Eighth-grader spurs Woodford girls to region cross country title; Lafayette tops boys
The high school cross country postseason is in full swing, with the state championship meets coming up Friday and Saturday in Paris.
But to determine which individuals and teams will get to compete for state titles, region meets came first.
Numerous Lexington-area schools and runners were in action Saturday afternoon at Woodford County Park in Versailles for the Class 3A, Region 6 meet.
The Woodford County girls and the Lafayette boys swept to team championships.
The meet saw a repeat individual winner in the girls’ 5K and a new champion in the boys’ 5K.
Moore defends title in girls’ 5K
Addison Moore isn’t yet in high school, but she now already owns a pair of region cross country championships.
Moore, a Woodford County eighth-grader running at her home course in Versailles, cruised past the competition on Saturday for the win. Moore, along with second-place finisher Anaya Brown of Lafayette, both surged to the front of the pack within seconds of the race starting.
By the time the course briefly changed from grass to pavement, Moore and Brown were already clear of the rest of the field.
For Moore, that separation continued for the remainder of the 5K race, which she won with a time of 19:22.07. That was 29 seconds ahead of Brown, who is committed to play college basketball at Tennessee-Martin.
Maggie Twehues of Woodford County finished in third place with a time of 19:59.44.
After the race, Moore said she repeated the Philippians 4:13 Bible verse to herself three times in between breaths while running to stay focused during Saturday’s race.
“I’ve worked super hard and my teammates have helped me so much,” Moore said. “They’re so supportive of how I do my runs. I just wouldn’t be here without my whole team and my family.”
Moore still has four years of running cross country at Woodford County ahead of her.
When she won last year’s Class 3A, Region 6 meet in Winchester, it was the first time she had officially run among high school competition. Moore followed that performance with a third-place showing at the state meet at the Bourbon County Cross Country Course in Paris, which is also the site of this year’s state meet.
Despite having this success at such a young age, the precocious Moore tries to not focus on her impressive results too much.
“I tell myself that I’m doing good, but I also don’t want to say it to where I feel like I’m cocky,” Moore explained. “I want to make sure that I’m still with my whole team and not being like I’m better than everybody else.”
Woodford County won the girls’ team competition, placing five runners among the top 18. Lafayette wound up second.
Lamartiniere takes top spot in boys’ race
Philip Lamartiniere of Tates Creek has several wins to his name this fall. Some have come on the cross country course, like in the Fayette County Public Schools Cross Country Championships this month and in Saturday’s Class 3A, Region 6 meet.
Others have come off the course, like when Lamartiniere was paired with Tates Creek girls’ cross country runner Haley Mickelwait for the team’s pumpkin carving contest, with the duo taking home top honors.
But after crossing the finish line first on Saturday in a time of 16:44.63, Lamartiniere said the region win felt a bit sweeter than topping the carving contest.
“I knew when they paired me up with my teammate Haley, I knew it was going to be good so I was hyped for that, but this one is a bit better,” Lamartiniere said.
A 14th-place finisher at last year’s state meet, Lamartiniere was able to separate himself from the pack Saturday by pushing hard on the downhill portions of the course.
But as far as a planned strategy went, Lamartiniere was mainly interested in doing his part to help Tates Creek qualify for the state meet as a team.
“Since it’s just regions it’s more about placing than time,” Lamartiniere said. “My focus was my team and so we were trying to win as a team and I knew I needed to get out there, and all glory to God and all that because he’s gotten me through all the stuff that I had to do.”
That goal was met by Tates Creek, as the Commodores finished second as a team Saturday and qualified for state, thanks in large part to Lamartiniere coming in first and Reeve VanDemark finishing in second, 19 seconds behind him.
Josh Arnett of Bryan Station finished third.
Lafayette won the regional team competition by placing five runners among the top 19, led by Daniel Whitaker in fifth place, Eric Rafferty in eighth and Buzz Christiensen in ninth.
Meet results
Girls’ team standings
1. Woodford Co., 40; 2. Lafayette, 70; 3. Frederick Douglass, 94; 4. Paul Laurence Dunbar, 111; 5. Clark Co., 120; 6. Tates Creek, 129; 7. Henry Clay, 135; 8. Montgomery Co., 185; 9. Great Crossing, 269.
Top individual girls
1. Addison Moore (Woodford Co.), 19:22.07; 2. Anaya Brown (Lafayette), 19:51.24; 3. Maggie Twehues (Woodford Co.), 19:59.44; 4. Eden Anderson (Douglass), 19:59.69; 5. Anna Gedritis (Dunbar) 20:02.37; 6. Meredith Wilson (Lafayette), 20:06.08; 7. Cassidy Gilbert (Woodford Co.), 20:19.99; 8. Kennedy Stamper (Clark Co.), 20:26.88; 9. Ava Plumb (Montgomery Co.), 20:30.97; 10. Savannah Thomas (Clark Co.), 20:49.56; 11. Eva Probus (Woodford Co.), 20:55.10; 12. Abbott Renfro (Henry Clay), 21:03.99; 13. Sophia Anderson (Douglass), 21:07.77; 14. Vanessa Alonso (Dunbar), 21:11.43; 15. Madeleine Lepley (Lafayette), 21:23.80; 16. Fern Frost (Douglass), 21:24.91; 17. Katie Schweigardt (Tates Creek), 21:31.51; 18. Macy Stickel (Woodford Co.), 21:40.29; 19. Sophia Cahill (Lafayette), 21:42.86; 20. Kaycie Yockey (Tates Creek), 21:47.07.
Boys’ team standings
1. Lafayette, 59; 2. Tates Creek, 76; 3. Paul Laurence Dunbar, 95; 4. Clark Co., 125; 5. Henry Clay, 129; 6. Woodford Co., 138; 7. Great Crossing, 139; 8. Bryan Station, 226; 9. Anderson Co., 247; 10. Montgomery Co., 260; 11. Frederick Douglass, 266.
Top individual boys
1. Philip Lamartiniere (Tates Creek), 16:44.63; 2. Reeve VanDemark (Tates Creek), 17:03.77; 3. Josh Arnett (Bryan Station), 17:10.28; 4. Noah Mathews (Dunbar), 17:15.65; 5. Daniel Whitaker (Lafayette), 17:16.68; 6. Calvin Adams (Henry Clay), 17:35.13; 7. Jase Crume (Woodford Co.), 17:37.14; 8. Eric Rafferty (Lafayette), 17:43.80; 9. Buzz Christiensen (Lafayette), 17:50.85; 10. Forrest Gago (Tates Creek), 17:52.68; 11. Jackson Gordon (Woodford Co.), 17:54.93; 12. David Edmonds (Dunbar), 17:56.01; 13. Canaan Thomas (Henry Clay), 18:02.27; 14. Ryan Hendrix (Woodford Co.), 18:09.99; 15. Logan Dawson (Clark Co.), 18:10.67; 16. Robbie Joseph (Henry Clay), 18:16.91; 17. Stephen Tackett (Dunbar), 18:18.02; 18. Gabe Smith (Lafayette), 18:19.89; 19. Alex Price (Lafayette), 18:21.41; 20. Liam Parido (Clark Co.), 18:22.72.
On Kentucky.com
Please visit our website to view a slideshow of photos from Saturday’s races and to access complete results.
This story was originally published October 24, 2021 at 9:57 AM.
