Noah Hammond earned a third-place finish Tuesday to lead Polk County Middle School at the Blue Ridge Conference Cross Country Championship at Apple Valley Middle School.
Hammond covered the boys 2-mile course in 11:52.58, finishing behind champion Nolan Perkins of Waynesville Middle, who won in 11:15.09, and Rugby Middle’s Jacob Baden, who took second in 11:29.13.
Polk finished ninth in the 11-team boys standings with 221 points. Waynesville captured the conference championship with 52 points, edging Rugby by two points.
Get PolkSports delivered to your inbox
Sign up for our free newsletter →
Eric Ramirez was Polk’s second finisher, placing 39th in 14:00.87. Kelton Kitchen took 50th in 14:37.57, Korbyn Holland was 62nd in 16:24.10 and Kaiden Kitchen finished 67th in 17:30.78 to complete Polk’s scoring five.
Ross Castillo placed 70th in 18:32.90, while Carter Ross finished 72nd in 18:57.69.
In the girls race, Millie Edwards led Polk with a 14th-place finish in 14:49.92. The Wolverines finished eighth among nine scoring teams with 174 points.
Rylie Klimstra was Polk’s second finisher, placing 22nd in 15:25.06. Carolina Foster took 45th in 16:40.48, Lucy Delmas was 48th in 16:54.33 and Heidi Klootwyk finished 50th in 16:58.44 to complete Polk’s scoring five.
Nora Williams followed in 52nd with a time of 17:10.26.
Hendersonville Middle won the girls conference title with 58 points, while Smoky Mountain Middle’s Zoey Muse claimed the individual championship in 12:52.18.
