Mt. Vernon’s Tristan Trevino (left) passes Austin Rush (851) just yards from the finish line to get first place at the Hancock County cross country meet at Eastern Hancock on Sept. 21, 2021.
Rob Baker | For The Daily Reporter
FORTVILLE — It was a great way to end one high school career and motivate another.
Mt. Vernon senior Austin Rush and junior Tristan Trevino are the 2021 Daily Reporter Boys Cross Country Athletes of the Year.
The lone county runners to qualify for the IHSAA state finals, Rush and Trevino found themselves at the front of the pack during the 2021 season in another dominating year from the Marauder program.
“My whole career of running, my coaches wanted me to get there,” Rush said. “It felt good to end my last year of cross country in high school at the state meet. At the same time, it was a relief that I made it.”
“Making it to state this year was my biggest goal,” Trevino said. “Now that I have made it, I feel I have a responsibility to make it back. It gives me a lot of encouragement (for next year).”
At the season’s final meet held in Terre Haute at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, Trevino placed 77th with a 5K time of 16 minutes, 42.7 seconds. Rush was 89th in 16:49.9.
Rush, who was the sole selection for boys cross country athlete of the year in 2020, was the head of the Marauder pack for most of the early portion of the season. He won individual honors at the Arabian Roundup in mid-August, and was consistently the No. 1 runner on Hancock County’s top team.
In late September, he found some competition, on his own squad.
Trevino had transferred to MV from Lawrence Central High School. Until the Hancock County Meet on Sept. 21, he had only been eligible to run junior varsity races.
Mt. Vernon won the county title for the third time in a row and 13th overall. Trevino passed Rush in the home stretch for a 1-2 MV finish. Trevino crossed the line at Eastern Hancock High School in 16:58. Rush finished in 16:59.
The LC transfer won his first varsity race.
“I was a little discouraged and sad that I couldn’t be on varsity. It hindered me a bit,” Trevino said. “As I was getting closer to realizing I was going to be on varsity, I tried to keep up with (Austin) more and train with him and it helped a lot. He pushed me a lot, too.”
Rush was glad to have him, even if he slipped by at the county meet.
“It was a great addition to our team,” Rush said. “He’s a great person and an amazing runner. It really helped us in every meet. He, for sure, pushed me. Every time I’d be at the finish line, he’d go right by me. That guy has one really good kick.
“His pace, his strength, his mentality, he was more than just an addition of getting points. He added a calm to our team. It was a good thing for all of us, mentally, to have him.”
The combination of Rush and Trevino at the front of the pack and teammates not too far behind increased the team’s overall success.
“We’ve had some fantastic runner that moved away,” Mt. Vernon coach Bruce Kendall said. “It was nice that Tristan came to us from Lawrence Central. .. When he arrived he was about our fifth runner. After a while, he was a little better than we thought. Maybe the chemistry was right with us, or maybe he was just coming out now being good and strong.”
Trevino followed up the county competition with a first place finish at the Hoosier Heritage Conference Championships with a victorious time of 16:42. Rush wasn’t too far back, placing fourth in 16:54. The Marauders, again, picked up the team hardware. It was their third straight title.
“It was really good (having us both at the front),” Trevino said. “Most of (winning as a team) goes to all the runners behind us. They kept their positions and did what they needed to do. Yes, we helped a lot, but our teammates kept close as they could and that’s what made the team successful.”
“You want to have a lead runner, a low stick, in big meets,” Kendall said. “You want that low stick, a single-digit. We’ve struggled having one (the last few years). All of a sudden we have two low sticks and that boosted us up there.”
At the regional, it was Rush’s turn to be the top runner. He was second overall with a time of 16:40. Trevino was fourth (16:52). Mt. Vernon won its first regional title since going back-to-back in 2013-14.
“The regional was really nice,” Rush said. “My first three years, I was not the smartest runner. The region showed that I can pace and still be at the top.”
At the semi-state with a berth in the state meet on the line, Trevino and Rush ran their quickest times of the year. They needed it in a field full of some of the state’s top runners. Trevino placed 27th in 16:09. Rush was 29th in 16:11.
Rush had improved 27 places from the previous season.
With his Mt. Vernon cross country career finished, Rush said he plans to run and continue his education at Olivet Nazarene, in Kankakee, Ill. He plans on majoring Environmental Science, with a minor in business.
“At the beginning (of my career), it was really difficult for me,” Rush said. “If you would have told me my sophomore year I would ever get to this point, I probably would have said you were crazy. It’s nice to see that I was able to grow as a person and in athletics, as well.
“Having (coach Kendall), I know he’s hard on us, but at the end of the day he made me become the young man I am today. I know he’s done that for so many other people. It makes me happy to know I did have people care about me along the way. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Trevino has his goals, too, along with the plan of a return trip to the state finals.
“This was probably the most fun I had in a cross country season,” Trevino said of his first year at Mt. Vernon. “I am excited for next season. I think I’m going to be the only senior on the team. If I am, I want to push the gateway to be that senior that makes it fun. When I first got into cross country, the seniors were kind and nice and open to me. They made the season very enjoyable. I want to bring that to the freshmen and everyone else. I want to step up as a senior and be more of a captain.”
2021 Daily Reporter Boys Cross Country Team
Name, School;Year
James Blagrave, Mt. Vernon;Sr.
Liam Brinkruff, Greenfield-Central;So.
Austin Rush, Mt. Vernon;Sr.
Colin Strachman, Mt. Vernon;So.
Tristan Trevino, Mt. Vernon;Jr.
Griffen Wheeler, Greenfield-Central;Jr.
Matthew Wickham, Greenfield-Central;Sr.
Honorable Mention
Colin Darley, New Palestine, Sr; Preston Markley, Eastern Hancock, Fr.; Reyce Morgan, Mt. Vernon, Sr.; Lucas Tutrow, Greenfield-Central, Sr.; Landon Willis, Mt. Vernon, Fr.; Sam Wilson, Mt. Vernon, Sr.
Coach of the Year: Bruce Kendall, Mt. Vernon
