Polk girls race to seventh in Freedom Invitational

Polk County’s girls cross country team earned a seventh-place finish Saturday in the Freedom Invitational in Morganton.

Running against a 14-team field comprised primarily of larger schools, the Wolverines placed four runners in the top 60, led by Olivia Overholt, who took 17th with a time of 21:51.58.

Taytem Johnson crossed the line in 47th with a time 24:11.23, with Emma Brunell close behind in 52nd with a time of 24:35.61. Syler Purtill added a 57th-place effort with a time of 24:50.62.

Anna McFadden rounded out the Polk scoring with a time of 25:43.76, followed by Lindsey Jenkins (26:02.88) and Tori Thompson (26:06.97).

Mark Teague led the Wolverine boys with a 22nd-place effort, finishing the course in 18:18.94.

Also running for the Wolverines, who placed 15th, were Chris Rickman (21:10.42), Ridge Burnett (22:28.36), Grant Wooten (22:41.52) and Gus Maass (23:05.47).

Lauren Dotson competed in the JV girls race and finished in a time of 29:28.62, with Michael Simoncic finishing the JV boys race in 24:50.00.