Cross Country Competes in Southern Harrier Classic

By Press release submission

Sep 16, 2022

A one week break from competition gave the WCHS Running Cards the desire they need to run well. Two weeks ago, Wayne County ran in the Pulaski Invitational Tournament and finished in 2nd place.

On Saturday September 10, the Cards competed in the 25th Annual Southern Harrier Classic at Somerset Christian School, hosted by Southwestern High School. The first race of the day was the high school girl’s competition at 9:00am. Freshman Emily Shearer was the only female runner representing Wayne County in the high school race.

The 5K course at Somerset Christian is a challenging course with hills and valleys. Emily started the race well and continued a good pace throughout the race. At times she made running look effortlessly. Emily finished the race with a time of 22:00, good enough for 9th place in the Girls Varsity category. The overall winner was Freshman Addison Moore Woodford County, shattering the record for this course by almost one minute with a time of 18:26.

The boys race started at 9:45 a.m. and a large group galloped toward the first turn. Many of the Wayne County team were positioned well at the start. As the runners twisted and turned through the campus of Somerset Christian, Wayne County runners emerged toward the top.

Senior Nathanael Turner was the top finisher for Wayne County. His time was 17:24, good enough for 5th place. The next runner to cross the finish line was Freshman Caleb Sargent. He finished in 10th place with a time of 18:56. Close behind was 8th Grader Taren Jones who finished at 19:33 in 14th place. A few runners later, Sophomore Isaac Turner crossed the finish line with a time of 20:20. Each of these runners received a medal for placing in the top 20.

Another runner with a good race was Sophomore Kent Guinn, who finished the race with a time of 21:12 for 30th place. Close behind him was 8th Grader Collin Ramsey who finished in 39th place with a time of 21:35.

Freshman Rease Jones ran his first race of the year and finished in 56th place with a time of 23:14. Fellow Freshman Kru Abbott finished right behind Rease in 57th place with a time of 23:19. Senior Seth Flynn finished with a time of 24:40 in 67th place. And 8th Grader Colson Vaughn finished with a time of 25:14 for 70th place.

In a crowded field of 86 runners from multiple schools, Wayne County did well. The Boys team finished in 2nd place behind Bluegrass United Home, with an average time of 19:29 per runner. The Bluegrass Homeschool had runners finish, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 11th. Woodford County finished in 3rd place in team competition even though they had the top 1 and 2 runners. The Cards proved to be the better team making their 2nd place finish a total team effort.

The Running Cards will race again this Saturday, September 17th in the Wayne County Invitational at Cave Lake in Monticello.