We started the year off at the Bob Gravett Invitational at OBU and there were quite a few bright spots for the program.
The varsity girls race was first and Emma McGee lead the way with a 21:38 finish. She just missed picking up a medal in a loaded field that included schools like Lakeside, Lake Hamilton, Cedar Ridge, DeQueen, and Benton. This puts her 2 seconds off of becoming the second fastest female runner in the EHS cross country program's 20+ year history. Her goal coming into the season was to break 22 so it is very encouraging that she has met that goal in just one meet. Her best time last year was 24:30, so her huge drop in time is a testament to the work that she has put in.
We were lead by Alex Espinoza in the varsity boys race. He ran a 21:01. He actually lost his timing chip during the race and had to run backwards to pick it up when a teammate noticed it happening to him. He was hoping to break 21 early on in the season, so this goal is definitely within reach.
Our leader in the Junior Girls race was Clarabeth Black. It was great to see her leading the pack because she was a young lady that struggled with a knee injury all season last year. She looked strong and composed throughout the whole race. She picked up an individual medal for her efforts. She was followed directly by teammates Corin Melear and Carly Meadows. Corin Melear also picked up a medal and Carly finished one spot from a meadow. The junior girls placed runner up as a team.
Our leader in the Junior Boys race was Zachary McMillon who placed 3rd in a field of over 100 runners. In a meet that included our 4 of our conference rivals, he was unbeaten by all conference athletes there. He beat quite a few athletes that he couldn't come close to beating last season. We were expecting him to have a strong day, but he really exceeded what I thought he was going to do.
As a program, we brought home three individual rewards. As far back as I could research, the program has never brought home more than 1 medal from this meet in year's past.
- Coach John Koonce
