Writer's note: Apologies for the delay in writing up Saturday's regular season finale at the Coach Wood Invitational. I did this resting thing and got carried away. Still, with help from Georgia Milesplit, our coaches, and some of our runners, below is a recap of the event.
 
Usually a personal record-type course, the mud and the muck slowed things down in the valley at the huge Coach Wood Invitational. Regardless, our varsity girls turned in an 11^th place finish among 28 teams – with many of the squads in bigger classifications.
 
On the day, HI competed in the girls' and boys' varsity events, and the girls' and boys' JV, with some 26 athletes running.
 
Starting with the girls, Gracie Cavallo was just seconds off her PR in being our first across, her time was 21 minutes and 23 seconds over the 5K course. Colin Welden – this week's Star of the Week by the way – was behind her in 22:53, and three-through-five were less than a minute apart with Ella Jacquin (23:08), Cate Wassenaar (23:40), and Brooke Hausmann (24:04) getting it done. 
 
Our next five – in the same race – included Kate Ponder, Keira Webb, Brooke Benedict, Emma Kelly, and Ansley Gossett. 
 
Sophomore Wassenaar summed up her race up this way: "The girls I race with inspire me in a way I only see in running. We all go through the same pain, so we all respect each other. It's an incredible experience, and I can't wait for regionals."
 
On the boys' side, it was Gavin Miles again leading the Bear pack; he turned in an 18:08. He was followed closely by Tucker Gleeson and Walton Sullivan, who finished practically side by side with almost identical 18:24s. Tommy Smith (20:11) and Carter Bennett (21:15) were our #4 and #5 scorers.
 
Our next five – also in the same race – were Charlie Reynolds, Brooks Scarborough, Byrnes Sudlow, Henry Wood, and Jonathan Barr.
 
In the girls' JV, Gigi Core was our lone entrant and she represented us well with a good showing, while the JV boys were paced by Graham Goddard, Charlie Mutz, Pierce Preston, Beckett Culbertson, William Jablon, and Eugene McLemore.

The Running Bears will have Senior Night this Thursday down on the Baker Field Track and course and, after that, postseason is slated Oct. 24th at Westminster, where the top four teams and top six individuals will advance to state in Carrollton. Last year, the girls' took second in the region and the boys' third before both squads placed sixth in state.