojans at state meet, finishing 207th individually.
Kyle Montgomery, Center Grove senior: Academic All-State … Sectional runner-up, fourth at regional and 91st at state meet … Part of four Trojan teams that advanced to state finals.
Luke Neibert, Indian Creek junior: Broke new ground with first trip to state meet, placing 228th … Fifth at sectional and 20th at regional … County meet runner-up … Fifth at Western Indiana Conference meet.
Gavin Rockwell, Center Grove, senior: Fininshed first at sectional and third at regional … Placed 33rd at state finals in 15:48.5 … Member of four state meet qualifying teams.
Jacob Squier, Greenwood junior: Placed fourth at county meet and was seventh at conference … Took 11th at sectional and 42nd at regional.
Curtis Williams, Center Grove junior: Was the 17th-place finisher at sectional and 53rd at regional … Helped Trojans finish 15th in team standing at state by placing 172nd.
Honorable mention
Henry Barrett, Greenwood; Nolan Edens, Whiteland; Henry Fleetwood, Indian Creek; Lukas Hogan, Indian Creek; Ethan Holbrook, Center Grove; Brooks Huddleston, Franklin; Rylan Mullins, Center Grove; Jackson Neibert, Indian Creek; Isiah Tunis, Franklin; William Watson, Whiteland
