This past Saturday Griffith High School Cross County raced in the 2A New Prairie Invitational. The race was held at New Prairie High School which is an incredibly challenging course for its runners. The course has two main landmarks, Snake Pit and Agony Hill, which many say add to its difficultly. Overall out of 32 teams, the boys team placed 18th and the girls team placed 19th. Joey LaPatra, a junior, placed 1st overall with a time of 16:14. This time is a personal record for LaPatra and is the first time a Griffith runner has won the New Prairie Invitational. In comparison to his last seasons, LaPatra has ran much better than previous years at New Prairie. His freshman year he ran the same course in a time of 18:55 at semi state. When asked about his improvement on this course, LaPatra says, “ It was really all a difference in strength from the past two years. I have improved immensely on hills and overall strength due to my training at Oak Ridge Prairie.” Focusing back on Saturday’s race and being the first Griffith runner to take first place, LaPatra says, “It is a great accomplishment, and it is really a testament to all the hard work and time that I have put into running. I also have a great coach [Scheidel]to thank for my success and great coaching along the way.” Griffith’s next big race is the Highland Invitational this upcoming Saturday, September 24th.