Indian Creek sophomore Libby Dowty is the Daily Journal’s Runner of the Year in girls cross country for a second straight year.
Daily Journal file photo
Once last winter, Libby Dowty asked her father if he would follow her in his truck while she went for a run.
A peculiar request considering it was about 2 a.m.
Members of the family had just returned from a wrestling tournament out of state, and everyone was exhausted, but the second of Pat and Jackie Dowty’s seven children was focused on the work ahead of her.
“I just remember it was about 30 degrees out, was sleeting and there were high winds,” Pat recalled, laughing. “Just miserable.”
That level of commitment is what makes state champions, which is now what Libby Dowty is.
After dominating the competition throughout the regular season and during sectional and regional, the Indian Creek sophomore blazed a finals-record time of 17 minutes, 6.7 seconds to eventually separate herself from Delta senior Nicki Southerland at the state meet in Terre Haute.
Not surprisingly, Dowty is the Daily Journal’s Runner of the Year in girls cross country for a second consecutive season.
Dowty’s win signaled the first time an Indian Creek athlete claimed a state championship since 2011, when Katie Wise capped her junior season by winning the 100-meter dash in 11.91 seconds. Four months earlier, the school celebrated a pair of state wrestling titles thanks to seniors Ethan Raley (135 pounds) and Trey Reese (215).
After placing 15th at state as a freshman in 18:24.3, Dowty wasn’t to be denied this time around. The soft-spoken sophomore shattered her own school standard not once, but four times, during the season. She started at the Rick Weinheimer Classic (17:52.8), continued at Brown County’s Eagle Classic (17:11.5), lowered the standard even more at the Nike XC Town Twilight Invitational (17:09.6) and then beat it again with her state meet time.
“This year, since June 1, she’s run every day with me and working way, way, way harder,” Braves coach Brady Devine said. “The progress, (nearly) 80 seconds faster at state, tells you everything you need to know.”
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the dazzling first half of Dowty’s prep cross country career is that she did not always possess the inner fortitude necessary to be great.
Over time, that changed.
“Libby was in fifth grade and went out for cross country,” Pat Dowty said. “Every day there were 14 girls at practice, and she would finish 14th.”
One day, however, Dowty came home and told her parents she passed a girl and was 13th. Not long after, it was two girls and 12th, three girls and 11th … and so on.
“By the end of the season, she was second only to her sister (current Indian Creek senior Phoebe),” Pat said. “Now, her discipline from last year to this year … there wasn’t one day that Libby didn’t run.
“Libby’s only goal is to do her best. That’s unique.”
And that, it turns out, was better than everyone else’s best.
ALL-COUNTY TEAM
The 2023 All-County team for girls cross country:
Allison Cohen, Center Grove senior: Final season with Trojans included an 11th-place finish at sectional, followed by coming in 35th at regional … Was 14th at the Johnson County meet.
Libby Dowty, Indian Creek sophomore: Won sectional, regional and state championships, the last of those in a state-finals record of 17 minutes, 6.7 seconds … Western Indiana Conference meet champion.
Isabella Fuentes, Whiteland junior: Placed eighth in both the Mid-State Conference and Johnson County meets … Took 12th at sectional and finished 43rd at regional.
Tori Jackson, Whiteland senior: Final prep cross country season ended with 34th-place finish at state finals … Runner-up finisher at sectional and sixth at regional … Mid-State Conference and Johnson County champion.
Lauren Klem, Franklin senior: Finished fifth at sectional and 42nd at regional … Third at county meet and fourth at Mid-State Conference meet.
Hallie Mimbela, Center Grove junior: Finished 13th at sectional and 47th at regional … Was 13th at county meet.
Lexi O’Barr, Center Grove freshman: Ninth-place finisher at Johnson County meet … Was 15th at sectional and 33rd at regional.
Marissa Pogue, Center Grove junior: Didn’t participate at county meet due to injury but was strong in the postseason, finishing eighth at sectional and 34th at regional … Academic all-state.
Lily Rollings, Greenwood sophomore: Made state finals debut, placing 41st in 18:47.8 … Third at sectional and 16th at regional … Runner-up at both Mid-State Conference and county meets.
Lena Shipp, Whiteland freshman: Burst onto scene and advanced all the way to state, finishing 76th in 19:05.6 … Fourth at county meet and fifth at conference … Began her postseason by taking fourth at sectional before an 18th-place effort at regional.
Honorable mention
Phoebe Dowty, Indian Creek; Kara Ennis, Greenwood; Chloe Farmer, Center Grove; Ramya Flaherty, Whiteland; Kathleen Lacy, Franklin, junior; Hannah Lindsay, Franklin; Ryann Marker, Greenwood; Gretchen Meisberger, Center Grove; Ava Ott, Franklin; Adriana Rosales, Center Grove; Alivia White, Indian Creek
