When Valparaiso seniors Carlos Martinez and Carl Frey first shared a cross country course, it was not as teammates.
The two runners attended different grade schools until high school, which meant they were largely opponents from the time of their first races in fourth grade.
“I beat him at the finish of a race,” Frey said of their first head-to-head matchup. “He wanted to know about what I was doing.”
Martinez talked to Frey after that race.
“He just outkicked me,” Martinez said. “I asked who his coach was.”
But the duo works together now as part of a deep Valparaiso team that enters the postseason as one of the best in the Region following Saturday’s victory at the Duneland Athletic Conference Meet.
Martinez and Frey weren’t school teammates until their freshman years at Valparaiso. But they were together on the Calumet Junior Striders, a local club that routinely sends representatives to AAU meets.
Their experience with the Striders helped them make quick impacts at Valparaiso.
“They came on as freshmen and broke into our top seven right away,” Valparaiso coach Aaron Crague said. “They fit right in. When they were younger, they were just along for the ride. Now, those guys have taken on the leadership role.”
Martinez and Frey help lead the way on race days, too.
At the conference meet, classmate Collin Huber was the first to finish for the Vikings, crossing second in 15 minutes, 29 seconds. Martinez was next in third at 15:40, breaking the 16-minute barrier he’d been seeking for three years.
“My freshman year, I came in around 16:40,” Martinez said. “I was expecting to break 16 by my junior year, but I didn’t. I really wanted to break it at the DAC.”
Frey was 13th at 16:12, part of a tight Valparaiso pack that saw its top six finish within 44 seconds.
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“Where we are within that 30-45 second range, that’s always good,” Frey said. “We run as packs during the workouts and we practice like we race. If you practice running together and run well together, you race better together.”
With their final postseason starting at Saturday’s New Prairie Sectional, Crague said he’ll be counting on seniors like Martinez and Frey to guide his team as it looks to return to the state meet.
“They’re the veterans now,” Crague said. “Your team always does what your seniors do. They set the tone.”
Dave Melton is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.
Boys Cross Country Top 5
With last week’s rankings in parentheses
1. Valparaiso (1)
2. Lowell (2)
3. Morgan Township (3)
4. Crown Point (4)
5. Chesterton (5)
Runner of the Week: Sophomore Steven Franczek’s third-place time of 17:10 led Wheeler to the team title at Saturday’s Greater South Shore Conference Meet.
Girls Cross Country Top 5
With last week’s rankings in parentheses
1. Valparaiso (1)
2. Lowell (2)
3. Chesterton (3)
4. LaPorte (4)
5. Crown Point (5)
Runner of the Week: South Central freshman Adelaide Young Brust won the Porter County Conference Meet with a time of 19:54.