HHS runners do well in Owens event
Hartselle High School’s cross country runners did well against stiff competition in the Jesse Owens 5K Classic on Saturday.
The boys team came in 26th in a Silver Division field that consisted of 45 teams and 338 runners and the girl’s team finished 24th in a field of 36 teams.
Jonathan Duncan finished first among state runners in the boy’s division race with a time of 16:56.
Four other Hartselle runners finished under 20 minutes. They were: Cameron Cunningham. 18:40; Ben Paulsen, 18:53 (personal best); Alex Wilt, 19:11 (personal best) and Chase Barrett, 19:45.
Hartselle's Haley Baker had a personal best Saturday. | Brent Maze
The girls team was paced by Haley Baker who finished 101st with a time of 22:14, her personal best. Following in order were: Rachel Robbins, 23:06; Kelsey Rae Walling, 23:11; Rachel Paulsen, 23:45; and Shelby Kaup, 23:51; Savannah Morgan, 25:03.
Hartselle also had runners compete in the Red Division. Matt Watson led his team in the boy’s race with a time of 22:25.
“I was pleased with our overall performance,” said Hartselle head coach Kenneth Lopez. “We’re still making progress and we had several kids run their career best,” he stated. “I liked the way our runners stayed close together in a pack and supported each other until the final kick.”
Hartselle will compete in the “Do It On The Trails” at Point Mallard on Saturday.
“We ran that course a lot last summer,” Lopez said. ”I expect to see our runners step up and run a fast course.”
Hartselle departed from its usual custom of eating a pre-run meal alone in the school cafeteria by inviting runners from Greenville, Tenn., to join them.
“Everyone seemed to enjoy getting together and have the opportunity to get acquainted with other runners from out-of-state,” said Lopex. “Hopefully, this is something we’ll be able to continue and establish as a school tradition.”
