Hendricks, Minett rounding into form at right time for Knights

After suffering injuries at the start of the high school cross country season, Seth Hendricks (pictured) and Noah Minett have since returned and are peaking at the right time as Northview gets set for Saturday's sectional meet.

Adler Ingalsbe photo

Losing its three top runners – Jcim Grant, Douglas Dillman and Clint Mager – from last year, Northview’s boys cross country team was depending on multiple underclassmen taking the next step to help the Knights continue to battle it out with Terre Haute South and the other sectional contenders.

Among them were Daniel Minett, a now-sophomore, and Seth Hendricks, a now-junior. Except the pair suffered injuries right before the annual season-opening Valley Kickoff meet at LaVern Gibson Championship Course.

“They both had great summers. They showed up all of the time and were doing what they needed to do with their training. And then around the same time, both of them were hit with injuries,” said Northview boys cross country head coach James Grounds. “They weren’t major injuries, but they were new ones that put them back a little bit right around the time of our first meet.”

The injuries the pair sustained kept them out nearly one month – Hendricks returned on Sept. 7 at the Brownsburg Invitational and Minett returned the following week on Sept. 14 at the Eagle Classic – but the work they were putting in behind the scenes showed Grounds something he already knew about them.

“Seth and Noah are very, very integral members of our team,” said Grounds. “They are guys that you would consider ‘heart and soul types of guys.’ They are Northview cross country. They care about it. They want to do the best that they can, and that’s been clear with all of the work they’ve put in behind the scenes to become the best runners they can be for this team.”

Grounds said the fitness part of the rehabilitation process didn’t take long for Minett and Hendricks. It was the mental side of it that took – and as Grounds noted, can still pop up at different times – much longer to iron out. Getting past the fear of reinjury has been the biggest obstacle, but Grounds said he’s noticed a change in Minett and Hendricks recently, which he noted was a good sign.

“Even though it wasn’t something that was going to be season-ending, running is a very mental sport. There’s always doubt when you have to take days off. You start thinking like, ‘Oh, this is putting me behind. This is making me lose fitness.’ The biggest thing with those guys was convincing them that they’re not done for the season or that they’re not going to be a minute behind their peers that they were training with,” Grounds said. “It’s been a bumpy road back because we’ve really had to work hard on the mental aspect. We’ve had to have some conversations about it, but both of those guys have been great. They’ve been listening and finding ways to get themselves back mentally because the fitness part is already there.”

Getting Minett and Hendricks completely back couldn’t have come at a better time on the calendar for the Knights as the team will be competing in their biggest race of the season this weekend at the Terre Haute North Sectional. And with both top-seven runners at their best, Northview has a much better chance to push itself near the top spot in the meet, said Grounds.

“They’re very important to this team. I noticed, and I know Jeff has noticed as well, that they’ve slowly inched their way back to where they need to be. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but we sectionals coming up. So, if we can keep inching them closer and closer, we still might not win – it’s going to be close – but they give us a better shot,” said Grounds.