Brayden Dill heads to the finish line to place second overall in this year’s Bronco 5K Run and Fitness Walk held Aug. 5. Photo by Wade Linville
Eyre, Leto lead way for male and female runners
Runners begin their journey during the 18th annual Bronco 5K Run and Fitness Walk held Aug. 5. Photo by Wade Linville
Gary Exaver won the male walkers division at this year’s Bronco 5K Run and Fitness Walk. Photo by Wade Linville
Jacob Faught finished third overall at the 18th annual Bronco 5K Run and Fitness Walk held Aug. 5. Photo by Wade Linville
Landen Eyre heads to the finish line to win this year’s Bronco 5K Run and Fitness Walk held Aug. 5. Photo by Wade Linville
Nancy Zadek won the female walkers division at the 18th annual Bronco 5K Run and Fitness Walk held Aug. 5. Photo by Wade Linville
Natalie Rice finished third of female runners at the 18th annual Bronco 5K Run and Fitness Walk held Aug. 5. Photo by Wade Linville
Savannah Faught placed second of female runners in this year’s Bronco 5K Run and Fitness Walk held Aug. 5. Photo by Wade Linville
Sophia Leto won the female runners division at the 18th annual Bronco 5K Run and Fitness Walk held Aug. 5. Photo by Wade Linville
With around 200 participants, the 18th annual Bronco 5K Run and Fitness Walk held on the morning of Aug. 5 at Western Brown High School was a great success.
Longtime Western Brown High School running coach and Bronco 5K coordinator, Jim Neu, was pleased to see Mother Nature cooperate for this year’s run and fitness walk, providing clear skies and mild morning temperatures to aid in the big turnout of runners and walkers.
He was also pleased to see some former Western Brown High School cross country runners return to take part in this year’s Bronco 5K, an event that benefits current high school cross country teams at Western Brown and provides college scholarships to former Western Brown cross country runners.
It’s an event that sees large turnout each year.
Leading all runners to the finish line to win this year’s Bronco 5K was Landen Eyre, of Whiteoak High School. Eyre is no stranger among local runners, as he ran for a ninth-place finish in the Division III 1,600-meter run at the 2023 OHSAA State Track and Field Championships as a sophomore this past spring.
Placing second overall of the runners was Western Brown sophomore Brayden Dill, the 2022 Southern Buckeye Athletic/Academic Conference American Division cross-country runner of the year.
Placing third overall was Georgetown High School senior Jacob Faught, who earned Southern Buckeye Athletic/Academic Conference National Division First Team cross country honors as a high school junior in fall of 2022.
The first female to cross the finish line was also a familiar face among local runners, Sophia Leto. Leto was named the Female Senior Athlete of the 2018-19 school year for Western Brown High School, going on to join the Nova Southeastern University cross women’s cross country team.
Finishing second of the female runners was Georgetown High School grad who went on to run at Thomas More College.
Finishing third of the female runners was Western Brown senior Natalie Rice, a 2022 First Team cross country runner in the Southern Buckeye Athletic/Academic Conference American Division.
The competition was certainly fierce among runners in this year’s Bronco 5K, and it was the same among some competitive walkers who took part in the 18th annual Bronco 5K.
The first walker to cross the finish line, winning the men’s walker division, was Gary Exaver. Exaver has won the Bronco 5K in past years.
The first female walker to cross the finish line has also competed and won as a walker in the Bronco 5K, Nancy Zadek.
Awards were handed out to the top 50 percent in each division based on pre-registration. Door prizes were awarded by race numbers.