Manual, St. X take titles at a muggy Tiger Run

Running in Saturday morning’s oppressive heat and humidity, Alena Sapienza-Wright said she felt like she was wearing a “huge sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants.”

However, the Manual High School junior ran unencumbered, keeping a cool demeanor and breezing to victory in the girls’ race of St. Xavier’s Tiger Run at Louisville Champions Park.

“I just feel the humidity coming off my skin,” the reigning Class 3-A state champion said immediately afterward as sweat poured from her pores. ”The beginning of the race wasn’t so bad. It just got progressively worse.”

Led by Sapienza-Wright, the Crimsons also captured the team title.

Meanwhile, Tates Creek senior Alex Mortimer won the boys’ race, and the host Tigers took home the team title.

GALLERY: Tiger Run Cross Country Invitational

GIRLS RACE

Sapienza-Wright covered the 5,000 meters in 18 minutes, 42.67 seconds, almost 16 seconds slower than her winning time in last year’s race, but not surprising given the conditions.

“The Tiger Run, it’s always an exciting race to run. It’s the first real meet of the season where all the teams get together from Louisville and see how each other are running,” she said. “(But) … it’s always hot. There’s some spots where there’s no shade, but I still enjoy coming here every year.

“This race, in particular, I definitely felt the heat. I think everyone felt the heat. It was definitely a hard race for me, even with leading for a majority of the time. I definitely had to stay focused and push myself.”

Sapienza-Wright’s teammate, senior Emma Kuntz, was second in 20:03.35. Simon Kenton sophomore Sophia DeLisio (20:04.19), South Oldham senior Hallie Searcy (20:09.12) and Christian Academy of Louisville eighth-grader Kaylee Wilson (20:12.6) rounded out the top five.

Led by Sapienza-Wright, Kuntz and junior Jordan Grantz, who finished eighth, the Crimsons cruised to the team title with 47 points. A pair of freshmen, Myecia Bright and Katie Hoerig, helped round out Manual’s team score by finishing 15th and 21st respectively.

“It was just very exciting and I’m very proud of how we ran today,” Sapienza-Wright said.

Floyd Central (Ind.), led by juniors Kyley Sorg, Erica Batliner and Faith Barba, who were 10th, 13th and 16th respectively, was second with 80 points. Simon Kenton (95), South Oldham (130) and Christian Academy of Louisville (189) rounded out the top five. The Dragons were led by Searcy and fellow senior Haley Webb, who was sixth, while Wilson paced the Centurions.

The top Southern Indiana finisher was Providence senior Bayley Wade, who finished ninth.

Some of the Kentucky’s top teams chose not to race some of their top runners.

BOYS RACE

Mortimer, 13th in this race last year, won the boys’ race in 16:05.50, nearly eight seconds faster than runner-up Patrick Schaeffer.

“I was expecting the race to go out a little bit faster than it did. Then about a quarter of a mile in I was feeling good, so I was like, ‘You know what, I’m just going to go for it,’” said Mortimer, who was 21st in the 3-A State meet last fall. “So I just stayed comfortable. I really didn’t want to go out too fast, though, because of the heat.

“I just stayed tough. Then the last mile or so, I started to hear fans for Patrick Schaeffer from St. X start cheering, so that made me really grind out that last half-mile harder than I would have liked to. But it was a good way to open up the season.”

Schaeffer wasn’t the only Tiger on Mortimer’s tail. St. X swept places 5-8, with senior Ryan Guenthner, sophomore Grady Shiflet, junior Cooper Marchal and sophomore Zachary Larkin, on its way to the team title. The Tigers, the reigning 3-A state champs who returned five of their top seven runners from last season, tallied 28 points.

“What we did today was beyond my expectations,” St. X coach Chuck Medley said. “To do that well, this early in the season, I was pretty happy with it, but I know Trinity’s going to get better too.”

The runner-up Shamrocks, who finished with 69 points, were led by juniors Trevor Warren, who was third (16:25.90), and Jacob Burnam, who took 10th. Manual was third (136), led by senior Yared Nuguse, who finished fourth (16:35.60).

The top Southern Indiana finisher was New Albany senior James Haller, who took 12th. The Bulldogs finished sixth in the team race.