Hard work pays off for Grant County runners

By Chantel March
Sports Correspondent

Grant runners completed “the workout” at Monday’s practice prior to the Williamstown Invitational Saturday, and apparently, the tougher-than-usual workout combined with cooler weather got good results.  
Many on the team approached their personal best times or had high finishes in their races.
In the girls’ varsity 5K race, Hayley Leach placed 13th with a time of 21:55.6 minutes, followed by: Elizabeth Robinson, 25th; Adriana Robinson, 40th; Whitley Calhoun, 41st; Amber Lunsford, 45th; and Alexis Dearing, 51st.  

Leach described the Williamstown course as “difficult”, but said she enjoyed running in the cool air and was pleased that she approached her PR, or personal record, time.  
The girls’ varsity team placed sixth overall.
In the girls’ JV 5K race, Summer Dearing led the entire race to win first with a time of 22:43.1 minutes.  

“She was dead-tired at the end, but she wouldn’t let anyone pass her, because she wanted to win that bad,” said Coach Craig Chaplin. “It was one of the biggest fights to win I’ve seen in a while.”
For the first time this year, Jordan Rose finished his 5K varsity race in under 18 minutes, with a time of 17:42.7.  He finished 17th overall in the boys’ varsity race.

Following Rose, Jared Baker finished 33rd, also with his fastest time of the year. Following these top two leaders for Grant were: Austin Haubner, 42nd; Zack Brinker, 54th; Derek Gouge, 56th, and Kevin Howell, 67th.

Coach Chaplin praised Gouge’s performance Saturday, saying, “ He just continues to get faster every race, gets better every time.”
The boys’  varsity team also ranked sixth overall in the race.
Middle school boys running for Grant were: Peter Kirk, 30th and  Aaron Flick, 72nd. Next week, the teams will be competing at St. Henry High School.