Raiders cross country off to strong start, Elly Nash sets school 5K record

Appomattox County High School (ACHS) and Appomattox Middle School (AMS) kicked off their seasons last week with a bevy of wins and personal records.

At the 20th Annual Knights Crossing Invitational Saturday in Salem, freshmen Elly Nash and Lucas Hunter set new personal bests, along with juniors Christian Goodman and Matthew Thomas. Nash set a new school 5K record, finishing the race in 19 minutes flat for 21st place out of 331 runners. The previous best time was 19:47, set by Madison Martin in 2023 on the same course.

Nash was followed Saturday by senior Madison Martin (75) in 21:07, junior Julie Goodman (277) in 26:43, and junior Bella Perry (324) in 31:21.

In a field of 476 runners, the ACHS boys team was led by juniors Clay Hamilton (162) and Christian Goodman (177) in times of 18:07 and 18:17, respectively. They were followed by Hunter (216) in 18:40, David Owen (455) in 24:14, and Matthew Thomas (460) in 24:36. Fielding a full team for the first time in recent history, the boys team placed 48th out of 57 teams. The girls did not field a full team.

The Appomattox teams race again today in Chatham and Saturday, Sept. 14 at Fork Union.

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