Five East Clinton High School boys cross country runners at the start line of the Cross the Creek Invitational. They are, left to right, Landen Kaun, Kaiden Roth, Dru Simmons, Jackson Seabaugh, and Jacob George (looking back). Photo courtesy Christina Kaun.
The East Clinton boys cross country team finished seventh out of 18 schools competing Saturday in the Cross the Creek Invitational at Walters Farm in Fayette County.
”It was a joy to be back at this venue,” East Clinton head coach Josh Simmons said of the event hosted by both Miami Trace and Washington Senior high schools. “The course was wet and muddy in many places and created some slower times.”
Simmons said the competition was tough but his runners looked good.
“While no medals or PRs were obtained this go around, they all looked good,” Simmons said. “The hills and wet, muddy conditions definitely played a role in everyone’s performance.”
East Clinton will run Saturday at the Unioto Invitational in Chillicothe.
In Fayette County, Carman Brown represented the EC girls with a 44th place and a time of 28:31.13.
Last up to the start line, the high school boys finished the day. The Astros order was as follows — Landen Kaun leading the way in 16th with a time of 19:32.43, Jackson Seabaugh in 22nd with a time of 20:00.44, Dru Simmons in 42nd with a time of 21:14.26, Kaiden Roth in 62nd with a time of 22:18.84, Jacob George in 74th with a time of 23:02.36, Colton Brockman in 87th with a time of 24:24.04, Ben Gates in 91st with a time of 24:40.94, Eoin Hackmann in 100th with a time of 26:59.05, Elyon Hackmann in 105th with a time of 27:47.02, and Wyatt Oberschlake in 111th with a time of 31:12.85. EC was without Luke Thompson, and Sawyer Fooce.
The Cross the Creek meet kicked off with the middle school girls. Ally George was a lone runner for EC finishing 24th with a time of 16:36.40. Autumn Joseph sat this one out to avoid injury and allow a bit of healing.
The middle school boys were up next, and it was Jaxson Manning in 34th place with a time of 14:27.81 followed by Carter Kaun in 37th with a time of 14:41.52, and Owen Smith in 53rd with a time of 15:29.85 (just 3 seconds away from his personal best).
