Whiteoak cross-country teams run at Rio Grande Invitational; Eyre stays undefeated

On Saturday, Sept. 21, the Whiteoak cross-country runners battled the hot and hilly Rio Grande course for the Rio Grande Invitational.

Rio Grande is the long-standing Southeast District host for the district meets. This huge invitational had well over 1,000 total runners.

In the varsity boys race, Whiteoak's Landen Eyre cruised to a 36-second victory out of the 304 competitors with a time of 15:51. Eyre has now won all seven races this year and is 1,128-0 for the season.

“Landen was very smooth the entire race,” Coach Doug Hughes said. “Never really slowed down or sped up, just took a 5:05 pace for the race and looked fully in control. People from many other schools come up to me and say how fun it is to watch him, and my response is always ‘you ought to see his workouts.’”

Eyre will face a huge challenge as he will compete in Centerville this upcoming Saturday night, running under the lights against the best Div. I runners of Ohio and surrounding states.

Teammate and brother Keegan Eyre was next in for the Wildcats with a time of 20:29 and 115th place. Shane Mitchell-Cox was 139th (21:05), and Kenyon Hughes 165th (21:41).

Hughes was happy with their performances "I keep telling these guys it will cool down and they run way faster times, but it keeps being 84 and sunny and it's a huge factor,” he said. “Practices have been tough, and they are battling. They'll get where they want soon.”

In the girls race, Charli Hauke finished 63rd out of 217 runners to lead the way, and Aubrey Swafford ran her second-best time of the season with a 26:51 for 128th place.

“I’m proud of these girls,” Hughes said. “Charli doesn't get to practice much due to volleyball, but when she can make it she holds nothing back, and 23:34 is an impressive time for that course and weather. Aubrey is just a relentless worker, and her cracking the 27:00 mark again and defeating nearly 100 runners in the race, she's only a freshman."

In the junior high races, the sun was extra hot and pushing the upper 80s. Kenley Juillerat led the way with a 73rd-place finish out of 221 runners and a time of 16:26, while teammate Natalie Burnett was right behind with a 76th place and a 16:38. Tessa Frazier finished in 171st with a 20:48.

The junior high boys had Adrian Ekhator in 119th out of 294 runners in a time of 14:36. Jason Wolf was 218th (18:01) and Luke Cox 242nd 19:04.

“Junior high kids often get to run first, but not today, and the sun zapped them pretty good,” Hughes said. “It's just like practice, it's always hot and sunny with no shade, and practices have been tough. These kids have worked super hard doing something most kids would never even try. I’m proud of all of them."

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