Hillsboro teams excel at Blue Lion Invitational

The Hillsboro Indians cross-country teams traveled to the Fayette County YMCA to compete in the Washington Court House Blue Lion Invitational on Sept. 30 and came away with several individual and team awards.

As has been the case for the entire year, the Hillsboro Middle School girls team performed well, but did not have enough athletes to qualify for the team score.
 

Leading the young team was Parker Wilkin, who finished in seventh place with a team-best 15:16 on the course. Just behind Wilkin was teammate Emarey Schurman in ninth place. Schurman crossed the line at 15:32.

Abriann Anderson was the final Indian to finish the course and did so in stunning fashion. Locked in an all-out final sprint with a Miami Trace runner, Anderson finished with a 17:12.62, just .07 seconds ahead of her rival. Anderson’s performance earned her a 21st-place finish.
 
Coach Fawn Girard loves the individual aspects that each runner on the team brings to a meet.

“Once again, the middle school girls did an amazing job,” said Girard. “Parker Wilkin has great endurance and push. Emarey Schurman has wonderful enthusiasm for the sport. And Abby Anderson’s kick and push through to the end — I am very proud of these girls.”
 
Following the girls, Hillsboro’s middle school boys took to the course and faced off against a talented field of teams. Several races came down to the final sprint at the end and when the dust settled, Paint Valley edged out Hillsboro by just two points for the team win.
 
Pacing the Indians was Alex Read, who held off Bishop Flaget’s Sam Hurff in the final sprint to the finish line to finish in first place. Read crossed the finish line just one second ahead of Hurff to finish with an 11:38.

Teammate Mason Rinal followed Read and Hurff by finishing in third place after posting a time of 12:22, just three seconds ahead of Thompson of Paint Valley.
 
Just like Read and Rinal, Trenton Gulley also outraced a competitor to the finish line. Gulley, who finished in ninth place, ran stride-for-stride with Wesley Creamer of Miami Trace. After the race, Gulley finished just .05 seconds faster than Creamer.

The fourth Indian to place was Luke Letts. Letts’s time of 13:35 was good enough to earn 15th place. Tyler Bender finished his race one minute later at 14:33 and claimed 24th place. Finishing in 29th place was Robert Hanson at 16:52.
 
Coach Ben Young was pleased with his young runners following the meet.

“Our middle school boys ran an amazing race. Every single athlete fills their role on the team perfectly," said Young. "In order to compete at this meet, we needed at least three runners in the Top 10 and they did that. Alex and Mason finishing first and third really helped us a ton. Trenton and Luke being ninth and 15th really helped us keep a low score. And Tyler and Robert helped us at the end being within four places of each other."

The Hillsboro Lady Indians varsity team turned in a dominating performance when they took the course. The performance led to a first-place team finish while defeating conference foes, Miami Trace and McClain.
 
Coach Rob Snavely praised the overall team effort by his team.

“Eight of our runners finished in the Top 15,” said Snavely. “It really is hard to do so well at the high school level when just about every school there is the same size as you and have great athletes also. The ladies ran real well.”
 
Leading the Lady Indians was sophomore Jailyn Williams. Williams completed the course in 21:19, good enough for second place. Another Lady Indian, Taylor Thoroman, crossed the line shortly thereafter. Finishing in third place, Thoroman ran a 22:04.
 
Of the next nine runners to complete the course, six were Hillsboro runners. Ramsey Haines finished in seventh place with a 23:05, followed by Brooklyn Lucarello at 23:27, good for eighth place. Olivia Covault finished in ninth place with a 23:42, then Bree Bailey earned 10th place after completing the course in 23:54.

Abbey Letts (24:42) finished in 12th place, and Kennedy Sexton (25:29) finished in 15th place. Hillsboro’s final runner, Sofia Mezo-Mil, finished in 30th place after crossing the finish line at 32:07.
 
“I was real happy to see the performances from some of our runners. Jailyn lost to one of the East Clinton girls earlier in the year,” said Coach Snavely. “But Jailyn was able to beat her today. And seeing Brooklyn, Olivia and Bree beat the McClain runners was big. They will have to do it again and keep improving for us to have a chance to win the FAC this year.”
 
As the day started to warm up, Hillsboro’s varsity boys team took their turn on the course. The Indians left the meet with a hard-earned second-place team trophy, losing to a large and talented St. Charles team.
 
“I thought our team ran their best race of the season as a team,” said Coach Ed Letts. “From #1 to #7, everyone stepped up and competed.”
 
Corbin Winkle took home to the first-place medal with a time of 16:51, holding off a late charge by Thomas Schmansky of St. Charles. Crossing the line at 17:51, and good for a third-place finish, was Rason Brunck.

The third Indian to run the course was Chris Sowders, who finished with an 18:30 to place seven. Ryan Howland (13th place) ran a 19:07, while Cooper Swope (34th) registered a 20:24.
 
Jayden Wells finished in 74th place with a 24:04, and Jacob Schommer crossed a little over a minute later with a 25:36 and earning 79th place.
 
Coach Letts discussed what his team needed and praised several runners.

“We needed Chris to break up the St. Charles pack, but he did one better by finishing in front of their pack,” Letts said. “Corbin showed a lot of grit in the last mile by holding off the St. Charles kid. Jayden and Jacob just keep improving, and Ryan and Cooper ran solid races as well.”
 
The Indians will travel to Unioto High School next to participate in the Unioto Invitational. The action kicks off Saturday at 9 a.m. with the middle school girls running first.