With 24 schools in attendance, the largest meet in county history, the Harlan County cross country team had great success in the third annual Bob Howard Memorial Invitational on Saturday.
“Today was a great day, and I have to take time to thank our parents, volunteers and assistant coaches. This meet was MASSIVE, and we had more kids in each race than we’ve ever had before,” Harlan County cross country coach Ryan Vitatoe said. “Our campus was full of spectators, and it was just a hugely impressive day. I can never thank these folks enough. Without the help from this group, there’s no way we could pull off a meet of this magnitude. I’m just really appreciative of them.”
The Lady Bears won the meet with 18 points. The Bears won with 42 points.
“These were two huge wins for our high school teams. We were down three of our key boys, and this group rose to the occasion to pull out a very impressive win,” Vitatoe said.
The Harlan Green Dragons also competed in the meet, with the boys placing second overall with 73 points.
“The Bob Howard Invitational was an exciting race day, as always. The Harlan Green Dragons had many runners show up and make their marks,” Harlan cross country coach Erin Alred said.
Gracie Roberts led Harlan County’s girls, winning with a time of 22:02.83. She was immediately followed by Preslee Hensley (22:26.61) and Kiera Roberts (22:31.64). Lauren Lewis placed fifth with a time of 22:52.61. Andrea Napier (24:29.71) was 10th. Rounding out the results were Julionna Johnson (14th, 25:34.96), Suzy Mumford (20th, 27:14.96), Autumn Farley (22nd, 27:44.30), Ariel Farley (24th, 28:22.39), Bella Leath (27th, 29:35.02), Sienna Banks (29th, 29:49.39) and Riley Witt (39th, 33:18.74).
“The girls ran well today. Preslee was incredible,” Vitatoe said “I told that group of seniors this was their last home meet and to make sure there were no regrets, and I thought she, Suzy and Riley were fantastic today.
“The rest of the girls stepped up as well. Our top five were solid, and I thought JJ made another big step forward. She, Sienna and Ariel have been great this season, but I can’t say enough about Autumn and Bella’s progress this year. They keep getting better every single race.”
Harper Carmical paced Harlan’s girls, finishing ninth with a time of 24:02.21. Gwendolyn Toll placed 41st with a time of 33:42.64. Amy Roman (37:29.77) was 47th, immediately followed by Addison Lemar (38:24.36).
“Harper Carmical pushed through to make a top-ten finish for our girls varsity team,” Alred said.
Tanner Daniels won the boys race with a time of 17:04.67 to lead Harlan. Dalton Halcomb (16th) finished with a time of 20:50.62. Gibson Wilder (21:07.83) and Cooper Thomas (21:12.02) were 20th and 22nd, respectively. Rounding out the results were Garrett Wilder (30th, 22:56.21), Xavier Farley (33rd, 22:58.30), Cruz Galloway (38th, 23:37.61), Carter White (39th, 23:44.02) and David Halcomb (79th, 37:47.00).
Jacob Schwenke finished fifth with a time of 18:58.64 to lead Harlan County’s boys. He was immediately followed by Braxton Duncan (19:42.24). DaShaun Smith placed 12th with a time of 20:24.94, immediately followed by Ethan Lewis (20:37.27) and Robby Johnson (20:43.17). Rounding out the results were Braxton Hubbard (18th, 20:55.94), Jayden Sargent (19th, 20:56.66), Karson Dunn (23rd, 21:24.83), Ben Cochran (26th, 22:12.89), Gabriel Bailey (37th, 23:26.42) and Landon Cook (59th, 25:21.89).
“I’m very sad that Elijah (Moore) and Chris (Johnson) couldn’t compete in their final home meet, and I know they were upset as well,” Vitatoe said. “At the end of the day nothing is more important than their well being and making sure they’re ready for the end of the year.
“I thought our guys ran well, but I can’t say enough good things about our young guys today and how they stepped up. I really challenged that group and they responded well. Braxton Duncan and Robby Johnson had huge races today. Ben and Gabriel both ran well. Karson was big for us, and I thought Braxton Hubbard and Jayden ran great. They gave us the big lift that helped seal it. That young core will be huge for us for the next few years. The future is bright.”
Harlan County’s boys won the mixed middle school race.
To lead Harlan County, Jace Hensley placed 11th with a time of 12:46.80. He was immediately followed by Hunter Asher (12:57.42) and Brycen Saylor (13:12.61). Uriah Roberts (16:03.52) and Jordan Sargent (17:01.55) finished 28th and 30th, respectively.
“The middle schoolers ran well today. The boys won the Bob Howard, and I thought this was Brycen’s best race of the season,” Vitatoe said. “Hunter and Jace keep getting better, and I can’t say enough about Uriah and Jordan. They’ve worked so hard this year.”
Harlan’s Thomas Miller placed 15th with a time of 13:20.49 in the mixed middle school race to pace the boys.
Zoe Lawson finished second in the mixed middle school race with a time of 12:45.32 to lead Harlan. Priscilla Stewart was fifth with a time of 12:59.83. Cora Jones (14:21.33) and Josephine Toll (15:01.92) were ninth and 12th, respectively.
Kenadie Dunn paced Harlan County’s middle school girls, placing 11th with a time of 14:52.74. Lexie Boggs was 13th with a time of 15:04.64.
“I thought Lexie and Kenadie had big races. They both keep getting better each meet,” Vitatoe said.
Harlan’s elementary boys won, while Harlan County finished second overall.
Braxton Sizemore finished third with a time of 9:10.11 to lead Harlan’s elementary boys. Trenton Turner was seventh with a time of 9:33.37. Kash Bailey (10th) finished with a time of 9:38.85, immediately followed by Ben Toll (9:42.14). Rounding out the results were Aiden Browning (15th, 10:01.94), Emmett Alred (18th, 10:09.67), Canaan Bolton (22nd, 10:20.64), Xander Owens (23rd, 10:25.21), Tyler White (26th, 10:42.49), Kelton Dean (39th, 11:32.96), Ryder Bailey (41st, 11:35.61), Jess Bennett (55th, 12:22.38), Ashwin Ganti (56th, 12:24.05), Jason Mills (58th, 12:34.02), Liam Cook (62nd, 12:51.94), Weston Simpson (70th, 13:10.97), Mason Howard (72nd, 13:12.08), Eli Brock (81st, 13:51.17), Sherman Ward (94th, 14:35.61), Raylan Simpson (97th, 14:58.02), Lamar Bailey (112th, 17:12.36) and Gunner Green (113th, 17:21.46).
Harlan County’s Hutton Sherman won the elementary boys race with a time of 8:37.02. Conner Banks finished eighth with a time of 9:34.32, immediately followed by Tate Sherman (9:35.47). Levi Hensley placed 12th with a time of 9:58.02. Rounding out the results were Jonah Doyle (21st, 10:19.16), Jett Lee (25th, 10:34.49), Jonah Sargent (27th, 10:43.75), Zack Daniels (28th, 10:45.14), Dalton Johnson (34th, 11:20.21), Skylar Boggs (50th, 12:09.86), Jaxon Mclain (71st, 13:11.53), Blue Day (74th, 13:22.52), Brayden Perkins (75th, 13:25.28), Eli McKnight (79th, 13:35.97), William Howard (83rd, 13:53.96), Mitchell Lunsford (85th, 13:59.02), Jase Sargent (86th, 14:05.83), Braxton Rigney (93rd, 14:30.42), Oliver Hensley (103rd, 16:07.61), Finn Millikan (106th, 16:28.30) and Micah Lawson (114th, 18:07.39).
Harlan’s elementary girls placed second overall. Harlan County was third.
Julianne Miller won the elementary girls race with a time of 9:34.42 to lead Harlan. McKinley Taylor finished fifth with a time of 10:36.27. Shelby Parsons was 17th with a time of 11:16.55. Rounding out the results were Lucy Miller (20th, 11:26.92), Ramsi Fields (21st, 11:27.88), Ellianna Carver (25th, 11:45.41), Emily Turner (27th, 11:49.21), Amelia Hensley (37th, 12:21.53), Brogan Bennett (38th, 12:22.47), Lily Wheeler (46th, 12:48.11), Rayleigh Hoskins (51st, 13:01.71), Leah Burkhart (63rd, 12:52.42), Oakley Moody (65th, 14:10.80), Shelbee Miller (73rd, 14:40.10), Khloe Keith (88th, 15:45.89), Macie Lawson (89th, 15:47.28) and Addison Browning (100th, 17:09.13).
Harlan County’s Ella Brock finished fourth with a time of 10:22.46 to pace the girls. Bella Burkhart (10:51.05) placed eighth. Adalynn Shackleford was 11th with a time of 11:05.41. Rounding out the results were Sadie Shackleford (24th, 11:44.17), Kadie Lawson (31st, 12:03.99), Krislyn Clem (33rd, 12:10.03), Kaylyn Lawson (48th, 12:49.85), Emma Mitchell (50th, 12:55.55), Isabella Burkhart (54th, 13:22.21), Ava Williams (57th, 13:27.80), Nevaeh Stone (68th, 14:27.61), Brooklyn Johnson (72nd, 14:39.61), Landri Dagnan (75th, 14:48.00), Evva Hensley (77th, 14:56.13), Emma Cooper (78th, 15:07.74), Rayna Edens (81st, 15:21.27), Nevaeh Perkins (92nd, 16:22.52), Sawyer Millikan (99th, 17:08.42), Peyton Sherman (101st, 17:10.72), Emily McKnight (105th, 17:22.36) and Luna Edens (109th, 18:48.64).
“Yesterday’s race was so exciting! We have never had that many elementary students on our start line. I have really loved seeing the growth of elementary cross country in our area over the past few years. We ran really well yesterday,” Harlan County elementary cross country coach Jennifer Brock said. “Our course is tough and hard to compare times with other 2K courses. I always tell them to set a goal to beat their home course time and 25 of our runners did that yesterday.
“I’m so proud of the kids who earned medals yesterday. They have so much raw talent and they have shown steady improvement throughout the season. They work hard and set a great example for their teammates, but there are a few others I want to brag about. We had nine runners that improved their previous home race time by over a minute, and three of them improved by three to five minutes. They may not have all earned a medal yesterday, but that kind of growth is what we strive for. This next week is going to be a busy week for us as we prepare for our last few races. We are not finished growing and improving this season.”
“Overall, I think each group competed hard. The course was wet from the weather this week and that reflected in the times. This is a meet that you can only focus on the effort because when it’s muddy and sloppy you aren’t going to run fast,” Vitatoe said. “I think you see that across the board in every event for every team. I’m proud of these kids and I think they did a great job today.”
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The Area 9 Championship ran simultaneously with the Bob Howard Memorial Invitational.
The Black Bears secured their 14th consecutive title. The Lady Bears claimed their fifth straight title.
“These boys continue to run big in this meet. To win the Bob Howard against a field of teams this large is impressive. Winning their 14th straight district championship is an incredible feat,” Vitatoe said. “They really ran well and I’m proud of them. They all did their jobs today.
“This is a big accomplishment for these girls. To win these two meets is a big deal, and that’s the 13th district championship for our girls in 17 seasons. They have kept the tradition alive, and they should be proud.”
Harlan’s elementary boys won as well.
Harlan County’s Gracie Roberts won the varsity girls race. Hutton Sherman won the elementary boys race.
Harlan’s Tanner Daniels won the varsity boys race. Julianne Miller won the elementary girls race.
“Tanner Daniels was awarded Area 9 Runner of the Year for boys varsity,” Alred said.
“Julianne Miller was named Area 9 Runner of the Year for the elementary girls,” Alred said.
Both teams will compete again Tuesday at Middlesboro in an all comers meet.