At the start of the race at 8:00 AM this morning, the weather was 59 degrees with a beautiful sunrise in the distance. The Teays Valley High School boys cross country team toed the line with six returners and eleven newcomers, all with the same mission in mind: to run as one. The boys completed their one mile warm-up and dynamic stretches, then changed into their spikes prior to walking to the start line. A tradition created by previous head coach, Coach Lupfer continued on when the boys walked over to thank the officials. After three strides, there was the usual pre-race speech along with the Viking slow-clap chant. The boys were amped and ready to race. At the first mile, Reed Henderson led the Vikings, with a pack of four close behind, Carson Leonard, Kellan Durbin, Colt Whitt, and CJ Jett. Xavier Clay and Caiden Blackburn were close within reach to the leading six TVHS runners. As the race continued on, the boys continued to run alongside one another as they passed competitors. Making history in his high school race debut, Reed Henderson placed 22nd out of 387, earning him a top 25 finish from the meet for his 16:49.51, running the 16th fastest time in Teays Valley Cross Country history. The next six placers were Colt Whitt (18:34.62), running a 21 second PR from last season, Kellan Durbin (18:58.37), coming off a strong track season and summer training block, Carson Leonard (19:16.70), racing his first high school 5k, CJ Jett (19:30.66), getting a two second PR from last season, Xavier Clay (19:40.25), while also being a contributor for the TVHS soccer team, and Caiden Blackburn (20:56.50), a junior in his TVXC debut after a strong track season as a mid-distance runner and long jumper. Alongside these athletes, Kael Thompson (21:15.27), Jett Eitel (21:24.97), Josh Langley (21:25.53), Eli Hilgenberg (22:03.81), Liam Hill (22:28.37), Declan Furby (27:40.68), Ami Clay (26:20.99), and Navin Warner (27:50.59) also ran solid races. A big thank you to the Henderson and Blackburn families for providing our Saturday morning snacks. Along with a thank you for the following TVXC athletes, Ian Duncan for the awesome pictures, with Clark Thompson, Austin Rhoads, and Lane Myers helping cheer the guys on and getting mile splits. The Vikings look forward to next weekend as they race at Westerville North High School with the Varsity 5K starting at 9:30 AM, and the Open 5K starting at 10:45 AM. Link to results: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/275460/results/1097957