Olney Invitational Puts Runners to the Test

Olney High School’s Olney Invitational Cross Country Meet has grown more popular each year since OHS began hosting it at the Olney Country Club.

It’s up for debate whether runners come for the very cool trophies or the now-famous crucible that is the Olney cross country course.

The trophies alone are worth running for. OHS shop students use a CNC machine to cut out the epic Cub Paw trophies, then paint them Cub red.

But then there’s the course. Runners who come to Olney know they will eventually face the massive hill near the finish line. That hill can mean the difference between first place and 10th, testing runners’ legs, lungs and determination after they’ve already pushed themselves around the course.

This year’s Olney Invitational brought both successes and setbacks for the OHS and OJH Cubs and Lady Cubs, as well as the Newcastle High School Ladycats. No Newcastle Bobcats competed this year.

The Ladycats turned in two of the day’s top performances. Allison Melton raced to second place with a time of 13:00.37, while Greenleigh Moore finished eighth in 14:11.19.

For the OHS Cubs, Jaxxon Laurent took third place in 17:51.16, while Wesley Symank finished 11th in 19:19.69.

The Lady Cubs did not crack the top 10 this year, but Ava Stewart turned in a strong performance against a large field of runners, finishing 13th in 15:03.46.

Way to go, Cubs, Lady Cubs and Ladycats!