by Jenny Wolfe

The Polk County Wolverine Cross Country teams made a clean sweep of the Western Highlands Conference Championships held at Jackson Park in Hendersonville, N.C. on Wednesday, Oct. 16.

“This is what we started preparing for in early June and hard work paid off,” said Coach J. Alan Peoples.

Peoples would be named WHC Coach of the Year following both the men’s and women’s team victories.

Freshman India Godlock would take what seemed like a leisurely stroll to the front of the pack from the sound of the starting gun and would never be challenged along the 3.1 mile trek to capturing her first WHC prep title. Godlock ran 20:33 and was named WHC Runner of the Year.

Senior Shea Wheeler and sophomore Hayley Kropp finished with All Conference honors in the top 10. Wheeler placed seventh in 22:23 and Kropp ninth in 23:00.

Selena Chavez maneuvered higher up the team placement ladder to take fourth place on the Wolverine squad, racing a personal best over the hilly terrain. Chavez placed 14th in 23:51.  Britain Hamrick rounded out the scoring drive with a 15th place finish and a personal best time of 24:14.

Also running for Polk; Leigh Deaver 24:35, Shelby Wells 24:51, Nancy Silva 24:57, Leah Hardin 25:12, Jessica Bailey 29:13, Kathryn Johnson 31:34 and Marissa Longshore 31:52.

Polk Men also took home a golden trophy for their efforts. Senior Jacob Collins took third and sophomore Sean Doyle grabbed the fourth place spot, both were named to the All Conference Team for their top 10 finishes.

Collins’ 16:39 sprint shaved 47 seconds off his August performance on the same race course, while Doyle’s 17:02 glide cut his beginning of the season performance by over a minute.

Always a race horse for the Wolverines, sophomore Jake Russell moved up in team rank by finishing third for the Wolverines.

Russell ran 18:46 to a 16th place overall finish.  Jacob Wolfe scored 17th overall in 18:53 and Eli Hall scored 19th overall in 19:24.

Also racing for the Wolverines; Mitchell Brown 20:29, Will Sachse 21:35, Alex Franklin 23:01, RJ Weathers 31:44.

The Wolverines will assemble its Top 7 male and female athletes for the 5K race at the 2A  Regional Finals at Freedom High in Morganton, N.C. Saturday, Oct. 26.

The top four teams and first five individuals not on a qualifying team with advance to the State Championships at Beeson Park in Kernersville, N.C. on Nov. 2.