Garrard wins boys' varsity race
Dani Hatfield places seventh in girls' race
Centre High School senior Justin Garrard crossed the finish line first Thursday in the varsity boys' race at the Marion cross country meet held at Marion County Lake. He did it in 16 minutes and 33 seconds, 14 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Andrew Topham of Peabody.
Garrard has placed first in three of four contests so far this season. At Marion, he recorded his best time, finishing four seconds better than at the Hesston meet.
Junior Dani Hatfield also medaled, placing seventh in the varsity girls' race, with a time of 13:09, improving on her previous record by more than a minute.
All five girls on Centre's team ran in the varsity race although one is a sophomore and three are freshmen. The girls' team finished sixth overall.
Kelsey Hatfield placed 30th out of 43 runners, Brittany Owens 35th, Allie Will, 36th, and Justine Jennings, 37th.
Coach Alan Stahlecker was pleased with his team's effort.
"Almost everyone ran significantly better than before," he said.
Their next contest is Thursday at Council Grove.
Results
Justin Garrard 16:33 (1)
Dani Hatfield 13:09 (7)
Kelsey Hatfield 14:54 (30)
Brittany Owens 15:31 (35)
Allie Will 15:51 (36)
Justine Jennings 16:25 (37)
