Buford High School Runners Fare Well at Fall Fitness Trail Run

Freshman Lane Crawford places first in female division

The Buford High School cross country team proved that it has a high fitness level at the XTERRA Fall Fitness Trail Run last weekend.

Several members of the Buford team fared well in the 5-kilometer race, including Lane Crawford, who placed first among all the females in the event.

"We had an off week, so our coach told us about this race, and a bunch of us signed up for it," said Crawford, who is a freshman on the Buford girls cross country team. "I was excited. I love the competition and it's always interesting to run against all ages."

Close to 200 runners participated in the race, which was held on Saturday, Oct. 1, at the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Trails in Buford, Georgia. The race was the second event in the 2011-12 XTERRA Georgia Trail Run Series, which is open to runners of all ages and skill levels.

Nico Lavrijsen of Dunwoody, Georgia, was the overall winner. The 34-year-old completed the 5K course in 20 minutes even.

After Lavrijsen, the Buford runners were the story of the race. Dylan Price and Josh Thompson - teammates on the Buford boys team - placed a close second and third, respectively. Price finished with a time of 20:12 (just 12 seconds behind the overall winner), and Thompson came in one second behind Price at 20:13.

Crawford finished with a time of 24:57 to top the women's field. Tammy Vupham was second in 25:15.4, and Elizabeth George was third in 25:15.5.

(Crawford pictured courtesy www.greatactionportraits.com)

"At the beginning of the race, there were a couple of girls who were in front of me," Crawford said. "I passed them in, maybe, the last mile, on the big hill we had to climb at the end."

Although the race was held in Buford, there wasn't a home course advantage for the Buford High runners. Crawford said it was the first time she had ever run on that trail.

"We had never run there before, so we had no idea what the course would be like," she said. "But we do a lot of hill practices, so that helped."

For complete results, click HERE.

The Fall Fitness Trail Run was the second of six races on schedule for the 2011-12 season of the XTERRA Georgia Trail Run Series. The next event in the series will be the XTERRA Battle at Big Creek Trail Run on Nov. 5 at Roswell, Georgia. That event will offer two courses for runners - a 9-mile long course and a 5-mile short course.

To register for a race in the Georgia Series, or to learn more about it, please visit www.dirtyspokes.com or www.xterratrailrun.com. To view more race photos, visit www.greatactionportraits.com.

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