Chrissie Brassfield

Harlan County senior Peyton Lunsford led the Lady Bears to a ninth-place finish on Saturday in the Louisville XC Classic.

The Harlan County cross country team traveled to Louisville on Saturday to participate in the Louisville XC Classic. The girls finished ninth overall, while the boys placed 17th.
“I’m proud of all of our kids today. Both teams took a big step in the right direction and I was really pleased with our competitive mindset going into the meet,” Harlan County cross country coach Ryan Vitatoe said. “This was the biggest field of teams that many of our kids have ever competed in and I thought they did a great job of staying focused and racing.”
In the girls invitational race, Peyton Lunsford placed 36th with a time of 21:29.90. Gracie Roberts finished 45th with a time of 21:49.60. Lauren Lewis (22:26.80) and Kiera Roberts (22:35.40) were 62nd and 68th, respectively. Preslee Hensley (89th) finished with a time of 23:03.50. She was immediately followed by Jaycee Simpson (23:07.20). Aliyah Deleon finished 111th with a time of 23:35.60.
Suzy Mumford placed 84th with a time of 26:36.20 in the girls open race. Madison Daniels (142nd) finished with a time of 31:42.40.
“The girls took a step forward today. We haven’t been as dialed in as we should be in the last few races and I thought today was a good step in rectifying that,” Vitatoe said. “We packed much better than we did at GRC (George Rogers Clark) and they crept closer to their expected times today. I thought they ran very well.
“I’m really proud of Aliyah, who had a big PR today. This is the first season in her career that she’s stayed healthy and she’s really beginning to see what she can do as a runner. We’re getting back on track as a team and I’m really excited to see how we close the season.”
Elijah Moore finished 46th with a time of 17:27.50 in the boys invitational race. Kaden Boggs was 52nd with a time of 17:31.90. Caleb Schwenke (18:54.90) placed 123rd. Ethan Simpson finished 134th with a time of 19:17.70. DaShaun Smith (145th) and Jacob Schwenke (148th) finished with times of 19:34.30 and 19:37.00, respectively. Evan Simpson was 153rd with a time of 19:41.30.
In the boys open race, Jonavan Rigney finished 25th with a time of 18:50.30. Christopher Johnson (116th) finished with a time of 20:56.70. Braxton Duncan was 128th with a time of 21:16.90. Jayden Sargent (24:56.40) placed 246th, while Jaxton Miller (27:05.60) finished 265th. Landon Cook (28:23.20) and Caden Craig (31:52.50) were 273rd and 280th, respectively.
“I am so proud of this boys team and how far they’ve come this season. They are a close-knit group and they work incredibly hard and they’re rapidly climbing in the top-ten rankings of AA. They took a big step forward today,” Vitatoe said. “I can’t say enough about Jon Rigney, who has really improved a ton this year. He ran a PR of over 1:30 today and I’m not the least bit surprised due to his hard work.
“I thought all of our guys were dialed in and we’re starting to see our second pack gain ground on the first pack. That’s a good sign and a big help as we head to the end of the season.”
Harlan County’s next meet will be Tuesday at Morgan County for the Morgan County Sorghum Run.
“Now we have to focus on our next race at Morgan County. Morgan has a super fast course and we’ve got to be excited to run as we head into Tuesday,” Vitatoe said. “We don’t get the opportunity to run a lot of flat courses, so I’m anxious to see what we can do.”