They don’t call them Hilltoppers for nothing. Polk Cross Country raced at RS Central against seven other schools Wednesday on a marked hilly five-kilometer course. Not even cooler temperatures could mask the grueling hilly terrain.
The Lady Wolverines were paced by Senior Emily Kocher who is finding her race stride and going with it. Kocher, first-year runner, won the Hilltopper Invitational in 22:20. Polk’s next four scorers; Savannah Robbins (25:21), Selena Chavez (25:21.1), Ashton Capozzi (25:28 ) and Haley Fowler (25:29) in classic team fashion ran a pack-style race and crossed the line in eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth place.
Polk’s top five girls combined for 51 points (1, 11,12,13,14), were edged by the Shelby Lions who tallied 50. This was the closest point margin for the Lady Wolverines since the 2A State Championships in 2005 where Polk placed second overall.
Also competing for the Lady Wolverines: Shelby Wells (25:43), Alli Swope (26:06), Leah Hardin (26:10), Karli Wood (27:21), Haven Dufford (27:23), Colleen Burke (28:37), Jessica Bailey (33:34).
Polk’s top five male finishers lead the team to a second place overall finish. Sean Doyle placed third overall in 18:11, Mitchell Brown (18:58 4th), Jacob Wolfe (19:38 8th), Mark Federman (20:09 13th) and Eli Hall (20:22 14th) combined to score 42 points.
The boys trailed Shelby (35) by seven points. Also competing for Polk: Al Russell (20:37), Jake Russell (20:55), Will Sachse (22:41), Conner Holtz (23:01) and Luke Collins (30:36).
Team scores boys: Shelby 35, Polk 42, RS 97, Crest 114, Chesnee 120, Chase 154, East Rutherford 166.
Team scores girls: Shelby 50, Polk 51, RS 90, Crest 109, East Rutherford 139.
Polk will race at Jackson Park, Hendersonville on Oct. 2 at 4:30 p.m.

– article submitted
by Jenny Wolfe