By Wade Linville –

Led by a third place overall finish from senior Chris Dietrick, the Georgetown G-Men cruised to a runner-up finish in this year’s Vern Hawkins Cross Country Invitational held at Georgetown on Wednesday, Sept. 14.
Dietrick posted a finish time of 18:35.14 in his third place finish on the field of runners from 11 high schools.
The G-Men were topped only by the team from Batavia High School, who placed first among nine full teams of runners.
Felicity-Franklin’s Jared Boeckman was the first individual to cross the finish line in the high school boys race, posting a winning time of 18:23.71.
Also aiding the G-Men in their runner-up team finish were Tanner Ellis, who placed eighth overall with a time of 19:33.20; Tanner Householder, who placed 12th overall with a time of 19:42.57; Emerson Cahall, who placed 15th overall with a time of 19:50.04; and Kaden Mountain, who placed 28th overall on the field of 89 finishers with a time of 21:09.44.
Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington senior Josh Deaton led the Blue Jay team to the finish line, placing 19th overall with a time of 20:09.59.
HS BOYS TEAM RESULTS
1. Batavia             60
2. Georgetown      66
3. Blanchester      100
4. Goshen             112
5. Felicity             117
6. MVCA             169
7. Clermont NE    184
8. Ripley               192
9. Eastern             305
Georgetown was the only full team competing in the high school girls race although their were individual runners from 10 different schools there to compete.
Leading the Georgetown Lady G-Men to the finish line was Katlin Colwell, who placed 10th on the field of 30 runners with a finish time of 25:30.74.
The second Lady G-Man to cross the finish line was Laura Wood, who placed 12th with a time of 26:16.03.
The third Georgetown runner to reach the finish line in the high school girls race was Allyson McHenry, who placed 15th with a time of 26:46.05.
Georgetown’s Diana Stanze placed 20th overall with a time of 31:28.39, and rounding out the Lady G-Men’s top five was Lydia Powell, who placed 21st with a time of 31:49.44.
Blanchester’s Savannah Rhodes was the individual winning the high school girls race with a finish time of 22:39.84.
The team from Batavia Middle School won the junior high boys race with a team score of 40, followd by the Western Brown junior high team that finished runner-up with a score of 72.
Winning the middle school girls race was the Eastern junior high team with a score of 35, followed by Batavia that finished runner-up with a team score of 62.