Individual, teams qualify for '26 regionals following district races
There are 30-plus runners from Highland County schools who have qualified for the regional races following their individual and team performances at the 2026 SE District Championships held at Rio Grande this past Saturday.
Teams from Fairfield, Lynchburg-Clay and McClain, along with individuals from Hillsboro and Whiteoak, became regional qualifiers following their final timed results.
One of the teams to qualify was the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs boys team in Division IV with Tavion Huguely leading the way with an overall second-place finish among all runners in Division IV at Rio Grande, but he was the champion of the half of the district he raced a part of in the two parts of the SE District. LC’s Huguely finished with a time of 17:01.4.
Also for LCHS with a Top 20 overall finish was Owen Faust in 18th place with a time of 18:11.9. LC’s Glenn Watson was 30th place overall at 18:49.7.
The remaining times for Lynchburg-Clay also included: Logan West (20:00.5), John Michael (20:03.5), Connor Faust (22:23.1) and Colton Grabill (23:33.8).
Overall, LCHS was fourth place in the SE District between both halves of the district to become regional qualifiers, scoring 134 points with a team time of 1:34:07.0.
The Fairfield Lions boys team also were regional qualifiers with a seventh-place overall team finish with a time of 1:39:45.5.
Fairfield’s top finisher was Owen VanDyke with a 36th-place finish overall at 18:59.4. The remaining times of Fairfield also included: Archer Cline (19:49.4), Bentley Sowards (19:54.1), Connor Ayers (20:10.1), Blake Walters (20:52.5), Holden Moore (21:12.2) and Nolan Kerns (21:53.1).
Also qualifying for regionals in Division IV from the boys race were Whiteoak’s Koltyn Spitznagel (21:04.0) and Tre Lamb (21:22.0).
The Division IV girls race had the Fairfield Lady Lions finish third overall, and as runners-up in their half of the district, with 120 points scored and a team time of 1:58:11.5.
For Fairfield, Daphne Zink led the way with an overall finish of ninth place and a time of 21:30.0. Next in the Top 30 was Ellie Reeves in 25th with a time of 22:44.2.
The Lady Lions also had times from Zoey Neibling (23:57.1), Laurel McCoy (24:05.3), Iryna Reeves (25:54.9), Kaylee McClain (30:03.6) and Trinity Everhart (30:39.3).
Lynchburg-Clay had two of their three runners become regional qualifiers with Lillian Layne finishing 13th place overall at 21:43.9 and Miley Pierce finishing 23rd overall at 22:31.7. Also running for LCHS was Annabelle Thompson with a time of 28:58.6.
Whiteoak had one girls runner in the district race, as Arayla Montgomery finished with a time of 25:09.4.
In the Division III District girls race, the McClain Lady Tigers had two regional qualifiers, with those runners being Lila Banks in 12th place (20:56.9) and Ellen Cullom in 46th place (25:14.2). Also running for MHS were Abby Wiseman (32:46.3) and Vada Ponder (36:54.8).
The Hillsboro girls also raced in the DIvision III girls race, and they had the following times: Quinn Swope (24:56.2), Brynne Holsted (26:16.8), Alainna Mikkelson (34:31.0) and Sofia Mezo-Mil (35:52.4).
The Division III boys race at district saw the McClain Tigers become regional qualifiers with a 10th-place overall finish with 287 points, with a team time of 1:41:29.1.
McClain’s times included: Isaac Mincey (19:08.7), Landon Cullom (19:55.4), Bryce Barber (20:27.0), Jayden Burgess (20:44.9), Zander Lyons (21:13.1), Owen Sykes (23:15.9) and Brody Murdok (23:28.8).
The Hillsboro Indians boys team had one runner qualify for regionals, as Luke Thompson finished in 43rd place overall with a time of 18:28.0. HHS had two more runners race at districts, and they had times that included: Erik Remington (26:52.3) and Jayden Wells (30:35.3).