The Harlan County Black Bears kicked off the 2023 season Saturday in Corbin at the Lynn Camp Invitational in solid fashion, with the girls winning and the boys claiming a runner-up finish.
The Harlan Lady Dragons placed third overall, while the boys were sixth.
Harlan County’s Peyton Lunsford led the Lady Bears, finishing second with a time of 22:32.82. Lauren Lewis (23:12.04) and Preslee Hensley (23:21.07) were fifth and sixth, respectively. Rounding out the results for the Lady Bears were Aliyah Deleon (16th, 26:10.05), Addi Gray (19th, 26:54.17) and Olivia Kelly (31st, 29:07.33).
“I’m really proud of all these kids today. It’s been a challenging week for our girls team, but they persevered and ran great today. It’s always great to open the season with a win, and this will go a long way in our development,” Harlan County coach Ryan Vitatoe said. “They all ran great, and it was a total team effort.”
Harper Carmical led Harlan, placing 13th with a time of 25:27.14. Abbigaile Jones finished 17th, posting a time of 26:31.56. Juliana Damaa (28:53.95) was 30th. Other finishers for the Lady Dragons were Ella Farley (32nd, 29:17.53), Chloe Schwenke (34th, 30:09.32), Ella Lisenbee (39th, 32:58.80) and Gwendolyn Toll (42nd, 34:09.98).
South Laurel was the runner-up team in the girls varsity race.
Elijah Moore (20:40.65) led the Bears, finishing 14th. Jacob Schwenke (20:57.16) placed 15th, while Evan Simpson was 20th with a time of 21:20.69. Rounding out the results for Harlan County were Caleb Schwenke (24th, 21:41.54), Ethan Simpson (25th, 21:52.11), DaShaun Smith (27th, 22:04.39), Jonavan Rigney (43rd, 23:35.08) and Kaylob Stevens (49th, 25:04.81).
“The boys also ran great today. We were down a couple of guys, but our vets ran great, and I can’t say enough about our new guys and their performances. I was also really pleased with our younger guys,” Vitatoe said. “This group has been working hard and I’m looking forward to seeing how they develop. Today was a great step in the right direction.”
Noah Sharpe (26th) led Harlan, posting a time of 21:55.15. Evan Bargo (39th) and Brayden Howard (46th) finished with times of 23:03.21 and 24:11.61, respectively. Rounding out the results for the Dragons were Gabriel Xavier Farley (50th, 25:17.53), Connor Collins (51st, 25:24.85) and Sayed Damaa (56th, 26:40.90).
“I was very pleased with all our runners today. We had great performances in each of our age groups,” Harlan coach Anne Lindsey said. “The first race is always an exciting time to see how the work out in over the summer months has paid off. We are looking forward to a great season.”
North Laurel dominated the boys varsity race, defeating Harlan County by 47 points.
HC’s Tanner Daniels (9:20.78) won the boys middle school race and broke the school record. Jayden Sargent finished 20th with a time of 14:48.92.
“Tanner had a fantastic race in the middle school division. To run sub-10:00 for a 3k is a great performance,” Vitatoe said.
Cooper Thomas led Harlan, placing seventh and posting a time of 12:09.68. Michael Lindsey (17:09.31) was 25th, while Landon Traylor (24:24.18) was 27th.
Gracie Roberts led Harlan County’s girls middle school team to their overall win, finishing first and setting a new school record with a time of 12:14.24. Kiera Roberts (12:43.31) placed third, immediately followed by Charli Shepherd (12:47.18). Other finishers for HC were Jaycee Simpson (fifth, 12:56.09) and Alice Gross (21st, 20:19.50).
“The girls middle school team also ran fantastic. What a great performance — any time you have girls running sub-13:00, that’s really fantastic,” Vitatoe said. “I’m proud of all of them.”
Hutton Sherman led the Bears to their first-place finish in the elementary division, placing second with a time of 6:59.30. Trey Creech was third with a time of 7:01.27, while Robby Johnson was ninth with a time of 7:44.55. Other finishers for Harlan County were Jace Hensley (20th, 8:22.43), Connor Banks (28th, 9:00.93), Kolbi Green (32nd, 9:05.90), Ben Crain (35th, 9:07.81), Jonah Sargent (39th, 9:14.78), Levi Hensley (40th, 9:15.80), Sawyer Shackleford (49th, 9:28.89), Hunter Evans (67th, 10:21.17), Zakk Collins (71st, 10:31.39), Noah Blackwelder (73rd, 10:40.52), Jase Sargent (76th, 10:53.30 ), Brayden Perkins (80th, 11:14.08), Hunter Asher (84th,11:29.21), Cian Garland (86th, 11:36.40), Elijah Lundy (91st, 12:08.93), Gunnar Green (100th, 12:35.14), Colton Hensley (103rd, 12:55.14), Jordan Sargent (104th, 12:59.96), Micah Lawson (113th, 13:56.93) and Jonah Doyle (122nd, 16:11.52).
Colt Sullivan (8:06.43) led Harlan, finishing 13th. He was immediately followed by Kash Bailey (8:09.40), Thomas Miller (8:12.58) and Ben Parsons (8:15.40). Rounding out the results for Harlan were Carter White (21st, 8:28.74), Mason Raleigh (22nd, 8:40.12), Andrew Alred (31st, 9:05.18), Rhett Davis (37th, 9:11.14), Kelton Dean (38th, 9:13.58), Tucker White (44th, 9:24.30), Jett Luttrell (46th, 9:25.68), Canaan Bolton (61st, 10:06.37), Braxton Sizemore (68th, 10:21.48), Skylar Boggs (72nd, 10:38.65), Justyce Young (74th, 10:41.50), Connor Thomas (77th, 10:58.15) and Emmett Alred (79th, 11:00.78).
Lillie Carver (7:14.01) won the girls elementary race, leading Harlan to their overall win. Zoe Lawson (7:39.38) finished second, immediately followed by Mckenzie Petrey (7:42.28) and Lillian Daniels (7:43.84). Other finishers for Harlan were Julianne Miller (eighth, 8:26.91), Rebecca Adams (32nd, 10:06.86), Josephine Toll (34th, 10:11.24), Vivian Smith (35th, 10:13.35), Ellianna Carver (43rd, 10:30.26), Natalie Adams (45th, 10:31.49), Hannah Adams (51st, 10:42.08), Lillianna Taylor (53rd, 10:48.96), Zoey Phillips (61st, 11:15.71), Ila Hendrickson (62nd, 11:17.86) and Meredith Lawson (73rd, 12:03.72).
Ella Brock led the HC girls elementary team to a third-place finish, finishing sixth with a time of 8:23.70. Krislyn Clem was 22nd with a time of 9:39.03, while Isabella Burkhart (9:57.35) was 28th. Rounding out the results for Harlan County were Erin McReynolds (30th, 10:03.58), Nevaeh Perkins (44th, 10:31.05), Payton Blackwelder (46th, 10:31.64), Sadie Shackleford (47th, 10:31.84), Landri Dagnan (54th, 10:51.25), Charlotte Mitchell (57th, 10:58.45), Kadie Lawson (59th, 11:08.82), Paisleigh Asher (63rd, 11:21.06), Evva Hensley (65th, 11:25.26), Nevaeh Stone (66th, 11:31.05), Bella Burkhart (68th, 11:39.27), Kaylyn Lawson (70th, 11:45.41), Peyton Sherman (74th, 12:04.09), Macie Lawson (84th, 13:12.39) and Madilyn Turner (85th, 13:18.06).
“We have a young group of many new runners. They are working hard and that showed today,” Harlan County elementary coach Jennifer Brock said. “I’m so proud of them and excited to see what they accomplish this season.”
Harlan County and Harlan will return to action Saturday at London for the North Laurel Invitational.