Running in the Apollo Invitational, at Panther Creek Park in Owensboro, the Grayson County boys cross country team finished fourth of the six teams on hand for the race.

Grayson County had perhaps its best grouping of the season as all five scoring runners finished within about 12 seconds of one another in the 5K race.

With 103 runners in the race, freshman Sheldon Jones was the first Cougar across the finish line, finishing 20th in 18:48.20. Junior Zach Berry just nosed out senior teammate Austin Curtis for 21st place. Berry finished in 18:53.90. while Curtis ran 18:54.60.

Junior Ryan Gallagher finished 24th in 19:04.40, just shading junior Carter Cannon, 25th in 19:04.60.

Non-scoring performances included: Nathan Bratcher, 38th in 19:46.20; Clay Priddy, 40th in 19:50 .80; Christian Everton, 57th in 20:48.70; Justin Gallagher, 63rd in 21:03.00; Spencer Jones, 66th in 21:13.50; Jacob Hart, 83rd in 22:35.70; Charlie Fleener, 85th in 22:51.60; Raymond Ashlock, 88th in 23:26.40.

Daviess County took the team title with 26 points, while host Apollo was second with 45 points. Owensboro Catholic had 87 points in third, while the Cougars finished with 100 points.

Eighth-grader Haley Brooks was the only Lady Cougar participant in the girls varsity race. Brooks finished 25th overall in 23:39.50. There were 58 runners in that race.

The middle school boys finished seventh overall of the seven teams entered in the 4K race with 183 points. College View was the team winner with 45 points, while Daviess County Middle was second with 55. There were 121 runners in the race.

Tyler White was the first Cougar across the line, finishing 15th in 16:02.20. Randy Sutherland was 42nd in 17:29.60, Matthew Stevenson was 65th in 18:36.30, and Trevor Johnson finished 83rd in 19:39.50. Henry Pavlak had the final scoring spot for the Cougars, finishing 100th in 21:22.90.

Austin Cannon and Alexander Milam turned in non-scoring runs. Cannon was 105th in 21:57.20, while Milam was 107th in 22:14.20.

There were 96 runners in the middle school girls’ race and with just four runners, the Lady Cougars did not qualify for a team score. Fourth-grader Julia Priddy was the top Lady Cougar runner, finishing 14th overall in a time of 18:44.00 in the 4K run. Fifth-grader Heather Priddy finished 51st in 21:03.40, Matte Milam was 79th in 24:02.80, and Coray Milam was 90th in 26:47.60.

This coming Saturday Grayson County will travel to Lexington’s Masterson Station Park for the Meet of Champions. This race always acts as the state championship race for middle school runners, though varsity and JV races are also held.