By Abby Sherman
Contributing Writer

The Harlan County Lady Bears claimed their first perfect score of the season Tuesday at home in an all comers meet. The girls dominated their race, winning with 15 points. The boys placed second overall with 37 points. Wise Central, Va. (26 points) won the boys race.

“I’m proud of our teams for their performances. I thought both teams were dialed in and focused,” Harlan County cross country coach Ryan Vitatoe said. “We’ve had a lot of illness in our team(s) in the last 7-10 days, so I felt like that affected us a bit. I’m hoping we’re getting past all that early in the year and can be focused and healthy moving forward.”

To lead the girls, Peyton Lunsford won with a time of 21:47.29. She was immediately followed by Gracie Roberts (22:09.52), Kiera Roberts (22:53.46), Lauren Lewis (23:13.92) and Preslee Hensley (23:17.20). Aliyah Deleon (10th) finished with a time of 25:16.63. Suzy Mumford placed 26th with a time of 31:17.91.

“The girls had a solid race. We had several just getting over illness or feeling under the weather, but I thought they battled hard,” Vitatoe said. “It’s that time of year when everyone ends up with some illness, but there are no excuses with this group.

“We still have a lot of work to do, but this is a solid group of girls who are battle-tested. They’re going to continue to get better.”

Harper Carmical finished sixth with a time of 23:42.67 to lead Harlan. Abbigaile Jones (27:04.53) and Ella Farley (28:27.90) were 11th and 14th, respectively.

“Our teams performed well last night at Harlan County. HC has a tough course, but we were pleased with performances,” Harlan cross country coach Anne Lindsey said. “Of course it is still early in our season, and we have a lot of room for growth. Harper, Abbie and Ella had good races yesterday.”

Jacob Schwenke led Harlan County in the boys race, finishing fourth with a time of 18:45.83. He was immediately followed by Elijah Moore (18:57.31). Ethan Simpson was seventh with a time of 19:41.95. Caleb Schwenke (10th) finished with a time of 19:56.12. He was immediately followed by Jonavan Rigney (20:05.67) and Evan Simpson (20:13.93). DaShaun Smith (21:05.26) placed 14th. Christopher Johnson was 17th with a time of 21:39.15. Landon Cook (29:50.79) finished 41st, immediately followed by Jaxton Miller (30:04.22). Caden Craig was 48th with a time of 32:02.99.

“I thought the boys ran hard. I understood from their coach after the meet that Central Wise is ranked first in VA in their division,” Vitatoe said. “I thought our guys raced them hard. Missing (Kaden) Boggs definitely hurt us, but the guys competed their tails off.
“We cleaned up our start from Lynn Camp, but we still have several areas to work on to put a full race together. I continue to be super proud of this group of guys. They are tight-knit and they respect each other and what our team philosophy is. They are going to make some noise in November. I truly believe that.”

Dylan Cox placed 16th with a time of 21:30.52 to lead Harlan. Gabriel Xavier Farley was 34th with a time of 25:55.47.

“Dylan and Xavier both performed well for the high school boys,” Lindsey said.

Both of Harlan County’s elementary teams won their races with 29 points. Harlan’s elementary boys and girls placed second with 42 points and 49 points, respectively.

To lead Harlan County, Hutton Sherman won the boys race with a time of 8:55.53. Logan Mills finished third with a time of 10:14.18, immediately followed by Brantley Burkhart (10:17.31). Rounding out the results were Tate Sherman (eighth, 10:29.38), Seth Johnson (13th, 10:56.37), Levi Hensley (14th, 10:57.47), Jace Hensley (16th, 11:03.11), Conner Banks (18th, 11:10.61), Dalton Johnson (19th, 11:16.02), Jonah Sargent (36th, 13:04.01), Mitchell Lunsford (37th, 13:06.59), Skylar Boggs (38th, 13:27.67), Deacon Lisenbee (39th, 13:28.06), Colton Hensley (40th, 13:40.21), Hunter Evans (43rd, 14:28.11), Zakk Collins (44th, 14:41.65), Sawyer Shackleford (47th, 14:57.83), Corben Snelling (48th, 14:59.64), Eli McKnight (49th, 15:04.26), Jordan Sargent (50th, 15:08.26), Easton Halcomb (56th, 16:00.90), Jase Sargent (58th, 16:13.85), Micah Lawson (59th, 16:43.87), Jace Howard (61st, 17:21.87), Jonah Doyle (62nd, 17:30.32), Brayden Perkins (63rd, 16:40.92) and Oliver Hensley (67th, 18:36.31).

Aiden Browning led Harlan’s elementary boys, placing second with a time of 9:48.95. Tucker White (10:18.84) and Kash Bailey (10:27.26) finished fifth and seventh, respectively. Other finishers for Harlan were Canaan Bolton (10th, 10:49.53), Thomas Miller (21st, 11:19.52), Braxton Sizemore (25th, 11:57.73), Andrew Alred (28th, 12:10.37), Xander Owens (31st, 12:42.12), Kelton Dean (32nd, 12:43.53), Emmett Alred (34th, 12:58.55), Rhett Davis (35th, 13:01.99), Trey Wynn (42nd, 14:07.07), Jess Bennett (45th, 14:43.73), Ashwin Ghanti (46th, 14:44.64), Cole Lunsford (51st, 15:10.81), Gillis Gilbert (53rd, 15:24.65), Gunner Green (64th, 17:49.77), Mason Howard (70th, 20:44.98), Parker Hensley (71st, 21:47.98), Ishwak Depa (72nd, 21:48.38) and Ahmad Amro (74th, 27:52.00).

“Our elementary boys continue to improve,” Lindsey said. “Aiden, Tucker, Kash and Canaan ran really well finishing in the top 10 in a competitive race.”

Lillie Carver won the elementary girls race with a time of 10:01.47 to lead Harlan County. Bella Burkhart finished fourth with a time of 11:27.04. Sadie Shackleford (11:43.18) placed seventh. She was immediately followed by Ella Brock (11:43.69), Krislyn Clem (11:48.63) and Alysia Johnson (12:07.05). Other finishers were Ellianna Carver (13th, 12:23.41), Kaylyn Lawson (15th, 12:29.85), Paisleigh Asher (17th, 13:03.96), Kadie Lawson (20th, 13:30.32), Isabella Burkhart (27th, 13:59.97), Lakynn Clem (28th, 14:01.99), Evva Hensley (30th, 14:06.35), Payton Blackwelder (31st, 14:11.69), Kellee Doyle (33rd, 14:21.76), Sawyer Millikan (34th, 14:27.16), Emma Mitchell (40th, 14:50.47), Nevaeh Perkins (41st, 14:52.90), Madilyn Turner (42nd, 15:18.13), Charlotte Mitchell (43rd, 15:35.43), Landri Dagnan (44th, 15:45.64), Peyton Sherman (45th, 15:53.61), Nevaeh Stone (51st, 16:33.63), Emberlynn Miller (52nd, 17:02.67), Skylar Belcher (56th, 17:19.89), Emily McKnight (59th, 17:52.07), Zoey Gadow (62nd, 22:48.50) and Caroline Collins (65th, 23:59.51).

Julianne Miller placed second in the girls elementary race with a time of 10:37.79 to lead Harlan. She was immediately followed by Cora Jones (11:11.45). Josephine Toll (11th) finished with a time of 12:08.65. Rounding out the results were McKinley Taylor (18th, 13:14.93), Lucy Miller (19th, 13:17.63), Rebecca Adams (23rd, 13:39.30), Meredith Lawson (24th, 13:48.24), Shelby Parsons (25th, 13:49.55), Mallory Sizemore (29th, 14:05.63), Hannah Adams (32nd, 14:20.64), Rayleigh Harris (38th, 14:43.29), Emma McMillian (46th, 16:00.69), Shelbee Miller (48th, 16:17.16), Amelia Hensley (63rd, 23:06.60), Leah Burkhart (64th, 23:24.34) and Micah Rowe (66th, 24:30.02).

“Julianne, Cora, and Josephine continue to lead our elementary girls as our most experienced runners,” Lindsey said.

In the girls middle school race, Harlan’s Priscilla Stewart finished second with a time of 12:56.74. She was immediately followed by Zoe Lawson (13:36.02).

“In our middle school runners, Priscilla and Zoe are gearing up for a very competitive middle school season,” Lindsey said.

For Harlan County, Aiselyn Sexton placed fifth with a time of 15:10.10.

In the boys middle school race, Harlan County’s Braxton Duncan was sixth with a time of 12:21.02. Jayden Sargent (12:55.74) placed eighth. Brycen Saylor (12th) finished with a time of 13:37.54. Landin Blackwelder was 16th with a time of 14:48.95.

“I also thought we took a step forward at the middle school level. We have several that we’re sharing with middle school sports, so our numbers fluctuate from meet to meet, but these kids keep getting better each week,” Vitatoe said.

Cooper Thomas finished third with a time of 11:35.58 to lead Harlan. Jett Luttrell placed 18th with a time of 17:08.80.

“Cooper and Jett are also looking forward to some strong performances. This group has experienced a lot of growth and strength since last season,” Lindsey said. “We’re excited to see what they can do.”

“One of the things we discussed (with both teams) is being a specific number on the team is far less relevant than being fast. I don’t care who places where on the team; our responsibility is to be as fast as possible. If our number seven is super fast, we’re in good shape. That has to be our focus throughout this season,” Vitatoe said. “I’ve been doing this a long time, and nobody has ever asked ‘who was your number-one runner?’ for any of our past teams. Let’s be fast across the board, and we’ll be successful. The best teams I’ve ever been around (as a runner or coach) had very little emphasis on individual placement within the team and focused on overall performances. Both of these groups have that trait and we have to continue to foster that in every way we can. It’s about us!

“We have a long way to go overall, but I love the group of kids we have. We have several days to work before we race again, so we’re going to focus on areas of improvement and working as hard as possible.”

Harlan and Harlan County will return to action Saturday at Somerset for the Southern Harrier Classic.