Lady Dragons place fourth to qualify for state competition
October 23, 2022
After qualifying for a team berth in the Class A state championship last year, the Harlan girls program displayed its budding consistency by earning a second straight trip at Saturday’s Class A Region 6 championship. The Lady Dragons placed fourth to qualify for state after ending a long team drought in 2021.
“The progress made by our teams this season is very encouraging. We are very proud of all their efforts,” Harlan coach Anne Lindsey said.
Harper Carmical (23:29.19) and Chloe Schwenke (23:34.28) led the girls, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively. Mia Pace placed 18th with a time of 25:10.47. Other finishers for the Lady Dragons were Abbigaile Jones (22nd, 25:53.10), Halle Cox (30th, 27:54.65) and Juliana Damaa (33rd, 28:31.22).
Lynn Camp won the girls meet, followed by Williamsburg and Jackson County.
“Our girls team was led by Harper Carmical who, as a 7th grader, is making a name for herself on the course,” Lindsey said. “Chloe Schwenke had an impressive PR today which was instrumental in helping our girls team to advance.”
“Our girls ran this race for our senior, Mia Pace, who will now make her fourth and final state appearance. Mia has been such a pleasure to coach. Her leadership the past two years is one of the reasons we are experiencing a period of growth in our program,” Lindsey said. “She will be missed next year but is leaving our girls in good hands with Chloe Schwenke and Abbie Jones.”
Dylan Cox led the boys, finishing fourth overall with a time of 18:50.93, earning his second trip to state as well.
Brayden Howard placed 19th with a time of 21:14.73, while Evan Bargo finished 38th with a time of 22:44.03. Rounding out the results for the Dragons were Connor Collins (54th, 25:57.49) Sayed Damaa (56th, 27:06.96) and Seth Coogle (58th, 29:14.94).
Williamsburg won the boys meet. They were followed by Jackson County, Leslie County, Somerset and Buckhorn.
“We are incredibly proud of our boys team as well. Dylan and Brayden ran incredible races today,” Lindsey said. “Qualifying as an individual in the boys varsity is no easy task. They both worked every step of the course with the purpose of advancing to the next level.”
“I can’t neglect our other boys, though, five out of six of our boys varsity runners had PRs today,” Lindsey said. “They did exactly what we asked them to do: run their best race.”
“I couldn’t be more proud of our runners today. We asked them to run their best race today and leave it all on the course,” Lindsey said.
Harlan will return to action in the state championship meet, which will be held Saturday at Bourbon County in Paris.
