Worship anthems, Ale-8-One fuel Lexington-area cross country region champs

Less than a month ago, Philip Lamartiniere still hadn’t competed in a cross country race this season.

The Tates Creek senior has battled iliotibial band injuries. The “IT bands” extend from the pelvis to the shins, and often in distance runners they’ll tighten so much that they’ll start to rub against the thighs, causing significant pain.

Lamartiniere refused to rule out competing in cross country, though, and his determination was rewarded: He repeated as the Class 3A Region 6 boys’ champion Saturday at Masterson Station Park.

“I’m just grateful to run,” Lamartiniere said. “I’ve been dealing with a lot of injuries and stuff, so I’m grateful to be back. … We pushed it off for a while to make sure I was all right, and that’s been good since, thank the Lord.”

Lamartiniere made his season debut at the Bluegrass Invitational on Sept. 24, about a month before the KHSAA postseason. He set a personal record and ran the first sub-16 minute time of his career in his second meet on Oct. 1, but then finished second with a less-than-satisfactory time (16:19.07) at the FCPS Championships last week. On Saturday, he PR’d again to win his second straight regional — 15:39.63, just .28 seconds from matching the meet record. He finished nearly 10 seconds faster than Woodford County sophomore Ryan Hendrix, who was trailed by fellow sophomore Noah Mathews of Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Entering the final mile, Lamartiniere was behind Mathews and Hendrix, prompting his dad to yell at him “pretty loudly.” The senior found strength to overcome the underclassmen by singing a popular worship song — “Jireh” — to himself and recalling a mantra shared by his coach before the race: 10 quick steps.

“Eventually I was just like, I gotta take the lead,” Lamartiniere said. “I did that, and I didn’t want to give it up after that.”

Freshman phenom Addison Moore of Woodford County won the Class 3A Region 6 girls’ title for the third straight season. She ran the course in 18:31.20, topping her own meet record set as a seventh-grader in 2020.

“I really love this sport, and it just makes me super happy when I do my best and good outcomes come,” Moore said.

Moore was 36 seconds in front of Paul Laurence Dunbar senior Anna Gedritis, who was similarly ahead of third-place finish Eden Anderson, a junior out of Frederick Douglass. The freshman’s effort led the Yellow Jackets in a narrow victory over meet host Lafayette for the girls’ team title.

The Generals came away with the boys’ meet title, fending off Tates Creek for the second year in a row. Lafayette’s top five runners finished in the top 15 — three of them in the top 10 — and multiple Generals ran PR times.

Gabe Smith led Lafayette. His sixth-place 16:22.89 was 21 seconds better than his previous top time set just 11 days ago.

“I think I went out a little too hard, but overall I basically performed how I wanted,” Smith said. “(Our team) performed excellent. We did exactly what we wanted and what we planned.”

Ale-8’s champion

Jon Eades wanted to win the Class 2A Region 4 meet since he was in middle school.

As he crossed the finish line first on Saturday, the Western Hills senior raised his fists in the air before grabbing a cup of water and striding over to a tree 100 yards away from the refreshment table. He was celebrating not just his first region title, but his first victory in any 5K competition, period.

Bugs interrupted his brief moment of reflection before this reporter followed suit.

“It being my senior year and it being regions,” Eades said, before a sigh of relief, “I can’t ask for more. I can’t ask for anymore. I think I did really well, especially since traditionally I don’t do really good front-running like that.”

Eades led the entire race and finished about five seconds within his PR time to win going away. He was about 44 seconds quicker than Highlands senior Caden Schroeder, who was quickly followed by junior teammate Malcolm Robertson.

Victory eluded Eades until Saturday, but he had five top-five finishes in eight regular-season races this fall. He’d love to show well at the state championships next week, and intends to give it his best effort, but he’ll go into it with a refreshing perspective.

“I accomplished something I’ve wanted to do for about five years,” Eades said. “That’s always good. Next week? Really, I’d call it the after-party. This is the work day before and then we’ve got the after-party next week at state. Just go there, run your absolute heart out and may the odds be in your favor.”

He’ll also be packing some Ale-8-One. Before a race in third grade, Eades drank a bottle of the Winchester-produced soda and had a lights-out performance. It became a fixture of his prerace routine, though these days he limits it to a quarter-can about 25 minutes before the gun goes off.

“I wouldn’t be running cross country without Ale-8,” Eades said. “… Essentially I think it helps me through that first mile, and then that second and third mile is all me just pushing up until I get across the finish line.”

Scott junior Maddie Strong completed the course in 18:43.70 to win her second girls’ region title and first since 2019. Lexington Catholic sophomore Caroline Beiting finished about 30 seconds behind strong and trailed closely by Bourbon County’s Bethany Simpson.

Beiting led a trio of Knights who finished in the top six, vaulting them past Scott — 37-44 — for the girls’ team title.

The first 400 meters or so of the course are downhill and flat, encouraging sprint-like starts that can quickly take the wind out of less-aware runners.

“Our first mile was very fast and we’ve been warned before the race to go a little bit slower, a little bit more controlled, but our pack went out pretty fast,” Beiting said. “Then we just tried to maintain it throughout the race. But it was fun.”

LCA dominates

Lexington Christian Academy swept the team titles at the Class A Region 4 meet to close the afternoon. The boys upended Augusta 64-87 despite placing no runners in the top five before the girls crushed their competition.

After Trimble County star Kinley Kunkel crossed the finish line to win her first region title, it was all LCA in the girls’ race. Eagles took spots 2-6, all coming in within a 34-second span of one another. They defeated runner-up Frankfort 20-88.

LCA’s girls won their first state title last year.

“This season’s been kind of interesting ’cause we won state last year so it just felt like there was a lot of pressure this year,” said Llliian Samford, the individual runner-up and lone senior among LCA’s top five runners. “But after a finish like that, with all of us one after the other, it does so much for individual, but also team confidence. I’m personally very excited for next weekend.

Anna Dawahare, the youngest of the five, finished third on Saturday. The eighth-grader’s advice to future runners who try to tackle the course:

“Just focus on those last hills,” Dawahare said with a laugh.

CLASS 3A, REGION 6

Boys’ teams: 1. Lafayette 49, 2. Tates Creek 66, 3. Paul Laurence Dunbar 70, 4. Clark County 122, 5. Great Crossing 133.

Individuals: 1. Philip Lamartiniere, Tates Creek, 15:39.63; 2. Ryan Hendrix, Woodford County, 15:48.87; 3. Noah Mathews, Dunbar, 16:01.14; 4. Jase Crume, Woodford County, 16:17.91; 5. Forrest Gago, Tates Creek, 16:22.89; 6. Gabe Smith, Lafayette, 16:32.33; 7. Alex Young, Dunbar, 16:33.57; 8. Canaan Thomas, Henry Clay, 16:47.18; 9. Max McGee, Lafayette, 16:54.46; 10. Jackson Profitt, Lafauette, 17:00.27.

Girls’ teams: 1. Woodford County 76, 2. Lafayette 80, 3. Paul Laurence Dunbar 94, 4. Henry Clay 97, 5. Tates Creek 109.

Girls’ individuals: 1. Addison Moore, Woodford County, 18:31.20; 2. Anna Gedritis, Dunbar, 19:07.00; 3. Eden Anderson, Frederick Douglass, 19:44.60; 4. Billie Phemister, Henry Clay, 19:52.60; 5. Susanne Estepp, Dunbar, 20:02.80; 6. Caroline Warren, Henry Clay, 20:12.50; 7. Sophia Anderson, Frederick Douglass, 20:35.70; 8. Sophia Cahill, Lafayette, 20:46.20; 9. Ava Plumb, Montgomery County, 21:01.10; 10. Katie Schweigardt, Tates Creek, 21:05.30.

CLASS 2A, REGION 4

Boys’ teams: 1. Highlands 40, 2. Bourbon County 55, 3. Lexington Catholic 91, 4. Scott 96, 5. Western Hills 127.

Boys’ individuals: 1. Jon Eades, Western Hills, 16:30.73; 2. Caden Schroeder, Highlands, 17:14.24; 3. Malcolm Robertson, Highlands, 17:25.11; 4. Bryce Watkins, Bourbon County, 17:38.71; 5. Asher Feddock, Lexington Catholicc, 17:48.12; 6. Jesus Mendoza-Solis, Bourbon County, 17:57.49; 7. Jacob Gubser, Highlands, 18:14.03; 8. Reeves McCullough, Lexington Catholic, 18:18.04; 9. Christopher Wells, Bourbon County, 18:25.35; 10. Chase Pawsat, Highlands, 18:27.57.

Girls’ teams: 1. Lexington Catholic 37, 2. Scott 44, 3. Highlands 66, 4. Bourbon County 84, 5. Franklin County 147

Girls’ individuals: 1. Maddie Strong, Scott, 18:43.70; 2. Caroline Beiting, Lexington Catholic, 19:12.20; 3. Bethany Simpson, Bourbon County, 19:19.40; 4. Cate Conklin, Lexington Catholic, 19:32.50; 5. Ella Taylor, Highlands, 20:47.60; 6. Amelia Monohan, Lexington Catholic, 20:50.00; 7. Grace Klim, Scott, 20:56.80; 8. Ansley Lindloff, Scott, 21:00.60; 9. Eden Brumer, Highlands, 21:13.80; 10. Kylie Hernandez, Bourbon County, 21:19.00.

CLASS A, REGION 5

Boys’ teams: 1. Lexington Christian 64, 2. Augusta 87, 3. Nicholas County 143, 4. Danville 144, 5. Frankfort 147.

Boys’ individuals: 1. Grayson Miller, Augusta, 17:17.83; 2. Collin Shay, Gallatin County, 17:26.97; 3. Maddox Donovan, Nicholas County, 17:32.92; 4. Ty Balser, Model, 17:39.41; 5. Bryant Curtis, Augusta, 17:46.94; 6. Cole Roberson, LCA, 17:56.32; 7. Tyler Cammack, Owen County, 18:04.74; 8. Bruce Hayden, Paris, 18:06.74; 9. Jaxon Byall, LCA, 18:06.92; 10. Sahil Kutty-Poffenberger, Model, 18:14.53

Girls’ teams: 1. Lexington Christian 20, 2. Frankfort 88, 3. Frankfort 113, 4. Trimble County 114, 5. Danville 121

Girls’ individuals: 1. Kinley Kunkel, Trimble County, 20:09.68; 2. Lillian Samford, LCA, 21:00.95; 3. Anna Dawahare, LCA, 21:09.84; 4. Annalise Randles, LCA, 21:16.93; 5. Jenna Raye Hopper, LCA, 21:19.75; 6. Annie Sewell, LCA, 21:34.17; 7. Rebecca Kainer, Trimble County, 21:34.96; 8. Addison Hill, Danville Christian, 21:42.53; 9. Kenzie Barber, Frankfort, 22:05.41; 10. Alexis Moran, Owen County, 22:00.96

This story was originally published October 23, 2022 at 10:47 AM.