HCHS boys, girls are winners at home meet
April 23, 2022
The Harlan County track teams continued their impressive 2022 season on Friday by sweeping both the and boys and girls competitions at the Harlan County All-Comers Meet.
Harlan County coasted to a win in the boys race with 224 points, well ahead of North Laurel and its 112 points in second place. Whitley County was third with 82 points, followed by Knox Central with 41, Letcher Central with 40, South Laurel with 21, Pineville with 16 and Barbourville with 11.
The Lady Bears finished with 175 points, 45 ahead of second place North Laurel. South Laurel was third with 71 points, followed by Knox Central with 54, Whitley County with 42, Red Bird with 24, Pineville with 14 and Letcher Central with seven.
“What a great week of work for our teams. Both groups have been working really hard, and we’re starting to round into shape at the right time,” Harlan County coach Ryan Vitatoe said. “The boys are competing hard. These were really big wins, especially when you consider the competition they’ve competed against in the last week. Everyone is really dialed in and doing their job well, which explains our success up to this point.”
The HCHS boys continued to dominate in the speed events as the foursome of Demarco Hopkins, Luke Carr, Thomas Jordan and Luke Kelly won both the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 relays. Kelly, a freshman, was the winner in the 100-meter race, with Hopkins in second, Carr in third and Jordan in fifth. Hopkins was first in the 200-meter race, with Kelly in second, Gavon Spurlock in third and Jordan in fourth.
Matt Yeary, a senior, won both the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdle races, Andrew Yeary, Matt’s brother, won the 1,600-meter run.
Daniel Joseph was first in the 3,200-meter run, and Spurlock was first in the long jump.
The relay team of Emilee Eldridge, Taytum Griffin, Addi Gray and Paige Phillips won the 4 x 100 meter run,
Peyton Lunsford continued her outstanding freshman season by winning the 3,200-meter run.
Paige Phillips, a sophomore, was first in the 100-meter hurdles. Maddi Middleton, an eighth-grader, won the triple jump.
“The girls are really working hard as well. Both meets were really big wins against some region competition and some of the best programs in the 3A, Region 7,” Vitatoe said. :We are steadily improving in areas that we were really struggling in a few weeks ago, and all the credit goes to their hard work and the direction of their event coaches.”
What I really like about these groups is their willingness to do their jobs. It doesn’t matter if you have one event or four, you go out and do the absolute best you can in that event. Even better is the support from the team members who may not be competing when we are limited on entries. They are the ultimate ‘hype group’ for their teammates. This is a really tight team, and I’m proud of their progress.
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Harlan County was also a winner on Tuesday at the North Laurel All-Comers Meet.
Highlights for HCHS, according to coach Ryan Vitatoe, included:
Demarco Hopkins won the 100-meter dash.
The boys 4×200 won (Luke Kelly, Luke Carr, Demarco Hopkins, Thomas Jordan).
Matt Yeary won the 300 hurdles.
Ella Karst won the 200-meter dash.
Peyton Lunsford won the 3200-meter run.
Gavon Spurlock broke the school record in the high jump with a jump of 6-2.
Gavon Spurlock won the long jump.
Lindsey Browning won the discus, setting a new school record.
Taylor Lunsford won the shot put.
Connor Blevins won the shot put.
HC had a top three finisher in 21 total events (combined boys and girls).
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North Laurel All-Comers Meet
Girls Team Results
1. Harlan County 116, 2. Corbin 83, 3. South Laurel 79.5, 4. Somerset 69.5, 5. North Laurel 59, 6. Madison Southern 56, 7. Pulaski County 54, 8. Williamsburg 49.5, 9. Southwestern 46.5, 10. Middlesboro 26.5, 11. Knox Central 17.5, 12. Perry Central 17, 13. Lynn Camp 8, 14. Russell County 6, Pineville 2.
Boys Team Results
1. Harlan County 164, 2. Corbin 117, 3. Southwestern 68, 4. South Laurel 65, 5. North Laurel 6. Williamsburg 42.5, 7. Pulaski County 42, 8. Madison Southern 41.5, 9. Middlesboro 30, 10. Knox Central 22.5, 11. Perry Central 21, 12. Russell County 7, 13. Pineville 6, 14. Somerset 5, 15. Bell County 4.
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The Harlan High School track team had two throwers, two jumpers and a girls relay team to finish in the top five at the 45th Annual Lake Cumberland Classic composed of 25 teams.
Cade Middleton placed first in shot and fourth in discus. Marissa Marlow finished third in shot and discus. Darius Akal and Willow Schwenke placed fourth and fifth respectively in the long jump and the 4×200 relay team finished fifth. The relay team was made up of Willow Schwenke, Abbie Jones, Peighton Jones and Raegan Goodman.
The HHS track team will be back in action Tuesday at Leslie County
