Valders has been a frequent visitor this decade to the State Cross Country Championships in Wisconsin Rapids. In fact, Coach Bill Dietrich’s runners have returned from the Ridges Golf Course with hardware the last 3 years, including back-to-back State Division-2 titles! Dietrich, now in his 20th season at the helm of the Vikings, spoke of a possible three-peat and said “it’s attainable. When you look at your group, you always want to set high standards…but we’re not gonna show up a the starting line, pump our chests and say ‘You gotta beat us!’ It’s not that way with them.”
Coach Dietrich says that his team is very cohesive, which is needed to make a run like they have had. They run together, bond together, and push each other through adversity. “That’s glue that makes a team stronger. I think that’s our strength, that chemistry.”
Sophomore Shane Griepentrog is the top runner for the E-W-C & Sectional champs and he talked about Valders being the favorite & having a target on their back entering Saturday’s meet. “We are the team to beat,” he said. “All the eyes are gonna be on us.”
Shane’s older brother, senior Nate Griepentrog, is making a 4th trip to State. He’s coming off a State championship in the 800 meter run at La Crosse in the Spring, followed by off-season training. Nate spoke about competing with his brother, saying “We are the fastest two brothers in the state of Wisconsin. If we had to get in a race with two other brothers, we like our chances to win.”
Sophomore Clay Taylor, the Vikings #2 runner, says that he has high expectations for himself. “Going into my freshmen year, I felt a lot of pressure to make varsity…I was able to feed off that to become a better runner.” He also said his success last year has pushed him to become even better this year.
The Vikings leave for Wisconsin Rapids tomorrow morning and their State race is Saturday about 2:00. They’re expected to get pushed in their quest for 3 in a row by teams from Notre Dame, Freedom and Wisconsin Lutheran.
