The heat couldn’t keep cross country runners from lacing up their shoes for an evening run, with hundreds of athletes converging on Millennium Park in Danville  for the annual Boyle County Invitational.

Lincoln County athletes could be counted among the field of competitors as six varsity runners represented for LCHS and 19 were on course in the middle school races.

Mayci Godbey, an eighth-grader, had the Lincoln varsity’s high finish in the meet, covering the 3.1-mile distance in the girls varsity run in a time of 27:42 to place her 44th out of 74 runners. 

Gabe Singleton, a sophomore, posted Lincoln’s top finish in the boys varsity run. Singleton placed 52nd out of 131 runners in 20:50.9.

Jasmine Steele, Chloe Tillett, Davis Wardrip and Dalton Patterson were all on course for Lincoln in the varsity races. Steele placed 53rd in the girls race in 30:04 while Tillett placed 68th in 33:54.3. In the boys race, Wardrip ran 125th in 28:13.5 and Patterson was 128th in 30:22.5.

“All three guys improved from last year’s (race) by 1-5 minutes,” Lincoln coach Jeffrey Manion said. “Girls ran a solid race for such a hot afternoon.”

Phoebe McCowan of South Laurel won the girls varsity race with the only sub-20 time. She finished in 19:51.9. Ezekiel Harless of Boyle County was first in the boys varsity run, winning in 17:26.

It was a strong finish for Lincoln in the middle school run, with Ava Morgan and Sam Singleton outrunning all their competition.

Morgan, an eighth-grader, won the girls 1.8-mile race in 12:52.1 and Singleton, also an eighth-grader, claimed the boys win in 11:41.7.

Lincoln’s middle school girls finished tied for second with Danville in team competition with 72 points. Rockcastle County won with 51 points.

Constance Johnson placed fourth for Lincoln in the race, crossing the finish in 13:33. Alexis Slone claimed the sixth-place spot in 13:45, Abigail Bastin finished 34th in 17:23.1 and Olivia Sousis finished 38th in 17:46.2 to round out the scoring runners. 

Lexi Grubbs completed the run in 19:35.6, Angelique Coyne came in in 21:50.2, Trinity Price had a time of 24:25.1 and Yunaliska Gooch finished in 28:36.4.                 

Lincoln’s middle school boys finished fourth in team competition with 87 points. Mercer County won with 62 points, Boyle was second with 84 and Garrard was third with 85.

Lincoln’s scoring runners behind Singleton were Tommy Griffin, Levi Grubbs, Toby Sallee and Caden Bastin. Griffin crossed in 17th place in 13:44.2, Grubbs ran 22nd in 14:06.2, followed by Sallee in 23rd place in 14:12.3 and Bastin finished 44th in 16:17.5.

Keaton Pendleton had a time of 18:47.6 in the race, Gus Correll finished in 20:27.4, Ethan Miller ran a time of 21:49.5, Ethan Lane crossed in 22:04.2 and Lucas Sallee finished in 30:46.6. 

Three Lincoln varsity runners – Chloe Tillett, Gabe Singleton and Dalton Patterson – ran their personal best times in the following meet, the annual Central Kentucky Conference Championships hosted by Shelby County.

Tillett, a freshman, had a PR of 31:54.71 in the girls varsity run while Singleton, a sophomore, had his personal best of 20:07.46 and Patterson, also a sophomore, turned in his best ever time of 29:16.93 in the boys varsity 5K.

Just like in the Boyle Invitational, Lincoln’s Ava Morgan and Sam Singleton reigned as champions in the CKC middle school 3K runs. Morgan was the only sub-13 runner in the girls race, winning in 12:45.26. Singleton took the boys win in 11:17.06.

Lincoln also recently competed in the West Jessamine Chick Fil A and Area 6 Championships recently. Results for each Lincoln runner in both the CKC and West Jessamine meets follow (CKC time first then West Jessamine):

Varsity Girls – 5K

Mayci Godbey: 27:35.69; 26:12.78                

Jasmine Steele: 29:02.22; 28:49.38                 

Chloe Tillett: 31:54.71; 30:27.91                 

Katherine Rowe: 37:49.64; 32:02.87 

Chrissy Mullins: 36:03.00 (WJ only)                

Varsity Boys – 5K

Gabe Singleton: 20:07.46; 20:47.23

John Sparkman: 22:37.01; 22:29.22

Bradley Adams: 25:37.32; 22:07.46

Dalton Patterson: 29:16.93;  28:33.22

Davis Wardrip: 29:19.24; 28:18.58

Middle School Girls

Ava Morgan: 12:45.26; 14:04.65 

Alexis Slone: 13:37.51; 13:37.19

Constance Johnson: 14:53.95; 13:32.54

Abigail Bastin: 15:12.48; 15:15.13

Lexi Grubbs: 17:40.21 (CKC only)

Angelique Coyne: 20:55.42;  18:35.05

Olivia Sousis; 16:59.17 (WJ only)

Trinity Price: 22:21.95 (WJ only)

Middle School Boys

Sam Singleton: 11:17.06; 11:40.22

Tommy Griffin: 13:30.84; 13:09.40

Levi Grubbs: 13:57.37 (CKC only)

Toby Sallee: 14:42.35; 14:03.82

Caden Bastin: 15:33.48; 15:38.31

Ethan Miller: 18:55.03; 18:17.63

Ethan Lane: 21:19.02; 21:20.24

Gus Correll: 17:57.86 (WJ only)

Lucas Sallee: 31:10.22 (WJ only)