After serious injury, LCA senior has big day at state cross country championships
Amid chilly temperatures and unique circumstances, more than 2,000 athletes from across Kentucky competed in the KHSAA cross country state championships at the Bourbon County Cross Country Course in Paris over two days this weekend.
For more than 40 years the state cross country meets have been held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. Because the pandemic made it difficult this year to schedule the championships around the park’s equestrian events, the races were moved to Paris. A site for the 2021 cross country state championships has not yet been determined.
The Class 2A boys’ and girls’ meets were held Friday, while the Class A and Class 3A championships were decided Saturday. Because of COVID-19, the start and finish of all six contests looked a bit different than usual. Rather than a typical cross country race in which all competitors are bunched together and break from the starting line at the crack of a pistol, runners were separated into three different groups.
Each cluster began the race five minutes apart, which meant the first runner to cross the finish line was not necessarily the winner. Everyone was left in suspense until the public address announcer read off the names and times of the top finishers in each race.
Triumphant return
Lexington Christian Academy senior Connor Hayes didn’t win the boys’ Class A title, but his third-place finish was a triumph nonetheless.
Hayes tore three ligaments in his ankle back in June, an injury that threatened to derail his final high school season as he spent the summer in a walking boot. But Hayes worked hard to recover as quickly as possible and began running again in late September. He was rewarded for his determination last weekend when he won his third straight Region 5A individual championship.
Hayes was clearly excited about his strong showing on Saturday as he celebrated with friends and teammates from the LCA girls’ squad.
“It was a pretty rough season,” Hayes said. “If my training was where it would normally be I think I might have been able to win, but I’m really happy about this.”
In addition to running, Hayes has been biking 15 miles per day to accelerate his recovery. He feels like he’s nearly back to where he was before the injury and now he’s ready to finalize plans for college — which include the continuation of his cross country career.
“I’m going to run in college, I just don’t know where yet. But I’m looking at a couple places,” Hayes said.
Josh Meiman of Louisville Holy Cross won the individual title and his teammate DK Schnieders finished second, leading the Cougars to their fourth straight team championship.
Bishop’s best
Bishop Brossart runners swept the top three spots in the Class A girls’ meet, delivering the Mustangs the team championship.
Claire Curtsinger, a junior, won the individual title a year after finishing 12th. She logged a time of 19:42.90, about 23 seconds ahead of teammate Amy Klocke. Sadie Hartig crossed the finish line 11 seconds later.
“I’m really just in shock, honestly,” Curtsinger said. “There’s so many talented girls out here, to win it is unbelievable.”
Curtsinger said the staggered start made for a strange sensation coming down the stretch.
“It was weird. I was really worried because you’re racing the people around you but you’re also racing the girls you don’t see. It’s harder.”
Two-time defending champion Anna Rupp of Lexington Christian Academy pulled up in the middle of the race and did not finish. A week after Rupp won her third straight Region 5A title, LCA Coach Tim Stickel said the junior just didn’t feel right on Saturday.
“This was just one of those days today, it wasn’t there for her,” Stickel said. “I think she got out there and something just didn’t feel right, she didn’t feel good. It happens.”
Despite losing their star, LCA still managed a fourth-place team showing.
“When you lose the girl that’s supposed to win it’s tough,” Stickel said. “But they did a really good job. They should feel really happy about getting fourth.”
Class 3A
Madison Central sophomore Ciara O’Shea won the girls’ Class 3A individual championship for the third year in a row. As she rounded the final turn of the 5K course and climbed the steady incline leading to the finish line, her nearest challenger was well behind.
Shea posted a time of 18:15.37, about 15 seconds ahead of runner-up Kiley Palmer of Owensboro.
“Every single win means a whole lot to me,” Shea said. “It just shows that the hard work you put in and the way you push yourself pays off in the end.”
Woodford County seventh-grader Addison Moore followed up her stunning championship run in last weekend’s Region 6 meet with a third-place finish at state. Moore officially joined the Yellowjackets’ squad just a few weeks ago but she’s already been embraced by her older teammates.
“It’s fun racing with high-schoolers because it’s good competition. You get really good experience,” Moore said. “The whole team supports me so it’s not really an awkward feeling being the youngest.”
Oldham County repeated as team champion.
In the boys’ Class 3A championship, Madisonville’s Jackson Watts won the individual title. He narrowly edged Brady Masters of Madison Central, who was state runner-up for the second year in a row.
Lafayette senior Will Cahill finished fourth, one week after winning the Region 6 individual title. St. Xavier won the team championship after placing second last year.
Class 2A
On Friday, Lane Hoyes of Thomas Nelson won the boys’ individual Class 2A title a year after finishing third. North Oldham captured the team championship while last year’s winner, Corbin, finished second.
On the girls’ side, Christian Academy of Louisville edged Highlands for the team title while the programs flipped positions on the individual front. Highlands’ Maggie Schroeder finished first while CAL’s Addi Dewey — last year’s champion — was second.
RESULTS
CLASS A
BOYS
Teams
1, Holy Cross (Louisville) 61. 2, St. Henry District 83. 3, Beechwood 158. 4, Villa Madonna 174. 5, Bishop Brossart 220. 6, Trimble County 220. 7, Bethlehem 258. 8, Green County 272. 9, Walton Verona 298. 10, Holy Cross (Covington) 333. 11, Augusta 334. 12, Louisville Collegiate 344. 13, Dawson Springs 380. 14, University Heights 380. 15, Kentucky Country Day 394. 16, Danville 396. 17, Pikeville 440. 18, Owensboro Catholic 504. 19, Frankfort 544.
20, East Ridge 577. 21, Jackson County 583. 23, Sayre 617. 24, Lynn Camp 621. 25, Middlesboro 632. 26, Portland Christian 644. 27, Williamsburg 647. 28, Fort Campbell 650. 29, Campbellsville 697. 30, Hickman County 712. 31, Edmonson County 728. 32, Somerset 61. 33, Morgan County 912.
Top 20 individuals
1, Josh Meiman, Lou. Holy Cross, 16:16.95. 2, DK Schnieders, Lou. Holy Cross, 16:36.83. 3, Connor Hayes, Lex. Christian, 16:43.09. 4, Tomas Duncan, University Hts, 16:52.74. 5, Jackson Gawarecki, Lou. Holy Cross, 16:59.66. 6, Dixon Ryan, St. Henry, 17:18.45. 7, Drew Hurley, Pikeville, 17:22.77. 8, Lake Durrett, St. Henry, 17:28.55. 9, Carson Kitchens, Livingston Cent., 17:28.79. 10, Jessup Smith, Trimble County, 17:32.74.
11, Logan Ballard, Bethlehem, 17:34.96. 12, Ryan Branch, Bishop Brossart, 17:35.70. 13, Peter Dalmares, Walden, 17:39.67. 14, Owen Kovacic, Villa Madonna, 17:39.97. 15, Natnael Weldemichael, Beechwood, 17:41.68. 16, Tobias Duncan, University Hts, 17:46.29. 17, Austin Akridge, Lou. Holy Cross, 17:50.26. 18, Jeff Ashlock, Bethlehem, 17:50.40. 19, Ezekiel Isom, Brown, 17:50.82. 20, Mark Ryan, St. Henry, 17:54.38.
GIRLS
Teams
1, Bishop Brossart 36. 2, Kentucky Country Day 96. 3, Villa Madonna 118. 4, Lexington Christian 128. 5, St. Henry District 155. 6, Owen County 263. 7, Louisville Collegiate 273. 8, Beechwood 276. 9, Middlesboro 276. 10, Bethlehem 329.
11, Edmonson County 361. 12, Pikeville 389. 13, Bath County 399. 14, Metcalfe County 401. 15, Frankfort 402. 16, Presentation 407. 17, Hancock County 420. 18, Williamsburg 439. 19, Fort Campbell 448. 20, Lynn Camp 450. 21, Crittenden County 503. 22, Jackson County 529. 23, Morgan County 530. 24, Nicholas County 607. 25, Murray 649. 26, Fulton County 713. 27, Buckhorn 798.
Top 20 individuals
1, Claire Curtsinger, Bishop Brossart, 19:42.90. 2, Amy Klocke, Bishop Brossart, 20:05.82. 3, Sadie Hartig, Bishop Brossart, 20:16.82. 4, Kinley Kunkel, Trimble County, 20:25.48. 5, Haley Schoenegge, Kentucky Country Day, 20:26.58. 6, Gabby Ault, St. Mary, 20:43.66. 7, Olivia Holbrook, Bishop Brossart, 20:46.66. 8, Rebecca Kainer, Trimble County, 20:52.79. 9, Grace Rose, Middlesboro, 20:55.97. 10, Kenzie Barber, Frankfort, 21:02.36.
11, Kaylee Holtzapple, Calvary, 21:11.80. 12, Reese Ragland, Louisville Collegiate, 21:14.12. 13, Kasey Hill, St. Henry, 21:17.28. 14, Tia Alchureiqi, Lex. Christian, 21:19.38. 15, Kate Keller, Crittenden Co., 21:22.19. 16, Mallory James, Middlesboro, 21:30.62. 17, Charli Gerrein, Villa Madonna, 21:32.43. 18, Maddox Miller, Kentucky Country Day, 21:38.63. 19, Reganne McMain, St. Henry, 21:46.08. 20, Alyssa Martin, Villa Madonna, 21:46.86.
CLASS 2A
GIRLS
Teams
1, Christian Academy-Louisville 97. 2, Highlands 112. 3, Scott 125. 4, Mason County 132. 5, Boyd County 148. 6, North Oldham 162. 7, Bourbon County 164. 8, Corbin 283. 9, Rowan County 286. 10, Taylor County 293. 11, Calloway County 295. 12, Lexington Catholic 310.13, Lincoln County 375. 14, Nelson County 379. 15, Ashland Blazer 415. 16, Russell 429. 17, Bardstown 457. 18, Mercer County 499. 19, Harlan County 516. 20, Larue County 527. 21, Webster County 554. 22, Thomas Nelson 590. 23, Warren East 601. 24, Trigg County 623. 25, Shelby County 744. 26, Letcher County Central 825.
Top 20 individuals
1, Maggie Schroeder, Highlands, 19:16.87. 2, Addi Dewey, Christian Acad., 19:42.01. 3, Paige Decker, Mason County, 19:47.79. 4, Maddie Strong, Scott, 20:04.72. 5, Abigail Bastin, Lincoln County, 20:07.47. 6, Sophia Newsome, Boyd County, 20:09.63. 7, Emma Campbell, Western Hills, 20:15.26. 8, Lucy Singleton, Lincoln County, 20:16.69. 9, Dyllan Hasler, Scott, 20:24.91. 10, Brooke Greenwell, Christian Acad., 20:30.10.
11, Ainsley Smith, Calloway County, 20:32.69. 12, Bethany Simpson, Bourbon County, 20:40.67. 13, Alyssa Bisotti, Mason County, 20:44.88. 14, Joanna Bryant, Lex. Catholic, 20:47.90. 15, Autumn Egleston, Rowan County, 20:48.80. 16, Janna Leef, North Oldham, 20:52.67. 17, Rachel Gaynor, North Oldham, 20:54.53. 18, Christiana Brittian, Nelson County, 20:56.97. 19, Juliana Ellington, Scott, 20:59.20. 20, Eden Brumer, Highlands, 20:59.70.
BOYS
Teams
1, North Oldham 78. 2, Corbin 133. 3, Webster County 136. 4, Boyd County 137. 5, Highlands 174. 6, Lexington Catholic 224. 7, Thomas Nelson 253. 8, Trigg County 267. 9, Western Hills 280. 10, Calloway County 375. 11, Rowan County 379. 12, Christian Academy-Louisville 388. 13, Russell 397. 14, Harlan County 420. 15, Boyle County 423.16, Elizabethtown 467. 17, Ashland Blazer 482. 18, Bardstown 484. 19, Bell County 497. 20, Shelby County 539.
21, John Hardin 539. 22, Warren East 545. 23, Spencer County 547.24, Larue County 554. 25, Scott 576. 26, Bourbon County 594. 27, Russell County 603. 28, Paducah Tilghman 654. 29, Pike County Central 734.30, Letcher County Central 831.
Top 20 individuals
1, Lane Hoyes, Thomas Nelson, 16:21.97. 2, Griffin Staude, Western Hills, 16:22.04. 3, JB Terrill, Boyd County, 16:41.89. 4, Caden Miracle, Bell County, 16:43.55. 5, Sean Simons, Corbin, 16:44.93. 6, Austin Cavanaugh, Trigg County, 16:51.00. 7, Jake Pyles, North Oldham, 16:55.32. 8, Eli Hill, Bardstown, 17:10.91. 9, Adam Patel, North Oldham, 17:11.97. 10, Cayden Adams, Boyle County, 17:12.23.
11, Davis Brown, Russell, 17:12.59. 12, Jonah Black, Corbin, 17:14.39. 13, Ethan Vance, Thomas Nelson, 17:17.12. 14, Dakota Brady, Nelson County, 17:17.87. 15, Daniel Puckett, Calloway County, 17:19.67. 16, Trevor Baker, Webster County, 17:26.68. 17, Joseph Boyd, North Oldham, 17:28.00. 18, Evan Patel, North Oldham, 17:33.93. 19, Bryson Lindloff, Scott, 17:35.21. 20, Spencer Elswick, Boyd County, 17:36.04.
CLASS 3A
BOYS
Teams
1, St. Xavier 93. 2, Conner 116. 3, Trinity (Louisville) 143. 4, Daviess County 221. 5, Greenwood 248. 6, Bullitt Central 287. 7, Oldham County 295. 8, Covington Catholic 10. 9, Male 315. 10, South Oldham 320.
11, Madisonville 333. 12, Manual 384. 13, Madison Central 389. 14, Ryle 397. 15, Lafayette 407. 16, South Warren 440. 17, Grayson County 467. 18, Cooper 514. 19, Apollo 536. 20, Meade County 542.
21, Eastern 545. 22, Tates Creek 585. 23, Muhlenberg County 617. 24, Marshall County 624. 25, Anderson County 641. 26, Southwestern 646. 27, West Jessamine 647. 28, Great Crossing 649. 29, Fern Creek 687. 30, Hopkinsville 702. 31, Central Hardin 725. 32, Henry Clay 761. 33, Fairdale 763. 34, Dixie Heights 802. 35, Paul Laurence Dunbar 839. 36, North Laurel 930.
Top 20 individuals
1, Jackson Watts, Madisonville, 15:41.83. 2, Brady Masters, Madison Central, 15:42.23. 3, Nolan Hester, St. Xavier, 15:50.64. 4, Will Cahill, Lafayette, 16:04.57. 5, Tyler Walker, Scott County, 16:05.40. 6, Ryan O’Dea, Trinity (Louisville), 16:08.95. 7, Chase Atkins, Hopkinsville, 16:10.99. 8, Canon Weaver, Oldham County, 16:39.08. 9, Brady Terry, Daviess County, 16:41.56. 10, Colin Murphy, Trinity (Louisville), 16:43.12.
11, Joshua Striegel, St. Xavier, 16:44.80. 12, Cole Jackson, Greenwood, 16:47.30. 13, Will Durrance, West Jessamine, 16:47.56. 14, Philip Lamartiniere, Tates Creek, 16:51.47. 15, Drew Moore, Conner, 16:54.32. 16, Jimmy Mullarkey, Fern Creek, 16:55.06. 17, Sami Hattab, St. Xavier, 16:55.10. 18, Logan Warth, Conner, 16:58.91. 19, Theo Bachmann, South Oldham, 17:00.08. 20, Thomas Ashby, Apollo, 17:01.53.
GIRLS
Teams
1, Oldham County 58. 2, Assumption 134. 3, Ryle 137. 4, Daviess County 151. 5, Manual 158. 6, Woodford County 165. 7, South Warren 219. 8, Sacred Heart 229. 9, Eastern 268. 10, Madison Central 306.
11, South Oldham 367. 12, Bullitt East 411. 13, West Jessamine 415. 14, Paul Laurence Dunbar 459. 15, Butler 467. 16, Conner 470. 17, Male 512. 18, Henry Clay 544. 19, Greenwood 590. 20, North Laurel 596.
21, Tates Creek 617. 22, Graves County 620. 23, McCracken County 645. 24, Grayson County 649. 25, Meade County 675. 26, Southwestern 690. 27, Campbell County 692. 28, Notre Dame 704. 29, Bowling Green 718. 30, Grant County 786. 31, Montgomery County 788. 32, Henderson County 797. 33, Bullitt Central 826. 34, Apollo 916. 35, Marshall County 963.
Top 20 individuals
1, Ciara O’Shea, Madison Central, 18:15.37. 2, Tula Fawbush, Oldham County, 18:57.19. 3, Addison Moore, Woodford County, 19:06.20. 4, Rosemary Peters, Atherton, 19:24.13. 5, Jessica Secor, Manual, 19:33.72. 6, Maggie Twehues, Woodford County, 19:38.59. 7, Mattie Whitworth, Assumption, 19:41.30. 8, Maggie Aydt, McCracken County, 19:50.09. 9, Julia Schmitt, Assumption, 19:55.37. 10, Joy Alexander, Madisonville, 19:56.96.
11, Angelina Harris, Ryle, 19:59.03. 12, Lexie Paszkiewicz, Bowling Green, 19:59.97. 13, Morgan Remley, Lafayette, 20:01.48. 14, Chloe Boa, Oldham County, 20:02.93. 15, Sammy Freeland, Oldham County, 20:03.48. 16, Leah Penick, Eastern, 20:04.63. 17, Savannah Cagle, Oldham County, 20:07.88. 18, Allie Kopser, Ryle, 20:22.41. 19, Cara Weber, Ryle, 20:23.12. 20, Josie Gilvin, Sacred Heart, 20:23.68.
This story was originally published October 31, 2020 at 6:34 PM.
