This past Saturday, Sept. 21, Manual’s boys’ and girls’ cross country team competed in the Trinity/Valkyrie Invitational took place at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park. This event is the longest-running cross country invitational in the state of Kentucky, proclaiming its 69th year. There were 68 competing teams, primarily regions within the city and in Kentucky, but a number of teams were also out of state. Out of the eight traditional races, Manual ran in the first six.
The freshman/sophomore boys’ 5k at 8 a.m. was the first race of the day, five minutes before the freshman/sophomore girls’ 5k. Finishing first for Manual boys’ was Quinn Corley (9) in38th place, with a time of 18:29.01. Molly Barret (10) finished the race with a time of 21:45.94, placing tenth.
The 550-acre park is supported by large fields, trails and woods. The early morning cast great weather and a beautiful sunrise that set a peaceful atmosphere for the meet. Considering this invitational is a prominent event in Kentucky, the large quantity of the crowds that formed was no surprise.
As the final runners of the first race were crossing the finish line, the junior/senior boys’ 5k began at 8:35 a.m. In 73rd place with a time of 19:06.61 was Trevor Morris (12), the first runner from Manual to finish the race. Soon after, the junior/senior girls’ 5k followed at 9:00 a.m. The first finisher for Manual, coming in second place, was Adeline Humphrey (11) with a time of 21:28.62.
The final races of the morning for Manual included the boys’ and girls’ seeded “varsity” races. For the boys’, Sam Chandler (12) finished in 32nd place with a time of 15:40.74, a record time that puts him in second place in Manual history. For the girls’, Bailee Montgomery finished in seventh place with a time of 18:11.36.
The meet was an outstanding turn out with many of Manual runners setting new personal records (PR’s).
“We’re on the come up. [The] team gets better every week, and you know, we have some ups and downs at these invitationals that we go to, but I think we are moving in the right direction,” said head coach Tim Holman (Social Studies).
Manual’s cross country team has been relentless and are training consistently for even greater performance in these next coming weeks. Next up on their schedule is the Black and Gold Classic on Saturday, Sept. 28, in Scottsboro, AL.
