Eastern’s Camryn Pickerill leads the Lady Warriors along the 5K course during the SHAC Cross Country Championship Meet held in Ripley, Oct. 14.

Pickerill leads way for Eastern girls – 

By Wade Linville – 

Led to the finish line by sophomore Camryn Pickerill, the Eastern High School girls cross country team came out on top among seven full teams of runners during the annual Southern Hills Athletic Conference Championship Cross Country Meet held on the morning of Oct. 14 in Ripley to capture this year’s SHAC title.
In the high school girls’ 5K race, it was Peebles junior Jenny Seas leading all runners to the finish line with an impressive time of 18:04, while finishing second on the field of 55 runners was Fairfield sophomore Cierra Colwell with a time of 19:52.
To earn a spot on the 2017 All-SHAC Cross Country Team a runner had to place among the top 15 in Saturday’s SHAC Championship Meet, and placing fourth overall to lead her team to the conference title was Pickerill with a finish time of 20:53.
Eastern freshman Lorilei Young wasn’t far behind, placing fifth overall with a finish time of 20:58.
The third Lady Warrior to reach the finish line and earn a spot on the All-SHAC team was freshman Emma Brown, who placed 10th with a time of 21:57.
Also earning All-SHAC honors and aiding in her team’s run to a conference crown was Eastern sophomore Emily Fannin, who placed 11th with a time of 21:58.
Rounding out the Lady Warriors’ top five was sophomore Kally Reynolds, who placed 18th with a finish time of 23:39.
Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington High School and Fayetteville-Perry High School lacked enough runners to compete as a full team in the high school girls’ race at this year’s SHAC Championship Meet, but there were some runners from each school to compete as individuals.
Ripley junior Tiffany Deaton placed 46th with a time of 29:01, while junior Ripley Lady Jay Shelby Smith placed 52nd with a time of 32:10. The third and final Lady Jay to reach the finish line was junior Kristin Jenkins, who placed 53rd with a time of 33:18.
Fayetteville-Perry freshman Alison Whitley placed 44th with a time of 28:38, while Fayetteville’s senior distance runner Zoe Holden placed 45th with a time of 28:47.

SHAC HS GIRLS TEAM RESULTS
1. Eastern 48
2. Fairfield 53
3. Peebles 72
4. West Union 113
5. North Adams 122
6. Manchester 123

 

In high school boys’ SHAC cross country action there were seven runners of Fairfield High School taking seven of the top eight spots, as the Lions had no trouble claiming this year’s SHAC cross country title.
Peebles junior Matt Seas led all runners to the finish line, tackling the hilly 5K course with an impressive finish time of 16:13.
Also putting up an outstanding finish time to place runner up on the field of 86 runners was Fairfield senior Matthew Mangus (16:17).
While the Fairfield team dominated the competition with a team score of 20, it was the Eastern Warriors finishing runner-up in the SHAC with a team score of 62.
Leading the Warriors to the finish line was senior Logan Lainhart, who earned All-SHAC honors with a ninth place overall finish (17:19).
Also earning All-SHAC honors were Eastern sophomore Cy Young and Eastern senior Garyn Purdy by placing in the top 15 as individuals.
Young placed 11th with a time of 17:29, while Purdy finished in 12th place with a finish time of 17:30.
Eastern sophomore Ian Wiles placed 18th with a finish time of 18:33, and rounding out the Warriors’ top five was sophomore Dustin Jimison, placing 21st with a time of 18:48.
The Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington Blue Jays placed fifth of 10 teams, led to the finish line by junior Clinton Bartley who placed 23rd with a time of 18:54.
Ripley junior Cary Wright placed 28th with a finish time of 19:34, while junior teammate Chris Reuss placed 30th with a time of 19:38.
The fourth Ripley runner to reach the finish line was junior Alex King, who placed 47th overall with a time of 21:12, and rounding out Ripley’s top five was junior Jared Hamilton with a 52nd place finish (21:30).
The Fayetteville-Perry Rockets placed 10th of the 10 full teams in this year’s SHAC Championship Meet, led to the finish line by freshman Cryztopher Norris, who placed 50th with a time of 21:20.
Fayetteville freshman Stuart Fisher placed 63rd with a finish time of 22:39, while freshman teammate Michael Thackston placed 70th with a time of 23:14.
The fourth Fayetteville runner to reach the finish line was Christopher Saylor, who placed 77th with a time of 23:57, and rounding out Fayetteville’s five was freshman Jason Jacobs with a 78th place finish (24:34).

SHAC HS BOYS TEAM RESULTS
1. Fairfield 20
2. Eastern 62
3. West Union 113
4. Whiteoak 120
5. Ripley 149
6. Manchester 175
7. Peebles 183
8. North Adams 200
9. Lynchburg 223
10. Fayetteville 275

In SHAC junior high girls cross country, it was the Eastern Middle School Lady Warriors capturing the conference title with a team score of 25, while Fairfield finished runner-up with a score of 58.
Eastern eighth grader Emma Moran placed fourth of 42 runners in the junior high girls’ two-mile race with a time of 12:46.
Eastern eighth grader Bailey Dotson placed eighth overall with a time of 13:27, followed by Eastern seventh grader Madison Belcher who placed ninth with a time of 13:29.
Eastern seventh grader McKinzie Dotson placed 10th with a time of 13:31, and rounding out Eastern’s top five was eighth grader Emma Prine, placing 14th with a time of 14:04.
It was the team from Fairfield winning the SHAC in junior high boys boys cross country action with a score of 36, followed by runner-up Lynchburg-Clay (74) and third place Eastern Middle School (85).