Elsa Hoam of Fredericktown cruised home in first at the third annual Highland Flying Scots Cross Country Invitational over the Labor Day weekend.
Mild temperatures and cloud cover provided favorable conditions for the 624 runners who raced in six different races on Saturday.
Top runner for the men’s varsity race was senior Zeke Galbraith from West Holmes with a time of 16:30. Top local runners included Fredericktown’s Owen Krabill – fifth place in 16:56.59; Mount Vernon’s Logan Eggert – 10th place in 17:26.32; Utica’s Stephen Epps – 11th place in 17:26:58 and Highland’s Hunter Bolton – 12th place in 17:27 and teammate Joel Roberts – 13th place in 17:29. Olentangy Liberty took home first place, with Delaware Hayes earning second place. Highland edged out Big Walnut for thirrd. Fredericktown was sixth, Mount Vernon finished seventh and Utica finished in 10th place among the 15 schools.
Winning first place honors in the women’s varsity race was local senior Hoam from Fredericktown with a time of 19:55, 7.1 seconds ahead of Loudonville’s Tess Shultz. For Hoam, it was her second consecutive win – she won the Newark Catholic Invitational the previous weekend. Mount Vernon’s Lucy Rush was third in 20:13. Jackets teammate Amelia Martin was fifth in 20:23.99, and Utica’s Camryn Baker finished sixth in 20:26.50. Centerburg’s leader was freshman Payton Tucker, 16th in 21:29.19, and Highland’s top runner in this race was senior Lauren Garber, who finished in 22nd place with a time of 21:47. Top team in the women’s race was Big Walnut, followed by West Holmes in second. Mount Vernon finished fourth, Fredericktown was sixth, Highland was ninth and Utica finished in 10th.
In addition to the high school races, middle school boys and girls from central Ohio also ran followed by two races for elementary runners.
