Easton Bourland had a cleat develop a tear ahead of Saturday’s region cross country meet so he opted to wear two different shoes instead of his backup pair.
Donning a pink cleat and a yellow cleat, the Dawson Springs sophomore outkicked two other runners in the final 300 meters to win the region title and help the Panthers to their sixth straight region championship.
Bourland, who set a school record in last week’s win at Graves County, covered the 3.1-mile course at Marshall County High School in 17:20.
He ran in a lead pack with Murray’s Guervenson Binfield-Smith, University Heights Academy’s Cole Glover, and teammate Deacon Dever for over two miles. Bourland took the lead in the final half-mile and sprinted ahead of Binfield-Smith, the two-time defending region champion, to win by two seconds. Glover was nine seconds back.
Dawson Springs placed five runners in the top 12 and scored 33 points, finishing 25 points ahead of second-place Murray.
Dever finished in fourth place in 17:43 – his fifth top-10 finish of the season.
Montgomery Johnston came in fifth place in a time of 18:05, his highest placement of the season.
Sean Stallins (18:44) came in 11th place and Rex Blue (18:51) finished in 12th place to round out the Panther top five.
Preston Drennan was 28th in 20:21 and Riley Buntin was 46th in 22:34.
Dawson Springs will run in the Class A State Meet next Saturday at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. The Panthers have three straight top-10 finishes at state, highlighted by an eighth-place finish two years ago.
However, with four seniors on the team, the Panthers are looking to bring a trophy home from Lexington following their run in Lexington.
(Photos by Ashlyn Brown)
