PCHS runners fare well in Eye Opener

Polk County High’s cross country teams supported the 30th annual South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind Eye Opener 5k Event on Sept. 7 at Roger Milliken Center in Spartanburg. Former Olympic marathon gold medalist Frank Shorter served as race starter for the event, which hosted 64 schools and more than 1,500 runners.

The Polk men’s team finished 5th out of 41 teams in the championship race. Lead by senior Jacob Collins (17:20) and sophomore Sean Doyle (17:48), Polk’s returning runners proved to be at least a minute faster than they were on the same course in 2012. Collins was a top-10 finisher, securing 8th place overall. Mitchell Brown ran 19:08, Jacob Wolfe 19:18, Daniel Painter 19:31, Jake Russell 19:51 and Eli Hall 20:02.

Also competing for Polk: Will Sachse 21:46 and Alex Franklin 24:16.

The Lady Wolverine returning runners also recorded faster times than last season over the 3.1 miles of grassy, gently rolling pasture. Polk’s first female finisher, freshman India Godlock, finished in 21:07. Senior Shea Wheeler ran 23:26, Leigh Deavor 25:31, Hayley Kropp ran 25:36 in her first 5K, Britain Hamrick raced 25:40, Shelby Wells 25:44 and Nancy Silva finished in 26:50.

Polk finished 23rd out of 39 teams competing.

Selena Chavez 26:22, Leah Hardin 30:22, Jessica Bailey 32:28, and Kathryn Johnson 34:22 competed for Polk in the JV race.

The Wolverines will be in action at 4:30 p.m., Sept. 18 at the Hendersonville High School Invite at Fletcher Park in Fletcher.