By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Claire Curtsinger became the first Brossart runner to finish first in a state cross country meet on Saturday and she led the Mustangs to their third Class 1A girls team title in the last four years.
Curtsinger completed the 5,000-meter course at Bourbon County in 19 minutes, 42 seconds. Two of her teammates — Amy Klocke and Sadie Hartig – followed her across the finish line. Brossart’s next two finishers were Olivia Holbrook (seventh) and Cara Bertsch (33rd).
After adjusting the place scoring without individual state qualifiers, the Mustangs topped the team standings with 36 points. Kentucky Country Day took second place with 96 points and Villa Madonna was third with 118.
Brossart won back-to-back Class 1A girls team titles in 2017 and 2018 and placed second in last year’s meet before regaining the championship trophy on Saturday.
Curtsinger wasn’t among the top 10 finishers in the three previous state meets, but the junior won this season finale by a 23-second margin. She became the first Northern Kentucky runner to win the Class 1A girls state meet since 2004.
Highlands senior Maggie Schroeder won the Class 2A girls state meet on Friday. The last time Northern Kentucky had two state cross country champions in the same season was 1993.
In the other state cross country meets on Saturday, St. Henry placed second in Class 1A boys, Conner placed second in Class 3A boys and Ryle placed third in Class 3A girls.
Two St. Henry runners were the top local finishers in the Class 1A boys meet with sophomore Dixon Ryan coming in sixth and freshman Lake Durrett placing eighth. Their team scored 81 points and Louisville Holy Cross won the small-school state title with 61 points.
Louisville St. Xavier outscored Conner, 92-116, to win the team title in the Class 3A boys state meet. Conner’s lead runners were sophomore Drew Moore (14th) and junior Logan Warth (18th). The top local finishers in the Class 3A girls state meet were Ryle runners Angelina Harris (11th), Allie Kopser (18th) and Cara Weber (19th).
Here are the top 10 times recorded by local runners who competed in the three classes at the state meet:
BOYS TOP 10 TIMES
Drew Moore (Conner) 16:54, Logan Warth (Conner) 16:58, Joseph Impellitte (Conner) 17:05, Dixon Ryan (St. Henry) 17:18, Dominic Taylor (CovCath) 17:19, Ryan Hanak (Conner) 17:20, George Johnson (Conner) 17:20, Noah Slone (Campbell County) 17:23. Ethan Wever (CovCath) 17:23, Lake Durrett (St. Henry) 17:28.
GIRLS TOP 10 TIMES
Maggie Schroeder (Highlands) 19:16, Claire Curtsinger (Brossart) 19:42, Angelina Harris (Ryle) 19:59, Maddie Strong (Scott) 20:04, Amy Klocke (Brossart) 20:05, Sadie Hartig (Brossart) 20:16, Allie Kopser (Ryle) 20:22, Cara Weber (Ryle) 20:22, Dyllan Hasler (Scott) 20:24, Ashlyn Vanlandingham (Conner) 20:37.