Raptors finish 2nd at Iron Horse Derby to cap off weeks of big gains

The Academic Magnet boys cross country team continues to prove it is a force to reckon with against its competition.

In the Iron Horse Derby race on Oct. 12 at Philip Simmons High School, Raptor sophomores Quinn Swanton and Calvin Volkmann led the team to a second-place overall finish while both placed in the top 10. Philip Simmons placed first at the meet. 

Swanton, who is currently ranked third in the state among AA schools, logged a second-place finish at 16:18. Volkmann registered a PR at 17:09 and finished 10th overall.

Colin George (17:18) and Everett Landrith (17:32) turned in PRs to finish in the top 15, while freshman Brayden Bunt (17:37) knocked off 34 seconds of his best time to date.

Hunter Kuhnell (17:53), Peyton Johnson (17:54), Adam Kremer (18:22) and Reece Early (18:38) rounded out the varsity squad with strong finishes.

In the JV race, Raptors’ Ronan Kotz finished first overall with 18:53.

“We had great team performances and many awesome individual races,” said head coach Brian Johnson after the race, noting the field was almost exactly the same as Magnet’s first meet when Phillip Simmons beat them by 28 points.

“On their home course we closed the gap to 16 points,” Johnson added, noting the Philip Simmons Iron Horses are ranked No. 1 in AAA. “And we are right with them. Look how far we have come since that first race. Impressive!”

In fact, the Derby capped off several weeks of momentum gains for the Raptors boys cross country team, which has been busy running fast and getting a lot of PRs.

Of 83 teams in the Bob Jenkins Coach’s Classic race Oct. 8, Magnet finished 15th in the varsity field and 11th in JV.

“We had a very good meet, racing a very competitive field on a hilly course and held our own,” said Johnson. “We had three PRs and three season bests. To do this on a challenging course is a great sign of our progress.”

Swanton once again set the pace for his team at the Coach’s Classic with a 13th overall finish and a 5K time of 16:16, just a few seconds shy of his personal best.

“Quinn got out well and put himself where he needed to be. A top 15 finish is very good,” Johnson said.

George (17:24), Kuhnell (17:27), Calvin Volkmann (17:33), Peyton Johnson (18:00) and Landrith (18:05) rounded out the varsity performance with several PRs for the squad.

Of the Lowcountry teams in the race, Magnet finished behind Bishop England in the team standings but ahead of Lucy Beckham by 58 seconds.

The previous week at the Lowcountry Invitational, Swanton turned in a sixth place performance and personal best time of 16:11, which is the third-best boys’ 5k time in school history.

George (17:19), Kuhnell (17:39), Landrith (17:42), Peyton Johnson (17:49), Ben Fancher (17:50) and Bunt (18:11) helped the Raptors to a sixth place varsity team finish among the 43 schools competing.

In his first race for the Raptors, Volkmann won the boys’ JV race with a 17:54 time, helping the junior crew to a third place team finish.

Coach Johnson was especially proud of the individual efforts that led to two strong team places.

“We had 11 PRs, multiple season bests, and had seven guys break the 18-minute mark, which is impressive,” Johnson said. “While PRs and fast times are meaningful and good ways to measure progress, it was your racing and competitiveness that impressed me the most. We beat some very good teams and lost to some of the best teams in each of the state’s classifications.”