If you look in the rafters of the Valders High School gymnasium, you will see five State Championship or Runner Up banners over the last five years, and there will soon be two more.
The Valders Cross Country team brought home the gold in the Boys Division 3 race, and a runner-up for the girls over the weekend.
Of those seven banners, six of them are for Cross Country.
We asked Coach Bill Dietrich following their return what it takes to have that kind of success for an extended period of time.
“It’s in the kid’s legs,” he said bluntly. “I do the motivating, and the coaching and planning workouts, but they gotta do it. When I talked to the crowd here tonight, it was all about doing it for the team, and having a team culture that Valders is known for.”
The Boys bested runner-up Grantsburg by seven points in large part due to a one-two finish by the top runners on the team, Seniors Shane Greipentrog, and Clay Taylor.
We spoke with Shane, who said that finish was a dream come true for the duo.
“We go back a long way, we have run together since 7th grade, and we have a bond like brothers,” Shane said with a smile on his face. “It means everything to have a teammate like that, and to finish one-two at state this year is a goal we have had for as long as we have been friends. To finish it like that is truly wonderful.”
On the girls side of things, the Vikings’ 108 points were 37 behind the winner Boscobel, and only two ahead of section rival Lourdes Academy.
The girls were paced by Hannah Welch who came in 3rd place.
Hannah told us that the girls were rather nervous going into their afternoon race, but the boys were able to help them relax, and focus on the goal.
“After their race they just gave us encouragement…because we were nervous,” Hannah said. “They hyped us up and gave us confidence that we could do it, and we could achieve what we were there for.”
We also spoke briefly with Valders Athletic Director Kelly Isselmann, who joked that they are running out of space to hang banners in the gym, which is a good problem to have.
Also of note, Manitowoc Lutheran runner Brooklyn Luebke placed 5th in the girls’ race, which is her third podium finish in as many State races.
