Warren East’s Jacob Dockery crosses the finish line in the varsity boys’ 5k run in the Warren East Raider Twilight Run at Ephram White Park on Saturday evening, Aug. 24, 2024. Barren County’s Brody Miller placed in second with a time of 16:25.28 behind Marshall County’s Kobey Yates in first, Butler County’s Case Hooten in third, Edmonson County’s Ashton Johnson in fourth and Greenwood’s Justin Doran in fifth. (Grace Ramey McDowell/grace.ramey@bgdailynews.com)

Greenwood junior Claire Ellington set a lofty goal for Saturday’s Warren East Raider Twilight Run at Ephram White Park.

In a field of 128 runners, Ellington hoped to be among the five best.

Ellington accomplished that and more, winning the girls’ varsity race by eight seconds with a final time of 20 minutes, 17.78 seconds.

“I did not go into this race thinking I was going to win,” Ellington said. “I was hoping for top five. This is the first race I’ve ever won. I’m just really happy.”

Ellington was part of a post-race gaggle of Greenwood runners standing on the podium following Saturday’s race on the 5,000-meter Brandon C. Murley Cross-Country Course, with five Lady Gators finishing in the top 15 – and two more Greenwood runners just outside a podium finish. That was more than enough to boost the Lady Gators to a team title with 28 points, outdistancing runner-up Graves County by 48 points for the win.

Ellington was just as excited with the team finish as her own first career varsity victory.

“They’re the only reason that I do so good,” Ellington said of her teammates. “They make the races fun, the practices fun, make this all worth it.”

Greenwood’s boys’ team made it a sweep, earning the team title with 108 points to edge runner-up Edmonson County by a single point.

Ellington, who said she’s been running at Ephram White since her elementary school days, managed her pace in the early going as the sun began to set. On a slower course, she stayed focused more on placement than a personal record – the right strategy.

“I was nice that by the time we got into the middle of the race, the sun had started to go down so we had the shade,” Ellington said. “But the beginning of the race, I just tried to have a good mood and tried to stick with my teammates – just take it one mile at a time.”

Greenwood’s Charlotte Johnson (fourth, 20:46.53) and Lily Clark (fifth, 21:17.12) soon followed, with teammates Madison Hershberg (seventh, 21:47.34) and Sauyer Shirley (11th, 22:00.81) rounding out the scoring. Greenwood’s Blaire Marr (16th) and Nora Strupp (17th) were just outside the top 15.

Ellington hopes the momentum of Saturday’s season-opening win carries over to next weekend in the Central Kentucky Run for the Gold at Elizabethtown Sports Park.

“I’m really excited – our next race, that’s the best course we’ve ever run on,” Ellington said. “This course has a lot of holes – I’ve tripped many times going through the finish line, so I’m really excited for that race. I have all my PRs from past years on that course.”

In the boys’ race, Barren County senior Brody Miller led area runners with a second-place finish in 16:25.28. Marshall County’s Kobey Yates (16:08.50) won the boys’ individual title.

Greenwood junior Justin Doran led the Gators with a fifth-place finish in 17:26.41, the only top-15 finish for the team. But Greenwood showed the best depth in the 176-runner field by winning the team title, with Luke Scott (17th), Luke Champion (20th), Camden Goodrich (30th) and Sam Freeman (40th) turning in scoring finishes.

It was enough to edge Edmonson County, despite two Wildcats finishing in the top 15 – senior Ashton Johnson (fourth, 17:15.06) and freshman Aidan Meredith (13th, 18:05.91).

South Warren finished sixth in the boys’ race with 163 points, led by Devin Brumley’s 19th-place finish.

Host Warren East was seventh with 184 points, with Jacob Dockery (14th, 18:14.66) and Matthew Strode (15th, 18:17.72) lead the way.

Allen County-Scottsville was 10th with 277 points, Butler County finished 12th with 288 points – with top-15 finishes from Case Hooten (third, 17:04.22) and Ryder Harbaugh (ninth, 17:54.62) – and the Bluegrass Blazers Homeschool team was 18th (541).

Barren County’s girls’ squad finished fourth with 118 points, with a pair of podium finished by Molly Beckham (eighth, 21:55.31) and Adeline Coleman (10th, 21:59.91).

South Warren (seventh, 198 points), Warren East (eighth, 204) and Butler County (12th, 315) also competed in the 13-team girls’ race.{&end}