The Harlan County cross country team traveled to Lexington on Tuesday to compete in the KTCCCA Meet of Champions. The boys placed eighth overall.
“I’m proud of our kids. We were super shorthanded tonight with resting our middle school kids who run varsity,” Harlan County coach Ryan Vitatoe said. “I thought we competed hard overall.”
Kaden Boggs led the Bears, finishing 20th with a time of 18:54.42. Elijah Moore placed 27th with a time of 19:13.05. Evan Simpson (54th) finished with a time of 20:05.85. Ethan Simpson (20:39.44) and Caleb Schwenke (20:44.65) finished 69th and 71st, respectively. DaShaun Smith placed 95th with a time of 21:55.30, while Kaylob Stevens (22:26.75) was 104th. Jonavan Rigney placed125th with a time of 23:28.44. Caden Craig (33:04.08) was 158th.
With only four competitors, Harlan County did not field an entire girls team.
Peyton Lunsford paced the Lady Bears, finishing 13th overall with a time of 21:21.59. Preslee Hensley (23:09.63) was 44th. Addi Gray placed 103rd with a time of 27:27.04. Olivia Kelly was 119th with a time of 29:39.27.
“This is the first time they’ve hosted on this course since state in 2019. So it was exciting to get back and race here again,” Vitatoe said. “It’s still a little rough and the high grass impacted our time a bit, but those are the type of things you gotta push through.
“It was good experience and it will help us when we return in a few weeks. I’m proud of them all.”
Harlan County will return to action Tuesday at home for the SEKC Championships.
