Spencer Durose is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Valley Christian High School for AZPreps365.com.

The Valley Christian Girls Track & Field team has been a force to be reckoned with in the 2A conference, now renamed Division IV, since 1989. The team has placed in the top three 30 times since then, including 19 first-place finishes.

For an already dominant program, the addition of Lauren Ping, the state’s four-time Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Player of the Year, the Trojans are looking to get back to their winning ways after placing third last year. 

Ping, who is a senior, competed in her first three years at Desert Vista High School before transferring to Valley Christian for the 2022-23 school year. 

“I definitely feel like it’s more of a tight-knit community here at Valley [Christian], Desert Vista was such a big school that it’s definitely harder to have that kind of community,” Ping said. “Also, this is a Christian school so we’re a God-centered team which is really nice. We all pray before practice and stuff like that so that's definitely a big difference too.” 

Ping, who has committed to run cross country and track and field at Oklahoma State, see’s herself as a role model for the young Trojans.

“I would just love to make super good relationships with all of the people on my team and be super encouraging and also inspire some of these young girls to do big things with their careers as well,” Ping said.

Fellow senior Ella Browder, who’s been a part of the program all four years of high school, believes that the arrival of Ping has helped spark new motivation within the team.

“From the second she’s warming up until she’s done with the race you know that she has a job to get done and as soon as she steps on that track she gets that job done,” Browder said. “It’s been super inspiring and it’s been a good motivating factor for a lot of us.”

Valley Christian placed third last year at the Division IV AIA Girls Track & Field Championship after winning it all in 2021. Head coach David Mehlhorn believes that the addition of Ping will set a good predicate for the future of the program. 

“I think it’s always good to have people that are at the top of their craft or at the top of their game as far as performance goes because it has the opportunity to set an example for younger kids,” Mehlhorn said. “Talking with coach Brecht, who’s our cross country coach, she felt it throughout the cross country season. We have some really good freshman distance runners and to have someone who’s competed for four years and beyond that and has had a lot of success to show what it takes to get to that level where you’re earning a D1 scholarship, it’s great to see that.” 

Mehlhorn, who is an alumni at Valley Christian, and competed in both cross country and track and field at Arizona State, has an optimistic outlook about his program and the way that they compete.

“From a team competition standpoint, it’s always huge to add potential points,” Mehlhorn said. “I think my viewpoint on the team race has always been if we create a great culture where people want to be a part of it and we continue to grow our numbers and get a group of girls and guys that are excited to come to practice every day then we will be in the team hunt.”

Ping’s arrival goes hand and hand with Mehlhorn’s traditions. She wants to help Valley Christian get back to their golden status and end her senior year off with a bang.

“I definitely want to win state in the mile and the two-mile, and the four-by-eight,” Ping said. “I want to knock down some of the school records at the school and run a 4:40 mile, like PR in the mile, and get to nationals and do big things like that.”