Update in HCHS sports

The Harrison County Freshman and JV football teams got their respective seasons off to a great start last Monday as they pounded rival Bourbon County on the road, 33-0 and 38-6, respectively. On Monday, both teams traveled to Rowan County for their second games of the season. The freshman dropped their first game, losing 33-14, but the JV won, 34-0.

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Junior golfer Polly Whalen shot an 84 and finished fourth overall at the Grant County Invitational Tournament on Saturday at Eagle Creek Golf Course in Crittenden, Ky.

Whalen continues her excellent play from this past summer. She will be one of the favorites to capture an individual title at the regional golf tournament that will be held later this fall at the Laurel Oaks Golf Course in Maysville.

Whalen has qualified for the state tournament the last two years and should be in the hunt to play on the second day of the tournament this year. The state golf tournament will be played in Bowling Green in October.

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It was a long time coming, but the Harrison County Soccer Thorobreds finally notched their first win of the season on Tuesday night as they traveled to the state capitol and shut out the host Frankfort Panthers, 1-0.

Ilan Bear scored the goal for the Breds on a nice assist from Bobby Feeback. Tyler Feeback, out for the past two weeks with an injury, came back and notched the shutout win as the keeper.

The Breds dominated possession of the ball on the night and outshot the Panthers, 15-2. Harrison County will attempt to keep its winning ways with a home match on Thursday against Mason County at LeBus Field.

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The Harrison County Fillies nearly pulled off the upset on Monday night, but had to settle for a 1-1 tie as they traveled to Paris to take on Bourbon County.

Anastasia Hicks scored on a shot from the right side midway through the first half to stake the Fillies to an early 1-0 lead. Bourbon County knotted the score five minutes later though, as Harrison County was unable to clear the ball from in front of their net.

Both teams missed scoring opportunities in the second half.

Last week, they knocked off Bryan Station, 2-0, and Walton Verona, 2-1. Kassy Barnett scored both goals against Bryan Station and Courtney Grannis had an assist. Barnett and Grannis added one goal apiece in the win over Walton Verona. Tiffany Snider has been back in goal for the Fillies over the last three games, after recovering from an injury that had sidelined her for several weeks.

Harrison County is now 4-6-1 on the season. They returned to the friendly confines of LeBus Field last night and hosted Franklin County.

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Last Tuesday the Harrison County Cross Country teams traveled to Woodford County for an all comers meet.

Normally, an all comers would be 3, 4, 5 or more teams, but when we got there we discovered that it was just a dual, explained Harrison County coach Danny Simpson. Thats fine, but it can be a let down for runners. Most of our meets are invitationals so athletes are accustomed to trophies, medals, banners, and lots of runners. When its a dual meet, its more like practice and its human nature to let down. I give our athletes a lot of credit. They competed hard and competed well. Year in and year out Woodford is one of the premier cross country programs in the state. We werent intimidated and we had the best day we had all year.

The varsity boys were second by a score of 33 to 22. Ryan Puckett was second in 18:33, Michael May was fourth in 19:15, and Brian Schimpler was ninth in 20:31.

They were followed by Keenan Palmer (12th, 21:31), Nicholas Whitaker (13th, 21:42), Jacob Marsh (18th, 22:35), Wyatt Cramer (19th, 22:37), Tyler Hardin (25th, 26:59), Tyler Smith (26th, 29:38), and Ethan King (27th, 30:39).

In the varsity girls race, Harrison County only ran three girls. Freshman Ariel Thornberry (fourth, 26:24) and eighth grader Bailey Caudill (fifth, 26:25) battled neck to neck to the finish. Both of their times put them in the top 15 of Fillie varsity times. Sophomore Chelsee Mattox completed her first 5000M cross country race in 32:01 good for ninth place.

The middle school boys didnt run great times over the 2.2 mile course, but they got the job done defeating Woodford County 31-35. These boys were Nathan Radford (first, 12:29), Joey Faulconer (second, 12:35), Joe Thomas (fourth, 13:06), David Roberts (ninth, 14:45 ), Nathan Hyatt (15th, 16:04), and Damon King (17th , 16:16).

The middle school girls were second, 16-39. They were Erin Bradford (seventh, 16:16), Ashley Lakes (12th, 17:22), Rachael Miller (13th, 17:44), Kayla Joy (18th, 19:44), Whitney Morris (21st, 21:21.2), Becky Kiskaden (22nd, 21:21.5), and Alexis Roberts (23rd, 21:34).

The elementary boys won their 1.1 mile race and the girls were 3rd.

It would have been easy to have run poorly, said Simpson. It was a dual meet. Many of our athletes were running in their fifth race in 14 days. Thats poor scheduling on my part. We didnt set any records, but our young people gave a great effort and Im proud of them. Right now we just need to take some time off, rest, and have a good week of practice. Thats what well do and we will be much better prepared for the Mason County Invitation on Sept. 20.