The Harlan and Harlan County cross country teams traveled to Wayne County on Saturday to compete in the Wayne County Invitational.
The Lady Bears won the meet with 26 points. The Bears placed second with 59 points, 13 points behind Madison Central.
“I’m proud of all of our kids for these performances today. It was a super hot day and the course ran slow, but I thought the effort was there,” Harlan County cross country coach Ryan Vitatoe said. “The improvement across the board is evident. I thought it was a solid day.”
“The girls had a huge day today. To win this meet three years in a row is a big accomplishment,” Vitatoe said. “They beat some really good teams and I’m really proud of them.
“The boys had a big day today, too. Madison Central has an incredible program, and I thought we fought them tooth and nail. They’ll be one of the favorites for the 3A, Region 7 title and our guys really raced them hard. They have nothing to hang their heads about. I tell our kids constantly, if we run hard and lose, we can live with that. The key is learning from it and improving.”
The Dragons placed ninth overall.
Harlan County’s Gracie Roberts won the girls varsity race with a time of 20:54.71. Kiera Roberts placed fourth with a time of 21:57.39. Lauren Lewis (22:58.87) and Preslee Hensley (23:14.83) finished 10th and 12th, respectively. Rounding out the results were Andrea Napier (17th, 23:56.31), Julionna Johnson (37th, 26:47.08), Suzy Mumford (38th, 26:51.10), Ariel Farley (41st, 27:17.51), Sienna Banks (44th, 28:15.72), Autumn Farley (51st, 29:58.70) and Addasynn Pace (78th, 37:15.05).
“Grace had a huge race today and that’s a big, big win against a solid field of runners,” Vitatoe said. “She has been great this season so far and has big goals going forward.
“I thought Kiera had a big day, and Pres, Lauren, and Andrea all ran well. That next group of girls ran really well, too. I’m really proud of all of them. They just keep getting better.”
Harper Carmical led Harlan’s varsity girls, finishing eighth in the race with a time of 22:51.50. Priscilla Stewart (29:16.69) was 49th. Amy Roman placed 79th with a time of 39.11:93.
“Harper had a great race in the heat Saturday. She is starting to lock in and reach for that regional title,” Harlan cross country coach Erin Alred said.
Elijah Moore led Harlan County’s varsity boys, finishing fifth with a time of 17:50.64. He was immediately followed by Jacob Schwenke (18:10.08). DaShaun Smith was 11th with a time of 18:48.83. Rounding out the results were Christopher Johnson (21st, 19:49.38), Ethan Lewis (24th, 19:54.44), Braxton Hubbard (27th, 20:04.80), Jayden Sargent (33rd, 20:39.66), Braxton Duncan (37th, 20:57.34), Robby Johnson (41st, 21:11.82), Karson Dunn (61st, 22:31.32), Landon Cook (97th, 26:14.89) and Jaxton Miller (107th, 28:18.38).
“Elijah and Jacob had big races, and I thought this was DaShaun’s best performance of the year. Braxton Hubbard had a big day, and I was really pleased with Jayden Sargent and Karson Dunn,” Vitatoe said. “I thought all of our guys ran hard, and I’m really excited about how that next group keeps creeping closer to our front group. We have a young core of guys, but this is a really deep team and the future is bright.”
To pace Harlan’s varsity boys, Dalton Halcomb was 42nd with a time of 21:19.20. Cooper Thomas finished 55th with a time of 22:18.45. Gibson Wilder (22:32.77) and Garrett Wilder (23:07.55) placed 62nd and 69th, respectively. Rounding out the results were Carter White (73rd, 23:43.63), Xavier Farley (87th, 25:11.16) and Micah Shope (88th, 25:13.10).
Harlan’s middle school girls placed second overall.
To lead Harlan, Julianne Miller finished 19th with a time of 14:01.13. Zoe Lawson (33rd) finished with a time of 14:45.12. Josephine Toll (16:52.42) and Emily Turner (17:42.82) were 63rd and 68th, respectively. Shelbee Miller was 91st with a time of 23:31.51.
Kenadie Dunn placed 58th with a time of 16:22.31 in the girls middle school race to pace Harlan County.
Harlan’s middle school boys placed third overall.
Ben Toll led Harlan, placing 22nd with a time of 14:07.04. He was immediately followed by Aiden Burnette (14:13.83). Thomas Miller was 27th with a time of 14:31.18. Rounding out the results were Aiden Browning (39th, 14:55.47), Trenton Turner (46th, 15:07.12), Xander Owens (53rd, 15:59.68) and Canaan Bolton (55th, 16:04.39).
The middle school results include some fourth- through sixth-graders. Students participated in the middle school race because Harlan did not field a team for the elementary races.
Jace Hensley led Harlan County in the boys middle school race, finishing 18th with a time of 14:00.88. Hunter Asher placed 66th with a time of 17:23.12. Uriah Roberts (71st) finished with a time of 18:04.61. Jordan Sargent was 86th with a time of 21:00.25.
“The middle school crew did really well today too. This group keeps getting better,” Vitatoe said. “I thought Jace Hensley had one of his better races, and Uriah has been super impressive with his improvement. Jordan Sargent and Hunter Asher had big races, too. I can’t say enought about Kenadie and how much she’s improved.
“This group is kind of ‘under the radar’ but they work so hard and deserve all the recognition for their hard work.”
To pace the kindergarten through third-grade girls, Kaylyn Lawson finished third with a time of 7:38.14. Kadie Lawson placed 22nd with a time of 8:42.00. Brooklyn Johnson (32nd) and Ava Williams (38th) finished with times of 9:02.43 and 9:14.63, respectively. Sawyer Millikan was 51st with a time of 10:06.03.
Jett Lee led the kindergarten through third-grade boys, placing 21st with a time of 7:40.98. Finn Millikan (10:11.89) finished 96th.
Bella Burkhart finished 15th with a time of 7:31.06 to lead the fourth-grade through sixth-grade girls. Krislyn Clem (20th) finished with a time of 7:41.10. Paisleigh Asher was 40th with a time of 8:25.01. Isabella Burkhart placed 56th with a time of 8:54.63. Evva Hensley (9:33.67) finished 64th.
To pace the fourth-grade through sixth-grade boys, Levi Hensley placed 30th with a time of 7:10.78. Dalton Johnson (7:33.31) and Jonah Sargent (7:43.81) were 44th and 48th, respectively. Jonah Doyle (55th) and Zack Daniels (60th) finished with times of 7:54.41 and 8:02.28, respectively. Skylar Boggs finished 74th with a time of 8:16.84. Jase Sargent (8:50.34) was 99th.
“I’m proud of the elementary teams. We had a ton of PRs across the board today. It’s always great to see hard work pay off.” Vitatoe said. “I thought Kaylyn and Kadie Lawson were great. Bella Burkhart had a big race, and Jett was great, too. These elementary kids work hard and I’m very proud of all of them.”
“We have an 11-day layoff before our next race so we’re going to get to work. Our next meet is a big one on the regional course against several regional schools. The next 11 days will be spent getting ready for that,” Vitatoe said. “I’m proud of where we are, but we also have to have a sense of urgency to get to where they want to be. This group will undoubtedly do that.”
Harlan County’s elementary teams will travel to Somerset on Saturday to compete in the Cougar Prowl Invitational.
Harlan County’s varsity teams will compete again Sept. 24 at Morgan County for the Morgan County Sorghum Run.
Harlan’s next meet will be Saturday at Berea in the Berea Community Invitational.
“We will continue to work together this week and be ready for Berea this coming Saturday and then Area 9 the following Saturday,” Alred said.