YORKTOWN, Ind. -- No team from Delaware County has been a team qualifier for the boys’ state cross-country championship since Muncie Central in 1969. Throughout this season, there were promising results that prove the wait could be coming to an end due to one team’s success.
The Yorktown Tigers boys’ cross country team looked like your average high school running team. They practiced throughout the week and spent time together outside of school and training, but when Saturdays rolled around, they were anything but your average team.
This season, the Tigers claimed multiple different meet victories with the largest two being the Delaware County Championship and the IHSAA Sectional 10 Championship. Both meets were, literally speaking, “run-aways.”
After these dominating performances, it seemed as if the Tigers were destined to break the 55-year-old drought of no Delaware County Team making the state championship. Unfortunately, the results wouldn’t fall their way.
Sophomore Wyatt Turner dominated the Delaware County Championship with a time of 16:23, beating the second-place finisher and fellow Yorktown sophomore Isaiah Loney by 31 seconds. The Tigers would also post the fourth-, fifth and sixth-place finishers to score 18 points, beating the second-place team Wapahani (60 points) by a whopping 42 points.
The momentum would continue to roll for Yorktown as they would again be one position short of posting a perfect score, this time at the IHSAA Sectional 10 Championship. Freshman Thomas Loney led the way for the Tigers with a time of 16:42 en route to a second-place finish. Loney would be followed by his brother Isaiah and Wyatt Turner in third and fourth respectively as the Tigers would finish with 20 points. The sectional score would be even more lopsided than the Delaware County Championship as Yorktown’s 20 points made for a 59-point margin of victory over runners-up Marion High School.
The Tigers were again led by the younger Loney at the IHSAA Regional 2 meet, where his time of 16:27 was good enough for 21st place. But deeper in the pack, the Tigers would struggle to maintain pace, as Isaiah Loney’s 31st place and Wyatt Turner’s 45th place as well as the 56th place and 80th place finishes of sophomores Owen Lamb and Cal Shanayda wouldn’t be enough. The Tigers would leave regionals with a sixth-place finish while only the top five teams qualify for the state championship.
Thomas Loney’s 21st place would be enough for an individual qualification, marking the second time in two years that Yorktown would send a lone freshman to the biggest meet of the year.
“It was a lot of pressure,” remembered Loney on his state championship appearance. “It just kind of felt like the world was on my shoulders.” Even if it felt that way for Loney being the only Tiger in the starting box, evidently the weight didn’t slow him down, as he beat the time he ran on the same course earlier this year by 24 seconds.
So, while it may seem disappointing that such a great season was cut short due to such fine margins in the end, Coach Turner feels anything but dejected.
“I think everybody that is a part of this organization is super excited,” said Jared. “We have a lot of potential, and the kids have already shown some returns on that potential. But at some point, you have to turn that potential into production.”
If one thing is certain, this team does have a lot of potential. Every runner mentioned in this story is a sophomore with the lone exception of Isaiah Loney, the freshman who made state. Last season, the Tigers had another lone freshman in the state meet in Wyatt Turner. They are starting to gain the experience, but it’s going to come down to what Coach Turner said about turning that potential into production.
“We have a young team, and we’re still developing,” said Wyatt Turner about the team going forward. “We’re not at our best yet.”
Wyatt also added that “getting yourself to go out for a run is probably one of the hardest parts of running. And having someone to keep you accountable and making you want to get better is just incredible.”
Incredible things are exactly what this team is after as the drought of no Delaware County team at the state championship meet only grows longer.
To attain those incredible things, though, the work must start right now as the Tigers head toward track season in the spring. Coach Turner knows, too, that a good track season can lead to great moments long beyond the spring and into next fall.
“I told these guys that the first step in improving for next season is having a good track season,” said Coach Turner. “So, now, they’re focused on the spring, but we’re really excited for next fall too.”
Whether it be the rubber of the track in the coming spring or the grassy fields next fall, the aim for this young team is to grow each and every season starting with the next one in front of them. And, while some may point to the fact that the youth of this team could be their downfall, Coach Turner feels like that inexperience may be an advantage for his young team.
“Sometimes it is an advantage because they don’t know what they don’t know,” stated Coach Turner with a smile.
There’s no denying that this team may be young, but they’re going to stay ready and know, their time could be coming.
“We just missed it this year,” said Coach Turner. “We were the first spot out, so if that doesn’t make you hungry, I don’t know what does.”
Contact Jake Dickman with comments at jacob.dickman@bsu.edu.
