With a high turnout, organizers of the annual Potter Elementary School 5K hope to raise enough money to fund a much-needed tech overhaul at the school.

The May 6 event included 225 runners who took part in a 5K up Cross and Hixville Roads before finishing at the school. The participant number is up significantly from 2017’s run which brought 175 runners to the school.

One thing that did not change this year: the neck-and-neck pursuit for first place. Nicholas Rosselli, 17, took the top spot in the race with a time of just under 18 minutes. The Apponequet Regional High School athlete also finished in first place last year with an 18:59 time.

“The weather was very good, it wasn’t too hot and it wasn’t too cold,” Rosselli said.

Finishing seconds behind him was Jakob Santangelo, 16, also an Apponequet track and cross country athlete. It’s also the second year in a row Santangelo finished second place. He finished just under 18 minutes, setting a new personal record.

“I broke 18 and I’m just happy about that,” Santangelo said.

This year’s 5K included more participation from the school community. Principal Heidi Silva Brooks said many families from Potter were participating in the race.

Season Dasilva and Tami Goncalo worked to reach out to local businesses to field donations and gift baskets for purchase. They also invited the school community to produce baskets as well.

Each year, the Potter PTO uses proceeds from the race to fund improvements to the school. This year, the group plans to replace the school’s aging public address system to better serve modern technology-based instruction.