Athletes tend to find motivation from anywhere they can.

For Landon Lundy, the sting of not making it to the Indiana High School Athletic Association cross country state championship meet a year ago has been all the fuel he’s needed.

The White River Valley High School junior came up four spots short in the regional a year ago, and that disappointment has been in the forefront of his mental drive every day since.

As a freshman, he came up six spots short.

“I was four spots (short in the regional last year), and it was pretty upsetting because the year before I was six (spots short). And that whole year leading up to regionals last year, I had been running fast enough to make it out of regional,” Lundy explained.

“Then in the regional meet, I ran 20 seconds slower than I usually do. It just really upset me, and it definitely helped so much to push me this year. I wanted to make it so bad.”

WRV coach Zack Verseman said the difference between last year and this year for Lundy is tremendous.

“He pushed extremely hard for it last year and fell short,” Verseman said. “This year he’s given it everything he’s got and he’s absolutely hyped. I mean, we’re just ecstatic the fact that he’s going to state this year.”

The junior finished 11th at the Crawford County Regional in Marengo this past Saturday with a time of 15 minutes, and 48.90 seconds.

The effort was more than good enough for him to advance to the state championship meet on Saturday, Oct. 31. The meet will take place at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute starting at 11:15 a.m.

Lundy, who is the first WRV boy to advance to the state meet in cross country, was third at the Bedford North Lawrence Sectional this year.

Disappointment alone hasn’t been the lone key to Lundy’s success. He took his work ethic to a new level after last year’s regional.

Verseman said it’s not unusual for Lundy to run eight or 10 miles during practice and then do an additional 12 miles after practice.

“He’s putting in anywhere from 12 to 20 miles a day,” Verseman said.

How does Lundy keep from burning out and maintain his body at an elite level?

“He's just keeping with a normal routine, and that’s a big thing we focus on. A consistent schedule, eat, sleep and hydrate. He’s nurturing his body, and that gets you a long way,” Verseman said.

Lundy said getting enough sleep for his body to recover is paramount. He tries to get between nine and 10 hours per night.

“I do contrast therapy. I basically am in a sauna for like 15 or 20 minutes and then I jump out, dry off and then get in an ice bath,” Lundy said. “I then do the sauna and ice bath one more time.”

Lundy said that routine is crucial.

“It basically opens and closes your blood vessels fast so it really enhances recovery to your muscles. You just recover so much faster. It’s almost like double speed.”

Speed is something Lunday knows all about. He set a school record, personal best, and meet record at the Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference meet earlier this year in 15:38.20.

Also this year, he won the South Knox Invitational, the SWIAC meet for a third year in a row, the Greene County Invitational for a second year in a row, and the Shakamak Invitational.

He also was named All-SWIAC in cross country for all three years and was named WTWO-TV Athlete of the Week.

Other accomplishments (track and field) for the talented runner include being named the 2025 USAF Indiana Athlete of the Year (ages 15-16) as he won the 3,000-meter run at Indiana Wesleyan University in 9:16, and personal bests with the WRV track team of 2:04.09 in the 800, 4:32.58 in the 1,600, and 10:12.26 in the 3,200.

Lundy has been working with Jace Ashbrenner since last spring to help strengthen his talents. Ashbrenner is a former University of Colorado cross country standout athlete who now provides training programs.

He learned of Ashbrenner from last year’s cross country state champion who was dating a girl from White River Valley. The program is called Blue Collar Endurance Training and focuses on long-distance athletes.

“It gives you workouts that will help, so it definitely prepares me a lot,” Lundy said. “I don’t think I would be here without him for sure.”

Lundy’s uncle, Josh Lundy, has been a positive influence on him throughout his career.

“He’s definitely played a big part. Since middle school he’s been pushing me to do better. I wasn’t anything special then, maybe slightly above average,” Lundy recalled. “I was running on straight talent.

“Our team was pretty good. We had eight runners in middle school, and one of my teammates and I were really close. We ran together. I was comfortable running with that teammate, but my uncle pushed me to go faster. He knew I had the ability.”

Lundy’s goal for the state meet is finishing in the top 25.

“That gets you on the podium for a ribbon,” Lundy stressed.

Lundy said the Terre Haute course is a gradual incline from start to finish, unlike the course at Crawford County which is downhill for about the first mile.

Lundy said he won’t shy away from his normal strategy during a race. He plans to stay as close to the front as possible.

“I’m going try to go in the top 10 and just run,” Lundy said. “I don’t really have a kick.

“I’ll just sit up enough from pack for like 3K and then as soon as we get (close to the finish) just start trying to work my way up. Hopefully that’ll let me in the top 25.”

Lundy is getting interest from college coaches for cross country and track. He would like to end up at a Division 1 school.

“There are coaches who are interested in me. I’ve not gotten any offers or anything yet. I just talked to them because they don’t really offer until the new year,” Lundy said.

“I want to run at a power (Division 1) school for sure, and I want to be competitive on the team. I want to definitely be in the top scoring places.”

He hopes to cut off 30 seconds from his cross country times before he graduates high school, and that would put him under 15 minutes.

To make it in the 1,600-meter run for college, he says he needs to be between 4:00 and 4:10. And for the 3,200, he would like to get his time down to 8:50.

The temperature at race time Saturday is expected to be around 60-65 and partly cloudy. The weather conditions don’t bother Lundy.

“I’m OK running in heat or cold. Whatever it is. I definitely like running in rain. That’s definitely helped me before. That happens a lot during sectionals during track,” Lundy explained.

“I don’t like to run in heavy rain, but I like when it sprinkles because I get really hot, really fast. That’s the only thing I feel like that affects me. I think my body just rises in temperature and I don’t know why.”