Hillsboro cross-country teams finish 2nd at McClain Invitational; Winkle wins boys race

The Hillsboro Indians opened the cross-country season by competing in the annual McClain Invitational on August 26th at Greenfield’s Mitchell Park.
 
Running in the first race of the morning, the Hillsboro Lady Indians ran to a second-place finish, finishing just three points behind the meet winner, the Bloom-Carroll Bulldogs.

Pacing the Indians was sophomore, Jailyn Williams, who finished in third place with a personal best run of 21:23. Teammate, Taylor Thoroman, finished less than a minute later in sixth place, crossing the line at 22:10.
 
Coach Rob Snavely was proud to see Williams and Thoroman finish near the top.
 
“The top six or seven runners today are all state championship runners,” Snavely said. “They have all been there or come very close to qualifying in the past. To know that we have two of them means our team has a chance to be competitive anywhere this year.”
 
Ramsey Haines, a senior, was the next Lady Indian to finish the course. Haines ran a 23:18, good for eighth place.

A little over a minute later, a whole host of Lady Indians finished their races. Finishing in 15th place was Brooklyn Lucarello at 24:48, Olivia Covault at 25:02 (16th), Abbey Letts at 25:20 (18th) and Bree Bailey at 25:53, good for 19th place. Hillsboro’s final two runners, Claire Winkle and

Sofia Mezo-Mil, completed the course with times of 27:52 and 32:01, good for 29th and 45th places, respectively.
 
Snavely was proud of his team’s effort but knows his team must continue to improve.
 
“We didn’t come in during the summer in good shape, and it’s been a challenge to get us where we need to be to take that next step as a program,” he said. “But our girls work every single day to get better. I love the effort and the team culture created by our seniors.”
 
The second race of the morning saw the same result as the Hillsboro boys team also finished second to Bloom-Carroll by a score of 39 to 24.
 
Indian junior, Corbin Winkle, won the race with a final sprint to the finish line, narrowly defeating Bloom-Carroll’s Ashton Helmbright. Winkle ran an impressive 17:12 to earn his first individual victory of the season.
 
The Bulldogs and Indians dominated the standings, placing 13 runners in the top 16. Following Winkle, HHS freshman Rason Brunck found himself in a similar race with Bloom-Carroll’s Samuel Toops. Like Winkle, Brunck outraced him to the finish line to place fourth with a time of 18:07.

The Hillsboro duo of Chris Sowders and Ryan Howland placed ninth and 10th with runs of 19:14 and 19:20, respectively. Teammate Cooper Swope followed shortly after with a 20:09, good for 16th place.
 
Hillsboro’s final two runners, Jayden Wells and Jacob Schommer, completed the race in 52nd and 53rd places with runs of 27:55 and 29:09.
 
While pleased with a positive start for his team, Coach Ed Letts specifically pointed out the improvement of sophomore runner Cooper Swope.

“He showed great improvement from last season,” Letts noted. “His time (20:09) was 23 seconds faster than his time here at the FAC Meet in October 2022, which is very promising for this season.”
 
In the final two races of the day, Hillsboro’s middle school girls and boys gained valuable experience for teams made up of mostly first-time runners.
 
The girls team was led by Quinn Swope, who finished second with a time of 13:49. Parker Wilkin finished seventh (15:21), Emarey Schurman finished 11th (16:20) and Abriann Anderson rounded out the girls by finishing in 17:32, good for 17th place.
 
First-year coach Fawn Girard, was pleased with her young team’s performance. “I’m very proud of our first-year girls,” she said. “They are working hard and will continue to make big improvements.”
 
The boys team was paced by eighth grader, Alexander Reed, who crossed the finish line at 11:32, good for first place.

Reed’s teammates were not far behind. Mason Rinal finished in 5th place with a time of 12:12. Trenton Gulley and Luke Letts sprinted to the finish, with Gulley edging his teammate out. Gulley came in 11th (13:27) and Letts earned 12th (13:28). Shortly after his teammates, Tyler Bender was the final Indian to cross the line at 14:09, good for 16th place.
 
Coach Ben Young was equally pleased with his young team. “All of their hard work is beginning to pay off, especially after a second-place team finish and personal records across the board,” Young said.

The Indians will travel to Circleville and compete in the Kiwanis Cross-Country Invitational on Sept. 2nd.