Lady Bears take first in season-opening meet at Lynn Camp
Published 5:02 pm Wednesday, August 30, 2023
- The Harlan County girls varsity team won the season-opening race on Saturday at Lynn Camp. Team members include Addi Gray, Aliyah Deleon, Peyton Lunsford, Preslee Hensley and Lauren Lewis. Olivia Kelly also participated in the race but was not pictured. (Photo submitted)
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By Abby Sherman
Contributing Writer
The Harlan County Black Bears kicked off the 2023 season Saturday in Corbin at the Lynn Camp Invitational in solid fashion, with the girls winning and the boys claiming a runner-up finish.
The Harlan Lady Dragons placed third overall, while the boys were sixth.
Harlan County’s Peyton Lunsford led the Lady Bears, finishing second with a time of 22:32.82. Lauren Lewis (23:12.04) and Preslee Hensley (23:21.07) were fifth and sixth, respectively. Rounding out the results for the Lady Bears were Aliyah Deleon (16th, 26:10.05), Addi Gray (19th, 26:54.17) and Olivia Kelly (31st, 29:07.33).
“I’m really proud of all these kids today. It’s been a challenging week for our girls team, but they persevered and ran great today. It’s always great to open the season with a win, and this will go a long way in our development,” Harlan County coach Ryan Vitatoe said. “They all ran great, and it was a total team effort.”
Harper Carmical led Harlan, placing 13th with a time of 25:27.14. Abbigaile Jones finished 17th, posting a time of 26:31.56. Juliana Damaa (28:53.95) was 30th. Other finishers for the Lady Dragons were Ella Farley (32nd, 29:17.53), Chloe Schwenke (34th, 30:09.32), Ella Lisenbee (39th, 32:58.80) and Gwendolyn Toll (42nd, 34:09.98).
“I was very pleased with all our runners today. We had great performances in each of our age groups,” Harlan coach Anne Lindsey said. “The first race is always an exciting time to see how the work out in over the summer months has paid off. We are looking forward to a great season.”
