The competition began for the cross-country season this past Saturday with the Injury Fund X-C Carnival. With the first meet in the books, it also marks the beginning of our HOKA Athlete of the Week feature where we recognize the top performances of each week for boys and girls.
On the boys’ side, we like to recognize Smithfield’s Jason Padula as our first male recipient of the 2023-24 season. Padula earns the weekly honor after recording the fastest time of the day at the Injury Fund Carnival. The Sentinel senior captured the Vin McGinn race by covering the five-kilometer layout at Deerfield Park in a time of 15 minutes, 53.43 seconds. Padula, who we predict will be one of our top contenders for the individual state title in early November, beat another state hopeful, Marshall Vernon of La Salle, by five seconds.
Congratulations, Jason!
