The fledgling cross country program at the Leitchfield Christian Academy continued to amaze last Saturday as the boys' middle school team finished third at the John Hardin Invitational, held at Elizabethtown's Freeman Lake Park.

This race marked the first time the team had competed at the middle school level, rather than as an elementary school team. The Eagles finished behind the Grayson County Middle School team, which took second.

Head Coach Neal Saltsman was amazed his team performed so well as the team has just two middle-school age runners. The rest of the team are elementary-aged youngsters.

The Eagles' top finisher was Zach Hamilton, who finished 12th overall in a time of 13:32. Hamilton just edged out teammate Bryant Clemons, who was a second behind in 13th place.

Two other Eagles runners had top-20 finishes on the day. Jaime Saltsman ran 14:24 to finish 19th, and Brady Clemons finished 20th in a time of 14:28.

Zach Tucker (15:59) was 31st; Tyler Lewis (17:05) was 35th; Zac Menser (17:14) was 36th; Landon Sexton (17:43) was 40th; Quentin Miller (17:58) was 43rd; Jared Tomes (19:00) was 46th; Jacob Childress (23:15) finished 47th.

The LCA girls ran in the middle school race as well. Kelsey Butler was the first Lady Eagle across the line, finishing 20th in 17:35. Haley Butler (20:59) was 38th; Ginny-Lynne Sexton (24:27) was 42nd.

The Eagles will return to Freeman Lake Park this coming weekend to take part in the North Hardin Invitational.