HERSHEY – Hershey became the “Sweetest Place on Earth” Saturday for  Mifflin County cross country runner Carter Smith.
The young runner made history, winning the state championship his first time out! 

In just his first year of cross country, Smith stood alone on top of the PIAA Class AAA medal stand posting a time of 15:41.

Smith won all but one of his events he raced in this season, placing second just once in the legendary year he has had.

“Carter executed the plan better than I could’ve imagined. It was pure dominance, and that is largely due to everything he poured into this one dream and race,” said MIfflin County coach Alex Monroe. “He earned this accolade and I couldn’t be happier for him.”

In his second year racing in Hershey, Reese Cubbison finished with a time of 17:10 good enough to capture 81st place.

“Reese was awesome today. And while I know he wanted more, he still shaved 100 spots off of his place from last year,” said Monroe. “If we can continue to improve on that scale, he will be vying for a medal in no time. I’m really excited to have another year with him.”

Rounding out the Huskies’ runners was Wyatt Kauffman with a time of 18:57.

“Wyatt suffered an injury and illness in the final 72 hours of his season. I was absolutely gutted for him. But there is a huge silver lining here, and that’s the fact that he is a sophomore,” added Monroe. “He has two more years at this, and the future is really bright. He will be back.