Allen Hamrick
The annual Buffalo Creek Run was held at Dundon this past week. High schools and middle schools from around the state brought teams to compete. This course, as you can imagine, is a true cross-country course. Many of the events are just grass tracks with a little gravel and maybe some blacktop. Not this race; it was a race that has it all – mountainous terrain, dirt, mud, uphill, downhill, sand, water, and paths in the woods. All of those involved in the event put on an excellent race, and many of the people in attendance said they would definitely be back next year.
This race would be a tough one to win as the course tested some of the best runners in the state with the last 200 yards requiring the crossing of Buffalo Creek followed by a sprint to the finish line. The middle school competitors ran first, and as you would expect, the CCMS Mustangs have grown in strength and weren’t going to stand by and let the other teams win without a fight. Danae Stricker crossed the finish line first with a time of 12:56.24. Dolores Poland finished 10th with a time of 16:50.42. For the boys it was Holden Reed who took 2nd place in the event with a time of 10:35.97. Congratulations to these CCMS runners.
The high school girls were up next, and they ran their legs off coming in first as a team and with Marissa Atha taking first overall with a time of 21:17.38. Sophia Berberich placed 7th overall while Abigail Grandon was in 8th place with a time of 26:36.63. For the boys it was Isiah Woods with a time of 20:49.01 placing 8th and Toby Yeager placing 9th with a time of 21:29.26.
This is a great race that will likely draw schools from all over the state next year. The coaching staff, along with their army of volunteers, were on the scene early getting everything set, laying out the track, parking cars, and making sure everything went off without a hitch. It was a well-oiled event with all the people involved making it a race that schools will want to come to in the future. Once again, congratulations to both the CCMS and the CCHS teams on their finishes.
