By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

HELENA – The Helena boys and girls cross country teams have had solid starts to the 2017 season and now that we are past the midway point, both seem to be clicking at the right time after winning their host event at Helena High School on Saturday, Oct. 14.

The Huskies held the Helena Invitational and both the boys and girls dominated at the meet as the boys finished with just 15 points, which was 40 higher than Indian Springs’ 55 points in second; and the girls finished with 16, which was 29 points higher than Indian Springs’ 45 points.

Helena’s boys impressed by almost completely sweeping the top 10 as the Huskies took the top 8 spots in the standings.

In order, Blake Vaughn, Brady Barton, Spencer Hodges, Talon Pritchard, Blake Childers, Rob Saville, Nate Wilkins and Tyler Graydon finished first through eighth.

Calera’s Riley Gay, a freshman, and Jake Pearson, a junior, also had nice races finishing in ninth and 11^th, respectively.

Vaughn, who finished the race in 17:46.84, picked up his first win of the season, but grabbed his fourth top 10 of the year having finished in seventh twice and third once. He has yet to finish lower than 22^nd this season.

The Huskies also had six more finish inside the top 20 as sophomores Jake Knight, Hunter Pennington and Caleb Byers finished in 12^th, 13^th and 14^th, respectively. Freshman Edan Jamieson finished in 16^th, while fellow freshmen Mason Barber and Will Moseley finished in 19^th and 20^th, respectively.

Helena’s girls also made a statement as they took the top four spots in their race with Abigail Ford, Ana Watters, Allison Tanner and Mackenzie Rosener finishing first through fourth.

Ford, Waters and Tanner are all sophomores that have led the Huskies all season.

Indian Springs freshman Isabella Yaghmai finished in ninth with a time of 25:08.93. Just behind her was another Helena runner as Meredith Byrd took sixth with a time of 25:20.85.

The Huskies ended up with six top-10 finishers in the race as Zoe Rozycki finished in ninth with a time of 25:36.75. Indian Springs’ Carolyn Calvert-Grimes rounded out the top 10 with a time of 25:44.35.

Helena ended up with four more in the top 20 as freshman Aamyia Lewis finished in 14^th with a time of 26:46.27 and senior Magali Martinez finished in 15^th with a time of 26:48.72.

Freshmen Victoria Whisenant and Sklar Stark took 18^th and 19^th, respectively.

Calera, while not represented in the team standings, had a strong showing from both Skylar Diaz and Josie Turner. Diaz, a junior, finished in 17^th with a time of 26:57.05. Turner, also a junior, finished in 22^nd with a time of 29:30.46.