Valparaiso senior Ava Gilliana was hoping for redemption.
“I didn’t quite end last year the way I wanted to,” she said. “I was looking forward to having this be my comeback year at state, to get the time I wanted to and to be in the top three again.”
But Gilliana, an Air Force commit, won’t have that opportunity after the IHSAA’s decision Friday to cancel the spring sports season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As a sophomore, Gilliana was a state runner-up in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4 minutes, 52.54 seconds. She dropped to 16th with a 5:11.91 at last year’s state meet.
Even though Gilliana knew losing the opportunity for a rebound performance was a possibility, the reality of the moment hit hard.
“I was really sad, kind of heartbroken,” she said. “I do have more seasons to come, but it was heartbreaking to know that (last fall’s) cross county season was my last high school season ever.”
One place Gilliana has turned to for support is a group chat of local distance runners across the area that was started by Crown Point senior Maddie Russin, an Indiana commit.
“Even though we’re competitors, we’re all friends,” Russin said. “When it was all going down, we were super active in there, hoping things wouldn’t get canceled but preparing for the worst.
“We’re all pretty sad now, but we’re going through the same thing together.”
Russin had her own goals for the final season of her high school career, which included a state championship in the 800 as a sophomore.
Now, she’s preparing for the next stage of her career.
“I’ve been building up my mileage because I’ll be running 50 to 60 miles a week,” Russin said of college.
Chesterton senior Dimitri Nicholson won’t be running nearly as far as Russin because he’ll be handling sprints at Penn after committing last December.
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It was a brief high school career for Nicholson, who joined the track team last season and finished eighth in the state in the 100 with a 10.78.
“I’m just grateful that I got to do track for at least one year,” Nicholson said. “And I was able to get noticed. I feel for the people whose entire process is messed up because they can’t run.”
Although he doesn’t have access to a track, Nicholson said he’s making the best out of the situation thanks to a fortunate layout where he lives.
“I’m lucky my neighborhood is shaped like a track,” Nicholson said. “I just run around my neighborhood with a warm-up lap and some sprints. I feel gross if I’m sitting inside for too long.”
Nicholson, Gilliana and Russin all agreed losing the opportunity to compete was difficult but the biggest loss was no longer having daily interactions with teammates and coaches during the season.
“I’ll never complain about being too busy or being too tired ever again,” Russin said. “I’ve learned to not take anything for granted because you can have everything taken away from you in a second.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.