It may just be that Jared Harnish is a late bloomer. But he has certainly come into his own as a senior.

In September, Harnish established himself as the top cross country runner in Lebanon County. This week at the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championships, the Elco 12th-grader re-affirmed that fact.

On Tuesday afternoon at the annual league meet, contested on Ephrata Middle School’s 3.1-mile course, Harnish ran a very respectable seventh. He was Lebanon County’s top finisher by five spots.

Following a bit of a sluggish start, Harnish found his stride a mile into the race. He kept the leaders in sight the rest of the way, finishing with a time of 16:35.9, his personal best

Harnish entered the competition as the reigning Lebanon County boy’s champion, thanks to a strong run at the local championships contested at South Hills Park earlier in the season. On that day, Harnish clocked a 17:18.34, despite not being pushed by Cedar Crest’s strongest contingent of runners.

Needless to say, Harnish is looking forward to the upcoming District Three championships, which will be run at Big Spring High School on Halloween.

– Jeff Falk