
Ross Ochs of Huntington North no doubt wanted to run faster in his last high school cross country race as a Viking, but the tough conditions at Terre Haute
ultimately took their toll. Ross ended up 27th in 16:53, two spots out of All-State honors. And as the 14th senior, he was also two spots out of qualfying to
represent Indiana at the Mideast Meet.
Not everyone runs their best at state, but not everyone accomplishes what Ross did either.
Ross ran hard throughout the season, winning his home invitational early, the Blackford Invitational mid-season, and the conference meet in post-season. He was second at sectional behind teammate Josh Graham, second at regional behind Homestead's Kodi Mullins, and third at semistate where he beat both Graham and Mullins. He ended up fifth among northeast Indiana runners at state.
In doing so, Ross racked up enough points in our RunIndiana.com series to rank third only to fellow senior Nathan Hendershot of Pendleton Heights and Carroll junior James Martin.
Yet his accomplishments run deeper than that, and when all taken into account, make him our 2009 "Runner-of-the-Year".
Ross was a four-time state finalist in cross country. As a freshman, he was Huntington's #2 runner at state when they placed
14th.
As a sophomore, Ross led the team to a 13th-place finish. He did so again as a junior when the Vikings placed 12th. This year, along with seniors Graham and
Austin Roberts, Ross led his team to their best-ever finish. This time 9th.
But wait - there's more. As a junior last spring, Ross qualified for the state track finals and placed 14th in 3200 meters.
Coach Curtis Hines talked about Ross and his team after the state finals this year and said, "This is an end of an era for us. We've had these eras where we get these groups of guys that just become a constant, a mainstay."
"This is the era of Josh Graham, Ross Ochs, and Austin Roberts. I've never seen three kids come through the same class that are as tough as they are and been as tough for as long as it has been."
"We've got some big shoes to fill," he said.
