With a grandfather who was one of the founding fathers of cross country in Harlan County, Peyton Lunsford has grown up with the sport.
She has lived up to the massive expectations since she joined the Harlan County cross country and track programs in middle school as a record holder in both cross country and track and a regional champion in both. Lunsford established another first in both sports on Wednesday as the first female in the program to sign with a Division I school with her decision to attend Morehead State University.
Even though he died a couple of years ago, Bob Howard had a big part in his granddaughter’s decision. Howard started the cross country program at Evarts in 1986, which was two years after Leo Miller did the same at Harlan. One of Howard’s star runners was his daughter, Paige Howard Lunsford, who went on to run at Cumberland College and is Peyton’s mom. Howard was later the last principal at Evarts High School and first principal at Harlan County High School and was always a huge advocate for cross country and track.
“My grandad played a big part in my decision to go to Morehead State University,” she said. “Since starting cross country in seventh grade, my grandad and I had always talked about running in college. Morehead was always the college we discussed the most. When he passed away, it made me realize that this was a goal that I wanted to accomplish for both myself and him.”
Lunsford found similarities to her hometown in her college trip.
“When I visited Morehead, it was such a welcoming atmosphere and felt very similar to my hometown. As soon as I got to the campus, I knew that was the school that I wanted to continue my academic and athletic career,” she said.
Lunsford has established herself as a leader in one of the state’s top 2A programs. She set the school record as an individual while leading HCHS to regional championships the past two years, along with a runner-up finish in 2023 and a third-place finish last fall in the 2A state meet. She is also the school record holder in the 800-meter run in track and was a state medalist in the 4 x 800 relay last season as HCHS captured a regional title last spring.
“Peyton has been the main building block for our resurgence in cross country in the last two years. She’s made such incredible contributions to our program, and there’s zero doubt that we are better because of her hard work,” said Harlan County coach Ryan Vitatoe, who was a star runner under Howard at Evarts. “I’m proud of her, and I know Bob (Howard) would be over the moon today. I know she’s going to do great things at the next level.”
“I have been a part of Harlan County High School’s track and field/cross country program for six years. Growing up, my grandad would bring me to cross country meets so the sport has always been a part of my life,” Lunsford said. “This sport has taught me discipline, determination, and has helped me get stronger both mentally and physically. I owe many of my accomplishments to Coach V, who has always encouraged me and pushed me to do my best. I always joke about how hard he is on me, but I know it is because he knows my potential and wants me to succeed and accomplish my goals. It is bittersweet to end this journey that I didn’t realize would go by so fast, and I will forever be grateful for this sport and this program.”