WILLIAMSTOWN CROSS COUNTRY TAKES TO THE ROAD

By Chantel March
Sports Correspondent

Haley Howe, a Williamstown runner, pushes to cross the finish line during the Fifth Annual Holmes Licking River Run on Aug. 25. Photo by Chantel March

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Williamstown schools cross country teams opened their season at the Fifth Annual Holmes Licking River Run on Saturday, Aug. 25. Twenty schools participated, with nearly 600 runners.  
Williamstown entered runners at the junior varsity, middle school, and elementary levels.

Coach Michelle Whaley was pleased with the performance of her female runners, as all four middle/high school girls, who participated Saturday, placed in the top 25 of their respective races.
In the mixed boys and girls junior varsity two-mile run, junior Ariana Yerbafria placed 11th with a time of 17:38 min./sec. and freshman Avery March placed 22nd with a time of 18:53 min./sec., both in a field of 42 runners.  

In the middle school girls’ one-mile run, Megan Perkins placed 8th with a time of 8:11 and Haley Howe came in 15th with a time of 8:57, out of a field of 24 runners.
Also running that day were senior Robert White, who is coming back to the sport after two broken bones last year, junior Mahlik Hamilton, who ran his first ever race Saturday,  8th grader Stone Robertson, 7th grader Jackie Foster, and 5th graders Lucas Asbury and Dylan Souder.

The elementary team ran as well, with 26 members participating.  Both boys’ and girls’ teams ranked third overall in their races.  
Fourth grader Kasey Hill placed fourth in the elementary girls’ one-mile run, with a time of 7:54 min./sec.  Other runners in the top 25 were Destiny Wallace, Tabi Jordan, and Teja James.  In the boys’ race, Caden Tien placed 2nd with a time of 7:17 min./sec. Ben Kinsey placed 6th with a time of 7:25 min./sec.  Other runners in the top 25 were Nash Smith  and Jackson Reaves.