HHS cross-country races at Portsmouth Invitational
The Hillsboro cross-country teams traveled to Portsmouth on Oct. 3 and ran in the Portsmouth Invitational.
The morning started off with the Hillsboro Middle School boys team running to a sixth-place finish. The Indians were led by Ryan Howland, who finished 13th with a time of 12:55. The next HHS runner to finish was Cooper Swope.
Swope ran the course in 13:59, which was good enough to finish in 32nd place. Just behind him was Chris Sowders.
Sowders, who finished in 34th place, ran his race in 14:17. The last two HHS runners placed 49th and 50th, just seconds apart. Robbie Schneider finished with a 15:57, and Curtis Pegram ran a 16:06.
Coach Alan Grigsby praised the young men for their performances following the meet. “We knew we had a big challenge ahead of us,” he said. “We were down a runner for this meet, but we had five boys run and they all set their PR. So shout out to the boys for working super hard all week to prepare for this.”
As they have done frequently this year, the Hillsboro Middle School girls team ran to a team victory. In what turned out to be a very competitive contest, the young ladies ended up with 47 points, edging out Fairland by just six points and every runner ran her fastest time of the year.
“I think these girls are never satisfied. They are super talented, but their work ethic speaks to their success,” Grigsby said.
Once again, the Indians were led by Taylor Thoroman, Kennedy Sexton and Olivia Covault. Thorman, who came in fourth place, ran a 13:35, while Sexton (sixth place) finished at 14:11, and Covault (10th place) crossed the finish line at 14:22. The fourth runner was Jailyn Williams, who ran a 15:24, which was good enough for 13th place. The final HHS runner was Allison Hendrix. Hendrix, who took more than five minutes off of her time since the last race, placed 36th and ran the course in 21:41.
“Their goal is to be the best and winning at Portsmouth and setting PRs for each girl shows the hard work they have been putting in,” Grigssby said.
Following the middle school girls, were the high school boys team. The HHS runners finished in ninth place with 263 points, as six of the seven runners ran their fastest times of the year.
Once again, Owen Ryan and Garet Thompson paced the team. Outsprinting Thomspon at the end, Ryan finished in 48th place with a time of 21:34, while Thompson finished 49th with a 21:36. Shortly after the first two runners, Keahi Mhanna finished just ahead of teammate Ethan Griffin. Mhanna (61st) and Griffin (62nd) finished with times of 23:22 and 23:28, respectively.
Finishing in 66th place was the fifth Indian runner, Mason Hostetler, who completed the course in 25:35. The final two Hillsboro runners also finished just seconds apart. Jacob Schommer ran a 26:25, which was good for 68th place, while John Rinehart finished at 26:28 (69th place).
“What can you say, when most of your runners have the best day of their running careers?” Coach Rob Snavely said. “I love the steady growth that Ethan, John, Mason, and Keahi have shown recently. They are growing up quickly. And to watch Owen and Garet battle down to the end, was a real treat. These are the days where everyone leaves happy.”
The high school Lady Indians ran the final race of the day. The team was paced by sophomore Emily Letts. Letts, who finished in 14th place, finished her race in 22:21. Following Letts, Bree Bailey was the next runner to cross the finish line. Bailey ran the course in 23:41 and finished in 22nd place. The team’s next runner was Brooklyn Lucarello who came in 36th place and ran the course in 25:48.
Hillsboro’s final competitor, Allison Browning, ended her race by running a 26:33, which was good enough for 40th place. Coach Olivia Fulton was proud of the performance by her team.
“I was very impressed with Emily. She really stepped up and has a goal in mind and she is working hard each day to reach it,” Fulton said. “Bre and Allison are working each day to get stronger and pushed to have a strong finish. Brooklyn also stepped up and had a great run, one of her best yet. I’m really impressed with the girls' work ethic each day.”