Marshall County’s cross country team is off to a strong start to their 2024 season with three meets already in the books. Junior Kobey Yates is making an early season statement with two first place finishes in the Clarksville Wildcat Invitational on August 17 and the Warren East Raider Twilight meet on August 24.
Yates set a new school 5,000-meter record under the lights on Saturday in the prestigious Central Kentucky Run for the Gold meet in Elizabethtown. Yates crossed the line in eighth place stopping the clock at 15:35.40 in the field of over 340 runners. Riku Sugie of Thomas Nelson took the win with a time of 5:11.90.
In the first meet of the season, Yates won the Clarksville Wildcat Invitational with a time of 17:23.5 among a field of 149. Top 25 finishes for the Marshals also came from Daniel Walker in eighth with a time of 18:41 and Owen Futrell finished 25th in 19:50.1. The Marshals finished fifth in team standings.
Yates followed the win in Clarksville up with another first place finish in the Warren East Raider Twilight in Bowling Green, topping the field of 176 with a time of 16:08.5. Three more Marshals finished in the top 50 at the meet including Daniel Walker with an 11th place finish in 18:01.75, Owen Futrell was one back in 12th in 18:01.96 and Alex Abrams finished 47th in 19:31.96.
Marshall County placed third among the 18 teams. The team from Greenwood took the win.
Ava Sutherland has had a great start to the season, turning in the top times for the Lady Marshals. The sophomore finished sixth in the Clarksville Wildcat Invitational in 24:01.4, 18th in the Warren East Raider Twilight with a time of 23:01.81 and 159th in Saturday’s Run for the Gold meet in Elizabethtown stopping the clock at 23:32.3.
Sutherland and Braelyn Spalding who finished 17th in Clarksville, helped lead the girls’ team to a fourth place finish and they finished 10th in the Warren East meet in Bowling Green. Delilah Evans turned in the second-best result for the girls’ team at the Warren East and Elizabethtown meets.