Local Sports
County runners shine in Jesse Owens Invitational
Michael CummingsGood luck finding a bigger meet than this.
Over 3,300 runners from across the Southeast competed in the 10th annual Jesse Owens Invitational cross country meet Saturday at Indian Mounds Park in Oakville.
That total included runners from four county schools, with athletes from Cullman, Cold Springs, Fairview and St. Bernard all competing.
The event was split into six divisions. The Gold Elite grouping was open to top schools of all sizes, while the Silver (5A-6A) and Bronze (1A-4A) divisions were based on school size.
Schools could also enter teams in the Red and middle school divisions.
Cold Springs’ Nathan Lewis was the top local finisher, completing the Gold Elite 5K run in 11th place at 16:15. Cullman’s Ryan Laganke came in six spots below, finishing in 16:39. Teammate Brig Kilgore was 19th at 16:42.
Other top county finishers included Cullman’s Kelsey Crawford, who took eighth place in the girls Silver division with a time of 19:46.
The Bearcats top five was rounded out by Victoria Acocella (20:33), Alex Laganke (21:32), Evan Williams (22:19) and Hannah Williams (24:00).
Jordan Thornton finished in 24:47 and Meredith Hinkle at 25:18.
Cullman’s girls finished ninth in the team standings with 245 points. The middle school team placed 15th, as top finisher Allison Howell finished the two-mile race in 15:05.
Cullman’s boys team was 13th in the elite team standings, while Cold Springs finished 15th.
The Eagles also got top finishes from Nick Lewis, who took 38th place in the elite run at 17:03; Palee Myrex, who was eighth in the Bronze run at 20:44; and Blake Calvert, who finished 14th in the middle school run.
“This was a good test for us,” Cold Springs coach Clay Campbell said. “Our three-four-five runners ran well, and of course Nick and Nathan ran well for us.”
The Eagles’ top five was rounded out by Will Busby (19:31), Reece Knowles (19:32) and Bertis Bevis (19:36).
Fairview’s ChaLyce Stancil took fourth place in the girls Bronze division with a time of 20:29. Teammate Porcha Hunter finished in 24:13, while Kelsey Rice came in at 24:35 and Marlah Stancil at 25:33.
The Lady Aggies placed 12th in the team standings with 361 points.
St. Bernard, competing in the Bronze division, was led by team captain Nino Yutiamco’s personal best time of 20:42.13, which was good for 147th place among 292 runners.
Every Saints runner finished under 25 minutes: Louis Yutiamco completed the race in 20:58, Justin Varquez 22:18, John Russell 23:00, Nathan Snow 24:47 and James Chung 24:52.
St. Bernard’s lone varsity girl, Amie Eder, finished 100th out of 232 with a season best time of 24:43.
The middle school boys team took seventh out of 14 small school teams with Will Faulk leading the way in 12th place at 12:35 for the two-mile race. Oscar Perez came in at 13:13, Connor Rawlings 14:12, Jeremiah Fernandez 15:12, Miles Bennett 15:19, Andy Woods 15:36 and Kramer Bennett 16:36.
‰ Michael Cummings can be reached by e-mail at michaelc@cullmantimes.com or by phone at 734-2131, ext. 258.
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