Indian Creek’s Libby Dowty is all smiles as she talks to a family member after winning the girls race at Saturday’s state meet.
Rob Baker | For the Daily Journal
TERRE HAUTE
Congratulatory hugs have a way of running into the 30s or 40s when your family is as large in number as that of Libby Dowty.
The Indian Creek sophomore granted every request for an embrace on Saturday, doing so with a smile of accomplishment after crossing the finish line first at the girls cross country state finals.
Virtually shoulder to shoulder with Delta senior Nicki Southerland with only the home stretch remaining, Dowty, the announced pace-setter through 1, 2, 3 and 4 kilometers, turned on the afterburners the final 250 meters.
Her time of 17 minutes, 6.7 seconds established a new finals record; Southerland took second slightly more than nine seconds behind Dowty (17:15.8).
“My goal today was just to run my best, and just run for Christ as well,” Dowty said. “Whenever I was finishing, I just felt his extra power in me, and it helped me finish.”
Southerland, a Notre Dame recruit, briefly took the lead with about 400 meters remaining, but Dowty wasn’t about to be deterred.
Having a year of experience on the largest of stages certainly proved beneficial; Dowty made the podium as a freshman last fall by placing 15th in 18:24.3. This time around, she was the class of the 249 participants.
“Most people weren’t really giving her a chance, but I run with her every day in practice,” Indian Creek coach Brady Devine said. “The workouts we do, I told her all year, ‘You got it. So just believe.’”
Dowty did.
Seeing her effort through those final 250 meters reduced some friends, teammates and family members to tears.
“I mean, really, I’m thinking about just all the work that she’s put in, and seeing it through,” Devine said. “All year long, I told her, ‘You’ve got what it takes.’ There are days when, and I’m in pretty darned good shape, and she pushes me to the limit.”
Dowty is Indian Creek’s first state cross country champion.
Whiteland senior Tori Jackson, making her second consecutive finals appearance, finished in 34th place in a time of 18:38.1. Lily Rollings, a sophomore from Greenwood, took 41st in 18:47.8, while another Whiteland athlete, freshman Lena Shipp, ran a 19:05.6 for 76th overall.
The day began with the boys meet, a race that featured Center Grove making its fifth consecutive team appearance along with three county individuals making their finals debuts.
Coach Howard Harrell’s Trojans placed 15th.
Senior Gavin Rockwell finished 33rd in 15:48.5, while another holdover from last year’s squad, senior Kyle Montgomery, took 91st (16:12.7).
Neither was satisfied with his performance.
“I’m not happy with that,” Rockwell said. “I believe that I was at least top 20. I’ve just not had a good week of training. My legs have been really tired, and it just caught up with me.
“I’m disappointed in the sense that last year I was 36th, so to only move up three spots in a year, that’s just not a very impressive thing to do.”
An ongoing case of bronchitis slowed Montgomery.
“I’ve had it for the last two and a half weeks,” Montgomery said. “I’ve been coughing a lot. At mid-race, I was coughing a ton, and at the 4K felt like I was going to throw up because I was coughing.
“I mean, I thought I would do fine because at practices I felt okay, and last week I raced pretty good. I was a little bit more aggressive this week than I was last week, but I don’t think that worked for me because I was still sick.”
Others representing Center Grove were soph Cameron Cox (143rd, 16:27.7), Curtis Williams (172nd, 16:39.0), Ryan Mullins (175th, 16:40.4), Michael Leavitt (207th, 16:59.1) and Baylor Winkelmann (214th, 17:06.7).
Greenwood senior Sam Grimes made it a point to soak up every moment of his finals experience.
“I ran my heart out. I didn’t run a good time, but I just had a lot of fun,” Said Grimes, who placed 154th in 16:31.4. “I wanted to run a good time and just enjoy the moment. I worked really hard to get here.”
Indian Creek sophomore Noah Greenwood crossed the finish line in 160th place with his time of 16:34.3. Junior teammate Jackson Neibert was 228th in 17:20.8.
