Hillsboro?s Joel Allen shattered the school record for a 5-kilometer cross-country race to place second among 62 boys Thursday at the Berean Academy Invitational.
Running under ideal conditions at Harvey County East Park, Allen crossed the finish line in 15 minutes, 52 seconds, breaking Aaron Yoder?s record, set on the same course in 2003, of 16:28.
?Joel?s self-discipline and dedication to his training in the off-season have been excellent. He has earned the success he is having through his hard work,? coach Stuart Holmes said.
?It was neat that Aaron, now an assistant cross-country coach at Bethany College, was on hand to congratulate Joel,? Holmes added. ?We all knew that on a nice day weather-wise on that course, Joel was likely to get the record. It was a nice gesture on Aaron?s part to be there.?
Hillsboro?s three other entries earned a medal by finishing in the top 20. Bret Mueller was 14th (17:29), Justin King 16th (17:37) and Josh Richert 20th (17:49).
Hillsboro did not enter enough runners to qualify for a team title, which was won by Mulvane with 33 points.
In the junior varsity race, freshman Avery Franz placed third in 19:14. He was followed in the field of 69 runners by Clay Etheridge (10th, 19:58), Daniel Gray (18th, 20:49), Tyler Funk (40th, 22:40), Diego Castillo (58th, 25:28) and Nodari Lamidze (64th, 27:40).
In the girls? JV race, Saman?tha Ens placed third among 16 finishers in 20:16, Erin Wiebe was sixth (21:08) and Brenna Blackketter ninth (22:07).
