Eric Heinz Paces Finley at County Invitational

Eighth grader Eric Heinz put on a show, racing through the 1.5 mile course in 9:05.9 to finish fourth in a field of 199 to pace the J. Taylor Finley Middle School co-ed cross country team at the Sunken Meadow Invitational, which serves as the unofficial middle school county championships.

Finley coach Jarrad Richter was happy with how his star runner performed. “Eric Heinz had another great race, finishing in fourth place and beating last year’s unofficial time by almost a full minute,” Richter said.

Finley’s Ronan Driscoll also turned in a fine race, crossing the finish line in 9:56.4 to place 23rd overall.

“The Sunken Meadow Invitational meet was a great success this year,” Richter said. “We arrived with plenty of time to snack, take some pics and warm up before the kids ran their races, so it was a much smoother experience than last year’s ‘get off the bus; run to the starting line’ experience.”

Finley cross country team veterans Michael DiVincenzo and Julia Goodwin both improved upon their times from last year while this season’s seventh and eighth grade rookies turned in some “pretty great times” for their first race at Sunken Meadow,” Richter added.

Goodwin placed 30th among 171 runners in the girls division, finishing the 1.5 race in 11:44.7.

Finley’s boys’ squad placed eighth in the county invitational team standings.

Simply put, it was a great day to be a Finley cross country runner. “We had beautiful weather and this was a great team-building experience,” Richter said. “It was an awesome afternoon all around.”