Early season racing proved to be a positive experience for senior Jacob Bransky who finished in ninth place at the Darlington Invitational on Saturday Sept. 5 in a season best time of 18:06.

The prestigious race was comprised mostly of Division 1 and Division 2 schools adding much needed early season competition for the Trojans. Senior Jaden Comprood won the race with a time of 16:50. For the girls senior Willa Dworschack also had a great race, finishing in 23rd in a time of 23:22. Noelle Marie of Belleville won the girls race in a great time of 19:41.

Next for the Trojan boys was senior Brady Allbaugh, ending in 36th with a time of 19:36, followed by Dylan Ghormley in 53rd in 21:11, Cameron Steyer in 74th place in 23:00, Dominic Carstens in 87th in 25:08, Brayden Friar 88th in a time of 25:14 and Caleb Dull 95th in 29:56.

For the girls, Martha Bransky was the second Trojan to cross the finish line in a very good time of 23:38, good enough for 28th place. Next for the ladies was Madison Gander 68th in 27:50, Faith Krause 69th in 27:55, Grace Corlis 73rd in 29:33, Brianna Mack 74th in 29:58 and Bernadette O’Brien 76th in 30:04.

 “This is a very tough meet as most of the teams are well established and solid programs,” Trojan coach Mike Allbaugh said later. “It is as close to a sectional meet as we will have all year, so it is good for the runners to figure out where they are compared to the rest of the field. I was proud of all of them today!”