Dominant boys-girls sweep shines brightest at soggy cross country regional
Neither rain nor muck could prevent Lafayette’s cross country teams from having a sunny disposition Saturday.
The Generals swept Class 3A team titles in a “Super Regional” competition hosted by Bourbon County.
Lafayette’s boys totaled 36 points, well ahead of runner-up Frederick Douglass’s 83, to win a third straight region.
Lafayette’s girls scored even lower — 23, to Woodford County’s 68 — to repeat as champion.
In all, six divisions were decided at The Farm at Landworks — Class A (Region 5), 2A (4) and 3A (6) boys and girls.
Based on total teams entered, Class 3A advanced six teams in both boys’ and girls’ divisions to next Saturday’s State Meet at the Kentucky Horse Park. Four teams in each 2A race advanced, while A qualified six boys’ teams and five girls’ teams.
Also, the top five individuals from non-qualifying teams in each race advanced.
Class 3A
Frederick Douglass sophomore Levi Streeval had boys’ individual honors in hand by the time he reached the mile marker.
“At first I was going to stay behind the leader for the first mile,” Streeval said. “Then, about 800 meters in, I felt good and decided to take the lead and run my own race.”
Slick footing caused Streeval to fall near the 2-mile marker.
“I was stunned for a millisecond, and then I just popped right back up and tried to continue my pace,” he said.
Streeval’s time for 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) was the fastest of the day, 15 minutes, 39.4 seconds.
Runner-up Will Cahill, a Lafayette junior, finished 15.8 seconds behind. That sparked a 2-5-6-11-12 finish for the Generals.
“I have two seniors on this team and a lot of sophomores and freshmen,” Coach Brett Robinson said. “The goal was to at least send those two off on a high note.”
Woodford County freshman Maggie Twehues rallied to capture girls’ honors in 18:50.1.
“I was just trying to catch them,” said Twehues, who trailed two Lafayette runners at 1 mile. “I was kind of like, ‘I got this.’ I just sped up and, when I got the chance to pass them, I passed them and kept on going.”
Sophomore Anaya Brown, finishing 21 seconds behind Twehues, led Lafayette’s 2-3-4-6-8 domination.
“We worked really hard for this, and this is where we showed it,” Brown said. “Our moment to prove it.”
Added Robinson: “The girls are a special group. They work really, really hard, and I’m really proud of them. They needed a collective effort to do this.”
Class 2A
Lexington Catholic notched its fourth straight boys’ title. Both the Knights and Highlands scored 44 points, but the tiebreaker fell for Catholic as No. 6 runner Rowen Williams edged Highlands’ No. 6 runner by 4 ½ seconds.
“Their fitness is coming through,” Catholic Coach Gavin Galanes said. “We had a hard workout this past week and we’re going to start tapering next week. But I’m really satisfied with where they’re at, especially since we’re missing our top runner (John Reinhart) due to injury.”
Reinhart’s brother, sophomore David, led Catholic with a fifth-place finish.
Western Hills junior Griffin Staude repeated as top individual, timed in 15:53.8. Will Sandlin of Scott was next in 16:32.2.
“I didn’t feel that good out there, but it was OK,” Staude said. “My plan was just to get distance from (the pack) as the race went on.”
Scott snared girls’ honors with 34 points. Bourbon County scored 56 and seven-time defending champion Highlands had 67.
Eighth-grader Maddie Strong sparked Scott with the fastest time of the day, 18:40.9. Bourbon’s Bethany Simpson clocked 18:48.7.
Strong was confident that Scott would beat Highlands.
“We got our state championship last year,” she said. “And now they’ve moved a few middle-schoolers up, and I thought we would get it this year.”
Class A
Trimble County’s boys edged five-time defending champion Lexington Christian 63-70.
LCA junior Connor Hayes controlled the race and won in 15:59.4. Second-place finisher Jessup Smith of Trimble came in at 17:08.8.
“I was trying to go out there and win it all for myself again,” Hayes said. “But this is a team thing today. We really wanted to win this because this is basically our State today.”
Anna Rupp’s first-place finish paced the LCA girls to their sixth consecutive championship. The Eagles scored 27 points, followed by Trimble County with 56.
Rupp, a great granddaughter of legendary Kentucky basketball coach Adolph Rupp, finished in 18:54.6. Trimble’s Rebecca Kainer was next in 19:42.4.
“I really want to be ready for State, so I wasn’t going to run super-hard today,” Rupp said. “But then I decided to take it out hard and just see what would happen.”
Results
Results from Saturday’s high school regional cross country meets at The Farm at Landworks in Paris. All races 5,000 meters:
Boys
Teams — Trimble Co. 63; Lex. Christian 70; Danville 91; Sayre 100; Bracken Co. 114; Frankfort 123; Model 158; Burgin 178; Berea 217; Carroll Co. 289.
Top individuals — Connor Hayes, LCA, 15:59.4; Jessup Smith, TC, 17:08.8; Mathew Craig, TC, 17:11.3; Brady Bischoff, D, 17:13.5; Grady Johnson, S, 17:17.1; Alex Seward, TC, 17:33.2; Nicholas Cummins, BC, 17:45.8; Conner Snapp, Augusta, 17:49.5; Marvin Koch, St. Patrick, 17:52.6; Chase Sweger, F, 17:53.6.
Girls
Teams — Lex. Christian 27; Trimble Co. 56; Owen Co. 76; Burgin 95; Danville 101; Nicholas Co. 138; Frankfort 196.
Top individuals — Anna Rupp, LCA, 18:54.6; Rebecca Kainer, TC, 19:42.4; Abby Bronski, LCA, 19:55.7; Tia Alchureiqi, LCA, 19:55.8; Destiny Goodrich, OC, 20:02.1; Allison Bourne, OC, 20:06.4; Kinley Kunkel, TC, 20:08.7; Hadley Bronski, LC, 20:09.7; Eliza Weston, TC, 20:57.1; Holly Helmers, D, 21:22.6.
Boys
Teams — Lex. Catholic 44 (won tie-breaker); Highlands 44; Western Hills 54; Scott 81; Bourbon Co. 136; Pendleton Co. 179; Franklin Co. 184.
Top individuals — Griffin Staude, WH, 15:53.8; Will Sandlin, Scott, 16:32.2; Sam Hopper, H, 16:36.0; Sam Jones, H, 16:36.1; David Reinhart, LC, 16:47.0; Mark Cervoni, LC, 16:50.2; Will Griffith, H, 16:59.4; Nikhil Akula, WH, 17:00.8; Bryson Lindloff, S, 17:01.3; Jon Wilcutt, LC, 17:04.0.
Girls
Teams — Scott 34; Bourbon Co. 56; Highlands 67; Franklin Co. 93; Western Hills 107; Lex. Catholic 149.
Top individuals — Maddie Strong, S, 18:40.9; Bethany Simpson, BC, 18:48.7; Juliana Ellington, S, 19:02.7; Ximena Tamariz, BC, 19:06.2; Alyssa Harris, H, 19:07.1; Makena Gillion, FC, 19:08.4; Dyllan Hasler, S, 19:16.5; MaKayla Felty, BC, 19:23.5; Laney Coleman, S, 19:43.7; Kiera Carlee, FC, 19:51.6.
Boys
Teams — Lafayette 36; Frederick Douglass 83; Paul Laurence Dunbar 117; Tates Creek 128; Clark Co. 148; Anderson Co. 149; Henry Clay 158; Woodford Co. 200; Scott Co. 218; Montgomery Co. 246; Great Crossing 256; Bryan Station 288.
Top individuals — Levi Streeval, FD, 15:39.4; Will Cahill, L, 15:54.8; Tyler Walker, SC, 16:26.7; Mason Pierce, AC, 16:40.4; Aidan Smith, L, 16:49.4; Demetrius Cherry, L, 16:53.2; Cord Tackett, CC, 17:01.3; Logan Stafford, MC, 17:10.8; Jayden Henderson, FD, 17:16.0; Philip Lamartiniere, TC, 17:20.2.
Girls
Teams — Lafayette 23; Woodford Co. 68; Paul Laurence Dunbar 97; Tates Creek 130; Henry Clay 153; Great Crossing 161; Frederick Douglass 200; Anderson Co. 208; Montgomery Co. 231; Clark Co. 240; Scott Co. 266.
Top individuals – Maggie Twehues, WC, 18:50.1; Anaya Brown, L, 19:11.0; Meredith Wilson, L, 19:45.5; Victoria Holliday, L, 19:47.1; Ava Plumb, GC, 19:58.3; Lili Elayi, L, 20:07.2; Eva Kate Probus, WC, 20:19.7; Morgan Remley, L, 20:28.1; Erin Luckett, SC, 20:34.0; Bella Weitlauf, PLD, 20:34.7.