In one of the biggest meets they’re likely to run all season, the Harlan elementary boys cross country team eked out a narrow victory Saturday at the North Laurel Invitational.
The Harlan kindergarten through third grade boys defeated second-place Liberty Elementary by two points, with the help of three top-10 individual finishes. Due to the high number of participants, the elementary teams were split into two groups.
Aiden Browning paced the Dragons, finishing fourth with a time of 4:58.55. He was immediately followed by Colt Sullivan (4:59.91). Kash Bailey was ninth with a time of 5:19.37. Rounding out the results were Braxton Sizemore (16th, 5:31.59), Ben Parsons (17th, 5:32.12), Kelton Dean (44th, 6:13.24), Skylar Boggs (45th, 6:14.26), Justyce Young (64th, 6:47.63), Emmett Alred (65th, 6:47.63) and Perry Marietta (82nd, 7:48.42).
Julianne Miller placed third with a time of 5:13.88 in the the girls kindergarten through third grade race, leading the team to a sixth-place finish. Meredith Lawson (6:19.97) was 28th. Zoey Phillips (38th) and Lillianna Taylor (39th) finished with times of 6:38.96 and 6:40.49, respectively. Other finishers were Hannah Adams (48th, 7:01.73), Ellianna Carver (50th, 7:04.42) and Rebecca Adams (59th, 7:23.33).
Lillie Carver (8:11.46) finished third to lead the fourth through sixth grade girls to a second-place finish. Priscilla Stewart was eighth with a time of 8:46.44, while Mckenzie Petrey (9:04.82) was 13th. Rounding out the results were Addison Sanford (15th, 9:12.89), Lillian Daniels (19th, 9:20.41), Zoe Lawson (22nd, 9:31.54), Josephine Toll (60th, 11:41.46), Natalie Adams (67th, 12:29.56), Vivian Smith (77th, 13:22.76) and Ila Hendrickson (80th, 13:39.11).
Thomas Miller was 56th with a time of 9:38.71 in the fourth through sixth grade boys race. Mason Raleigh (10:05.22) placed 66th, immediately followed by Canaan Bolton (10:08.73). Other finishers were Jett Luttrell (71st, 10:20.60), Carson Yount (75th, 10:33.71) and Andrew Alred (79th, 10:42.45). The team placed tenth overall.
Chloe Schwenke finished 39th with a time of 27:41.48 in the girls varsity race. Harper Carmical placed 45th with a time of 27:57.69. Abbigaile Jones (28:34.01) was 50th. Rounding out the results were Ella Farley (55th, 29:35.59), Juliana Damaa (62nd, 31:18.55), Ella Lisenbee (82nd, 34:34.78) and Gwendolyn Toll (91st, 37:32.10). The team was 10th overall.
In the boys varsity race, Harlan was 14th. Brayden Howard (85th) finished with a time of 25:27.47. Connor Collins (27:44.65) was 94th, followed by Gabriel Xavier Farley (28:12.44). Evan Bargo and Sayed Damaa placed 99th and 102nd with times of 29:42.99 and 30:31.00, respectively.
Cooper Thomas (14:06.95) placed 13th in the boys middle school race. Michael Lindsey finished 61st with a time of 22:24.39. Landon Traylor (67th) finished with a time of 26:49.65.
“We were pleased by the effort put forth by all of our runners today. Each of our groups competing had some great performances,” Harlan coach Anne Lindsey said. “The North Laurel Invitational had a great field of competition today. We were able to get an idea of where we are currently and where we’d like to go for each individual runner and our team as a whole. As always we are using each of these races to prepare for our region race in October.
“We are definitely proud of our teams and excited for all they will accomplish this season.”
Harlan will return to action Tuesday at Harlan County for an all comers meet.