The Harlan County boys cross country team placed fourth overall on Saturday at the Wayne County Invitational.
Andrew Yeary led the Bears, finishing second with a time of 18:02.75. Jacob Schwenke finished 21st with a time of 19:42.39, while Austin Crain (44th) finished with a time of 21:08.04. Other finishers for Harlan County were Caleb Schwenke (46th, 21:14.72), DaShaun Smith (58th, 22:07.63), Bradley Brock (105th, 27:22.27) and Caden Craig (119th, 38:17.09).

“I’m very proud of our guys today.” coach Ryan Vitatoe said. “To come in here and get a top four finish in a field like this, while missing two of our top five guys, is impressive. Andrew had a fantastic race, setting the tone for the rest of our guys. I’m really proud of them.”

The girls placed seventh, led by Sophie Day, who finished 19th with a time of 24:20.89. Olivia Kelly (38th) and Kendall Brock (43rd) finished with times of 26:30.14 and 27:05.55, respectively. Rounding out the results were Kylie Jones (47th, 27:28.43), Addi Gray (71st, 31:57.74) and Mary Gross (82nd, 35:03.27).

“The girls ran well also. We knew we were facing an uphill battle without three of our girls, but I thought they competed hard.” Vitatoe said. “Sophie and Olivia had a great race. You can see definite improvement in all our girls, and that’s all you can ask for.”

Tanner Daniels won the boys middle school race overall, finishing with a time of 11:02.84. Luther Gross (11:58.08) and Drew Sergent (12:08.85) finished fifth and eighth, respectively. Xavier Farley placed 39th place with a time of 15:15.34.

“Tanner had another great race in the middle school division. He’s establishing himself as one of best middle school runners in the state.” Vitatoe said. “I can’t say enough about all the middle school guys. Luther and Drew were great today, and Xavier had a great race as well. We were missing one of our guys. I think if he was there, they would have challenged for the overall win. They just keep getting better.”

Gracie Roberts finished third overall in the girls middle school division with a time of 14:45.61. Autumn Farley (15:54.19) finished seventh, while Kiera Roberts placed 13th with a time of 16:24.07.

“The middle school girls also ran really well. Gracie and Kiera are so consistent, and Autumn is really gaining lots of confidence,” Vitatoe said.

Harlan County will be back in action in an all-comers meet on Sept. 20 at home.