As they sometimes do, the race went to the runner what wanted it the most. Turns out, Matt Carroll has a competitive streak in him a mile wide.

On Saturday morning at Annville-Cleona High School, Carroll’s competitive nature served him well, as he captured the boys’ individual race at the annual Lebanon Country Cross Country Championships. The Palmyra sophomore covered the challenging 3.1-mile course in 16:58.9.

Nestled among the lead pack from the start, Carroll made his move near the halfway point of the race. With no one seemingly willing to break away, Carroll took the initiative, and then ran away with the race – both literally and figuratively.

It was Carroll’s strong effort over the race’s final one-plus mile that propelled him to victory. Carroll opened leads of as much as a couple of hundred yards and finished with a 22-second advantage over fellow Cougar Jakolby Fackler.

But Carroll’s hard, long kick also proved beneficial in another way – it helped Palmyra secure the event’s team title, by just tenth’s of a point over Elco.

– Jeff Falk