LEXINGTON, Ky. – Louisville-area runners finished second and third in both the boys and girls KHSAA Class 2-A State Cross Country Meet on Saturday, while the North Oldham boys earned their sixth straight title and the girls finished second.
“Each one gets a little sweeter,” said North Oldham boys coach David St. Louis. “The amount of challenges that you run into each year makes it that way. We’re pretty excited about that.”
What challenges were unique to this year?
“To start with our bus didn’t show up for the state meet,” laughed St. Louis. “But there were different things. Alex McClarty (third) was laid up for three weeks in August with a broken tail bone. Mason Beard (14th) has battled a kidney issue and never run a state meet before. Zeke Gillette (26th) had never run at state before. They were 3 and 5 for us. We were more inexperienced than we’re used to, so it was a different challenge in terms of experience and understanding what our limitations were, things like that.”
MORE COVERAGE | Dowdy, Sapienza-Wright, St. X win Class 3-A titles
GALLERY | Class 2-A state cross country meet
Ethan Shuley of Highlands won with a time of 15:33.47. Trenton Fryman and McClarty of North Oldham followed. And David Jacobs finished fifth to help Shelby County finish third overall.
“We’re pretty happy,” Shelby County coach Andrew Danner said. “The first goal of the season was to improve on our fourth place from last year. It was nice to move up a spot.”
Other Louisville-area boys who finished in the top 15 were Shelby County runners David Jacobs (5th), Matthew Paverd (8th), and Kory Eades (13th), as well as Steven Ott of Christian Academy of Louisville (15th).
On the girls side, Erin Edmundson of North Oldham finished second behind Michaela Reinhart of Lexington Catholic, who finished in 18:03.66. Clara Lynch of CAL was third.
“I think I had a really successful season and I’m really proud of that I did,” said Edmundson, who ran much of the race by herself with Reinhart 26 seconds in front of her and Lynch 16 seconds behind. “We had a really good start and I was trying to stay as close (to Reinhart) for as long as I could, but she just kind of pulled away.”
“I’m very pleased,” Lynch said. “I just wanted to come out here and make a personal record and enjoy the racing and enjoy the gift that God gave me.”
MORE COVERAGE | Thornsberry, Holy Cross boys finish runners-up at Class 1-A meet
GALLERY | Class 1-A state cross country meet
Edmundson and teammate Anna Costelle (13th) pushed the Mustangs to second behind Highlands and ahead of Lexington Catholic. Coach Brian Crumbo tipped his cap to Highlands.
“We would have liked to have won, but the kids ran really well and I can’t complain a bit,” he said. “We’re really proud of them. We’ve had a couple of kids sick the last couple of weeks but they came back and ran well today. Sometimes you run well and still get beat.”
Other local girls who finished in the top 15 were Madalyn O’Dea of CAL (8th) and Madeline Petty of Collins (15th). The top 15 runners all finished in under 20 minutes.
Boys Individual
1. Ethan Shuley, Highlands, 15:33.47
2. Trenton Fryman, North Oldham, 15:46.82
3. Alex McClarty, North Oldham, 15:53.35
4. Mitchell Shelton, Webster County, 15:58.14
5. David Jacobs, Shelby County, 16:06.68
6. Jarrett Mattingly, Thomas Nelson, 16:13.89
7. Christian Cole, Lex. Catholic, 16:19.75
8. Matthew Paverd, Shelby County, 16:22.65
9. Geoffrey Mearns, Highlands, 16:24.81
10. Chris Stoeckel, Scott, 16:26.23
11. Jacob England, Warren East, 16:26.32
12. Zachary Tucker, Wayne County, 16:38.57
13. Kory Eades, Shelby County, 16:40.92
14. Mason Beard, North Oldham, 16:42.25
15. Steven Ott, CAL, 16:43.84
Boys Team
1. North Oldham 61, 2. Highlands 71, 3. Shelby County 110, 4. Lex. Catholic 179, 5. Webster County 203, 15. Collins 427.
Girls Individual
1. Michaela Reinhart, Lex. Catholic, 18:03.66
2. Erin Edmundson, North Oldham, 18:29.95
3. Clara Lynch, CAL, 18:46.21
4. Victoria Dotson, Rockcastle County, 18:53.61
5. Ally Anderson, Boyle County, 19:01.80
6. Lauren Ossege, Highlands, 19:19.02
7. Maggie Schroeder, Highlands, 19:20.82
8. Madalyn O’Dea, CAL, 19:23.46
9. Haley Blevins, Mercer County, 19:23.54
10. Lauren Radenhausen, Scott, 19:26.22
11. Emma Steff, Warren East, 19:31.33
12. Chloe Gastright, Highlands, 19:53.75
13. Anna Costelle, North Oldham, 19:54.17
14. Courtney Gibson, Boyd County, 19:57.54
15. Madeline Petty, Collins, 19:59.08
Girls Team
1. Highlands 53, 2. North Oldham 85, 3. Lex. Catholic 197, 4. Casey County 217, 5. Elizabethtown 223, 7. Shelby County 267, 11. Collins 299.