State XC recap: Madison Central phenom closes career with unprecedented victory
In more than 70 years of Kentucky high school cross country, no athlete had won more than four state titles.
That’s no longer the case as of Saturday. Ciara O’Shea, the fastest distance runner in the state’s history, claimed her fifth straight championship to cap a generational career for Madison Central. The University of North Carolina commit came in at 17:07.60, and was the final winner to cross the finish line at this year’s KHSAA State Cross Country Championships presented by UK HealthCare.
Her time fell short of a personal best — on Oct. 1, she became the second girl in Kentucky history to run a 5K in under 17 minutes (16:52.10) — but was more than good enough to set the course and meet records at hilly Bourbon County Park.
If you saw her after the race, you wouldn’t have guessed that she’d just ran the third-fastest 5K in Kentucky history. A brief clutching of her knees after crossing the finish line was her only visible sign of struggle.
“Getting those cheers coming up the final hill, hearing all the support that you get from everyone here in Kentucky lining the finish line, and getting to see all my friends and family who supported me today, they kind of keep me energized and in a good mood after races,” O’Shea said.
Her effort helped Madison Central finish fourth in the team standings, highest among non-Louisville area programs. O’Shea was more determined to have a good experience in the final meet with her fellow Indians than anything else on Saturday.
“No matter what happened today, it was my final race getting to rep MCXC,” O’Shea said, “so I just wanted to compete the best that I could, have one last big race for the team and see what I could do.”
What does a five-time state champion most look forward to after another record-breaking season?
“Ice cream and cookie dough,” O’Shea said with a laugh. “I cannot wait.”
‘I wasn’t supposed to win this race’
Prior to an on-camera interview, Covington Catholic’s Will Sheets took a swig of water and offered a self-aware admission.
“I wasn’t supposed to win this race,” he said, acknowledging that his victory in the Class 3A boys’ championship was a surprise to him as much as it was most in watching from the crowd.
Sheets ran a PR time of 15:28.20, his third sub-16 minute time in his last five races and 16 seconds faster than his previous best set on Oct. 1. It was the third-fastest time in Class 3A and the fifth-fastest among all KHSAA runners this season.
The sophomore was seeded seventh after finishing runner-up with a time of 15:58.21 at the Region 5 meet last week. He didn’t lead on Saturday until about the 3,000-meter mark.
“I thought top five would be a tough goal to get,” Sheets said. “I was sitting right there at 1.5 (miles) and I was like, ‘Let’s do it, let’s go for it.’ That’s all you can do.”
Before this month, Sheets had only one top-five finish in his 5K career. His only other career victory occurred two weeks ago in the Diocese of Covington Championships.
Paul Laurence Dunbar sophomore Noah Mathews was about 12 second behind Sheets, finishing with a PR time of 15:40.60. It was a strong bounce back for Mathews, who last weekend ran third in the Region 6 meet. He finished well ahead of the two who beat him there, Tates Creek’s Philip Martiniere (16:12.50, 14th) and Ryan Hendrix of Woodford County (16:33.10, 22nd).
“I led too much of the race (last week) and I just learned what I need to work on,” Mathews said. “I need to go out slower and maybe push through two miles and three miles a little harder, and that’s what I did today.”
Mathews said he and Sheets were near one another at about the 4K mark. The CovCath sophomore built some distance and Mathews was unable to make up for it.
“I’m happy to take second,” Mathews said with a grin. “… We just pushed each other and it came down to the end. It was fun.”
Conner managed to win the boys’ team title in slightly less dominating fashion than they did a year ago. The Cougars won their first championship last season by scoring the fifth-, sixth-, eighth-, 10th- and 11th-place runners. This year they had runners No. 4, 8, 9, 12 and 40 to defeat runner-up St. Xavier 73-154.
LexCath repeats
Four of the top 12 finishers in Friday’s Class 2A girls’ race hailed from Lexington Catholic, giving the Knights their second straight team title.
Cate Conklin crossed first for LexCath. The junior finished in 19:10.27, about six seconds ahead of sophomore teammate Caroline Beiting, who got the better of her in the Region 4 meet last Saturday in Lexington and gave the Knights two top-five finishers for the second straight season.
“Me and her have always been close together,” Conklin said in a phone interview. “When we were younger, I would be ahead ’cause I was the older one. As the years have gone on, she’s gotten so good. I’ve loved being with her through all of it and am just so proud to watch her improve.
“It’s always fun to have a childhood friend to train with and race with.”
LexCath narrowly defeated Scott for the Region 4 team title last weekend. The Eagles were the No. 2 team again this weekend, but the margin was much wider. Scott standout Maddie Strong, a junior, won her first individual title and Ansley Lindloff finished 10th, but the next best Scott runner finished 17th.
The Knights entered with high expectations after winning their first state title since 1984 a year ago, but their hopes were challenged midweek as Conklin battled a stomach bug. She wasn’t able to train as effectively as she hoped, but managed to finish with a PR time and in the same place she did a year ago.
They knew that Scott would put up a strong challenge to their repeat bid, but also that they could only control their own races.
“Nothing else really matters, all you have to do is go out and run,” Conklin said. “You’re only going to be in pain for 19 or 20 minutes of your life. You just have to go out, give it your all and have fun, because it’s the last race of the season.”
The top three finishers in the Class 2A boys’ race finished within an eight-second span. Thomas Nelson sophomore Riku Sugie broke through for his first title, followed shortly by North Oldham junior Adam Patel. Bell County senior Caden Miracle, the defending state champion, finished third.
Party time
The second-fastest runners in both of last year’s Class A races returned as seniors with one thing on their mind — and got it.
Dixon Ryan of St. Henry and Haley Schoenegge of Kentucky Country Day won their respective races after leading wire-to-wire. Schoenegge ran the best time of her career, improving her PR by about 19 seconds with a 19:00.30. Ryan was just a few seconds off his PR with a 16:03.83, about 15 seconds faster than runner-up Nathan Ruth, a junior from Bishop Brossart.
Schoenegge’s mother, Jennifer, was near the finish line taking photos for running website Milesplit. Haley collapsed into her mother’s arms for a few seconds before proceeding back to KCD’s tent.
“My parents have been so supportive through all of this,” Haley said. “My dad’s the assistant coach, so it’s so nice seeing both of them at the finish line and I’m running towards them. I know that no matter what, they’re proud of me.”
St. Henry placed four runners in the top 15 to win its 18th team title. Ryan became the sixth Crusader to win a boys’ individual title and the first since 2007.
“Everybody wants to be part of a good team,” Ryan said.
Beechwood’s Lily Parke was the nearest challenger to Schoenegge. The freshman crossed 29 seconds later and led the Tigers to their first team title. Beechwood edged Lexington Christian, 65-76, to unseat the defending Class A champs on the girls’ side.
“We’re gonna have a fun bus ride back,” Parke said. “Our team is like family, so we’re really excited to do this all together. We all ran for each other. We worked all season and put it all out there today.”
Freshman Annie Sewell was the first LCA runner to finish. She PR’d with a time of 20:25.60, more than a minute better than her time in last season’s championship. Eighth-grader Anna Dawahare (20:41.80) and junior Jenna Raye Hopper (20:44.20) also PR’d for the Eagles.
LCA took its runner-up finish in good stride.
“We’re gonna go to Joe Bologna’s, eat some good food and just party ’til track season starts,” Sewell said.
KHSAA STATE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Bourbon County Park
(Top 10 teams and individuals)
Class 3A boys’ teams: 1. Conner 73, 2. St. Xavier 154, 3. Covington Catholic 161, 4. Apollo 249, 5. Manual 265, 6. Lafayette 279, 7. Meade County 288, 8. Eastern 293, 9. Madisonville 323, 10. Cooper 327.
Class 3A boys’ individuals: 1. Will Sheets, Covington Catholic, 15:28.20; 2. Noah Mathews, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 15:40.60; 3. Tiger Bartlett, Ryle, 15:44.00; 4. Thoma Ashby, Apollo, 15:47.70; 5. George Johnson, Conner, 15:52.30; 6. Sami Hattab, St. Xavier, 15:55.10; 7. Eli Oetken, Trinity, 15:56.30; 8. Samuel Walls, Bullitt Central, 15:57.00; 9. Drew Moore, Conner, 16:02.60; 10. Joey Carroll, Conner, 16:03.70.
Class 3A girls’ teams: 1. Manual 77, 2. Assumption 106, 3. Oldham County 132, 4. Madison Central 175, 5. South Warren 236, 6. Sacred Heart 282, 7. Rye 297, 8. Greenwood 311, 9. Campbell County 357, 10. Daviess County 358.
Class 3A girls’ individuals: 1. Ciara O’Shea, Madison Central, 17:07.60; 2. Jessica Secor, Manual, 18:07.60; 3. Tula Fawbush, Oldham County, 18:21.60; 4. Addison Moore, Woodford County, 18:33.40; 5. Shelby Lamb, Madison Central, 18:36.10; 6. Chesney McPherson, Barren County, 18:40.40; 7. Caroline Mooney, Bullitt East, 18:49.00; 8. Audrey Shelton, Grant County, 18:49.80; 9. Savannah Mooney, Bullitt East, 18:51.50; 10. Bailee Montgomery, Manual, 18:51.70.
Class 2A boys’ teams: 1. North Oldham 79, 2. Webster County 115, 3. Corbin 226, 4. Highlands 230, 5. Bell County 231, 6. East Jessamine 247, 7. Bourbon County 272, 8. LaRue County 301, 9. Calloway County 304, 10. Warren East 307.
Class 2A boys’ individuals: 1. Riku Sugie, Thomas Nelson, 15:38.43; 2. Adam Patel, North Oldham, 15:41.42; 3. Caden Miracle, Bell County, 15:46.02; 4. Brendan Nagle, John Hardin, 16:05.51; 5. Layden Wagoner, Webster County, 16:23.59; 6. Garrett West, Webster County, 16:28.52; 7. Casey DeSilvey, Spencer County, 16:30.35; 8. Jon Eades, Western Hills, 16:35.57; 9. Daniel Puckett, Calloway County, 16:36.24; 10. Jasper Smith, North Oldham, 16:43.08.
Class 2A girls’ teams: 1. Lexington Catholic 64, 2. Scott 100, 3. Elizabethtown 153, 4. Mason County 161, 5. North Oldham, 6. Christian Academy of Louisville 218 7. Highlands 235, 8. Taylor County 238, 9. Boyd County 260, 10. Corbin 270.
Class 2A girls’ individuals: 1. Maddie Strong, Scott, 18:41.98; 2. Abigail Bastin, Lincoln County, 18:54.03; 3. Bethany Simpson, Bourbon County, 19:08.91; 4. Cate Conklin, Lexington Catholic, 19:10.27; 5. Caroline Beiting, Lexington Catholic, 19:16.44; 6. Ella Johnson, Elizabethtown, 19:17.82; 7. Isabella Day, LaRue County, 19:29.38; 8. Paige Decker, Mason County, 19:59.44; 9. Joanna Bryant, Lexington Catholic, 20:02.75; 10. Ansley Lindloff, Scott, 20:03.65.
Class A boys’ teams: 1. St. Henry 53, 2. Villa Madonna 103, 3. Highlands Latin 111, 4. Bethlehem 147, 5. Bishop Brossart 241, 6. Augusta 335, 7. Lexington Christian 343, 8. Dawson Springs 345, 9. Williamstown 355, 10. Collegiate 388.
Class A boys’ individuals: 1. Dixon Ryan, St. Henry, 16:03.83; 2. Nathan Ruth, Bishop Brossart, 16:18.49; 3. James Gurley, Collegiate, 16:33.04; 4. Lake Durrett, St. Henry, 16:33.45; 5. Collin Shay, Gallatin County, 16:34.98; 6. Jayden Marr, Green County, 16:38.65; 7. Isaac Riggs, Bethlehem, 16:42.54; 8. Roman Sierpina, Collegiate, 16:43.52; 9. Wyatt Sunday, Covington Holy Cross, 16:44.80; 10. Ethan Martin, Villa Madonna, 16:48.80.
Class A girls’ teams: 1. Beechwood 65, 2. Lexington Christian 76, 3. St. Henry 151, 4. Bishop Brossart 187, 5. St. Mary 214, 6. Kentucky Country Day 264, 7. Green County 288, 8. Sayre 288, 9. Louisville Collegiate 321, 10. Villa Madonna 344.
Class A girls’ individuals: 1. Haley Schoenegge, KCD, 19:00.30; 2. Lily Parke, Beechwood, 19:29.20; 3. Amy Klocke, Bishop Brossart, 19:36.90; 4. Gabby Ault, St. Mary, 19:46.00; 5. Meg Lubas, Fort Campbell, 20:10.10; 6. Kinley Kunkel, Trimble County, 20:15.50; 7. Isabelle Shearer, Jackson County, 20:20.30; 8. Annie Sewell, LCA, 20:25.60; 9. Abby Mabe, Lynn Camp, 20:26.70; 10. Isabel Ginter, Beechwood, 20:28.30.