Saturday, September 26, 1998 -- Hurricane
Hurricane High Open 5K

[Coverage/Recap w/Pics] [Results]   Pictures: [Start/Mile 1&2] [Finish]

Chris Parsons on his way to a first place finish

The Hurricane High Open was another great XC run that preceded a huge High School cross country track meet. The race got started at 8:30am, but the temperatures were already starting to warm up. The morning sun mixed with a few grueling hills made for a very challenging 5K.

Once the race was started, it seemed as though Coach Chris Parsons (Cabell-Midland High School) may have been in a hurry to get back to his coaching duties. He quickly dropped the rest of the field and cruised to a first place finish in a time of 17:38. Parsons' closest rival also happened to be his assistant coach, Brent Jarrell. Jarrell, who for some reason likens himself to a man named Prefontaine, finished over a minute back for the second fastest time of 18:40.

Kelly McGraw dominated the field of women runners

Giving chase to the Prefontaine wanna-be was Duane Dombek and Andy Pearson. Pearson, who was running in fourth position for much of the race, used a strong finish to overtake Dombek for a third place finish in 18:45. Not far back, Dombek crossed the line at 18:49, fourth overall and the first masters. A number of the other top ten positions were decided in the final sections of the course making for plenty of exciting racing.

On the women's side of the field, Kelly McGraw ran a strong race to finish 11th overall, and as the first female, in a time of 21:42. Finishing well off of her pace was Phyllis Varian (23:59), but her time was still good enough for the second fastest female for the morning.

(L-R) Rodger Armstrong, Gary T. Baker and Phil Radford master the Hurricane Open

Once all the racing was over, it was a quick and painless transition to the awards ceremony where a load of congratulations were in order for all the participants. As soon as the last awards were handed out, the hustle and bustle from the throngs of high school track teams, and their associated fans and supporters, soon took over center stage. The temperature outside was rising and the competition was surely going to follow.

The open race was held to benefit the Hurricane High School track and cross country storage building project. So, a big thanks goes out to all those that participated in the event and the many volunteers that helped to see that everything ran smoothly.