The Hillsborough Harriers Boys’ Team won 1st place at the 3rd Annual Nature Coast MS State XC Qualifier in Lecanto on Saturday. With a tie of 32 points between the Harriers and Tavares Middle School, the championship was decided by the place of each team’s 6th runner. Harrier Bryce Krueger beat Tavares’ 6th runner by 3 seconds to break the tie. Zach Harrigan and Ethan Bhatt of the Harriers won first and second place with new PR’s of 10:27 and 10:30 in the 3k race, respectively. Both boys agreed that the colder weather contributed to their success.
“I felt like I had more energy,” said Bhatt about going into the woods after the one mile mark.
When asked about his racing strategy, Harrigan replied, “I was sticking behind the leader (and then) I took off with 400 meters to go to the finish.”
Harriers Will Connery and Daniel Casey also secured top 10 finishes with new PR’s.
The girls’ team was second place overall, trailing by a mere 12 points and a team average time only seven seconds off the leaders. Harriers Jacquelyn Abanses and Ellie Pleune were 2nd and 3rd place overall with new PR’s of 10:56 and 11:03. Teammates Moriah Friedman and Lindie Mayer earned top 10 spots and new PR’s as well.
The Junior Harriers prevailed in the Elementary 2k race, with 6 boys and 4 girls earning top 10 spots. Elementary Mixed 2k Results
This weekend, the Harriers will be racing in the FLYRA Middle School State Championship at Holloway Park in Lakeland to close out the season. The Elementary 2k is on Friday, October 28th and the Middle School 3k is on Saturday, October 29th.
Hillsborough Harriers XC 