'14 Highland County Cross-Country Championship to be held on Sept. 23
The '14 Highland County Cross-Country Championship race will be held on Sept. 23 at Fairfield High School for boys and girls. There will also be an elementary "fun run."
The fun run will kick off the event at 5 p.m., as it is a one-mile race. The middle school race will follow at 5:30 p.m., and the high school race begins at 6:10 p.m.
For the middle school and high school races, the Top 5 will receive All-County awards, along with the winning team getting possession of the traveling trophy for the next year.
Last season, the race was won by Michael Mangus (Fairfield), who has since graduated. In second was De-Andre Steward with a time of 16:46. Steward is the favorite to win the race this season, as this is his senior year.
Steward was also the South Central Ohio League champion last season and was a Division II State qualifier.
[[In-content Ad]]
Another runner to watch is Fairfield's Wyatt Evans, as he was fourth in the race last year. He had a time of 17:29. In all, three of the Top 5 finishers from last season have graduated.
The second-place team last year was Hillsboro, followed by Lynchburg-Clay. McClain and Whiteoak had runners in the race in '13 but didn't field enough runners for a team score.
The winning boys team last season at the HC Championship was the Fairfield Lions, winning that title for the past four years. FHS has also won the HC race five of the past seven seasons since the race began in 2007.
As for the girls race, the Top 5 last season were all Hillsboro runners in '13. Winning the event was Reaghan Haines. She has finished in the Top 2 her first two years running in this race. Last year, she finished with a time of 21:15.
HHS won the girls race last season. The Lady Indians have won the race six of the seven years it has been held.
Two other racers to keep an eye on in both the boys and girls high school races are middle school champions from '13. The winner of the girls middle school race last year was Grace Shope of Fairfield.
Winning the middle school race last year for the boys was Fairfield's Matthew Mangus. Both runners are freshmen in the high school race this season.
There will be an $4 admission for those in attendance. There is also a $3 coupon for the family race. The event is also selling Highland County Championship T-shirts for the first time.