As a junior, Kyle Montgomery (149) placed 70th at the state meet in a time of 16:33.4.
Daily Journal file photo
Kyle Montgomery and Gavin Rockwell were central parts of Center Grove making history the past three seasons, albeit with hardly a hint of fanfare.
So it goes when the distance-running orbits place you a year younger than the most successful class in school history.
Now seniors, Montgomery and Rockwell are striding out of the shadows and directly to the front of the pack for coach Howard Harrell’s 11th-ranked Trojans.
“The last three years, they knew they were part of a good team, but they didn’t want to ride (teammates’) coattails. They wanted to contribute,” Harrell said. “With them, it’s the daily commitment. They show up and go to work. It’s the pursuit. The chance to get better each and every day. They really don’t have off practices, and hopefully that rubs off on everybody else.”
Rockwell’s 36th-place finish at last year’s state meet, and the 70th-place effort of Montgomery, were major factors in Center Grove landing a program-best third in the final team standings at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute.
Harrell’s 23rd squad opened the season by placing second at the Zionsville Invitational on Saturday. Rockwell finished fourth individually, Montgomery fifth.
At a smaller high school, Montgomery and Rockwell likely would have grown up running together — perhaps even back to their elementary school days. That wasn’t the case. Rockwell attended Center Grove Middle School North at the same time Montgomery was competing for Center Grove Middle School Central.
Thus, they weren’t teammates until workouts leading up to the 2020 season.
“In middle school, Kyle was very good, and I was just not that guy,” Rockwell said. “Compared to Kyle, I was probably a minute behind him.
“After the eighth-grade cross country season, I joined the Center Grove Track Club, and I ran in the postseason, which I had never done before. I started taking off from there.”
As freshmen, they were part of the team that took fifth at state; the Trojans just missed the awards podium with a sixth-place performance in 2021 before reaching their all-time high last fall.
The classmates are similar both as outstanding students — Montgomery’s 4.691 grade-point average ranks him 12th in a class of 663 students, with Rockwell’s 4.02 GPA positioning him in the top 25% — and leaders much more by example than voice.
During races, Rockwell excels with strong starts and finishes; Montgomery tends to make up the most amount of ground in the middle stages.
Together they are Center Grove’s 1-2 punch, with both runners capable of holding down the top spot.
“We’re very back and forth,” Rockwell said. “It very much varies who’s ahead. For easy days, there’s really not a competition. On hard days, it’s definitely a competition.
“You definitely try to keep a competitive edge.”
Whether the Trojans are equipped to qualify for a fifth consecutive state meet (the 2019 squad broke ground by being the first to advance that far) remains to be seen. While perhaps not as talented as the 2022 squad, Harrell’s current collection of athletes take it to a new level when it comes to work ethic.
“We definitely still have high goals,” Montgomery said. “We’re confident we can make a good showing this season. The ultimate would be to get back on the podium this season. Obviously, it will take a lot of effort, but I think we have a good group of guys.”
Starting with the two at the front.
