By Matthew Dietz
NKyTribune sports reporter
Two Louisville teams have dominated the Class 3A boys state cross country meet with Trinity or St. Xavier claiming 11 of the past 12 state championships.
Last year, Conner placed second behind St. Xavier in the Class 3A season finale and the Cougars have their top five runners back to make another bid for their school’s first state championship in cross country this season.
“The last couple years, we’ve been building toward it, and hopefully we can fulfill that,” said Ian Johnstone, head coach of the Conner program.
The Cougars are a team that doesn’t rely on one standout performer. They train to run as a group, like they did in last year’s state meet when the times between Conner’s first and fifth finishers were just 26 seconds apart.
“Talent-wise, nobody is really head and shoulders above the others,” Johnstone said. “So they run together every day and I think they’re just used to that pack running, and it’s something that just developed over time.”
Conner’s top finisher in the 2020 state meet was Drew Moore, who placed 15th in a field of 282 runners. He was followed by teammates Logan Warth (18th), Joseph Impellitte (23rd), Ryan Hanak (32nd) and George Johnson (33rd).
But the Cougars’ team total of 116 points was second behind St. Xavier’s 93.
“I think it’s just tradition,” Johnstone said of the success Louisville teams have at the state meet. “I think they’ve done it before and they know they can do it, so it’s kind of tough to beat them.”
Conner qualified for the 2020 state meet by winning the Region 5 team title for the third straight year. Warth was the first runner across the finish line, followed by Impellitte (3rd), Hanak (fourth), Moore (6th) and Warren Johnson (20th). The team’s first four runners finished within 28 seconds of each other.
A byproduct of having such close times during races is one runner doesn’t have to serve as leader of the pack. All of them have shown their ability to be the front-runner.
“They’re really even,” Johnstone said. “One day it’s one guy, another day it’s a different guy.”
Conner’s distance runners took several weeks off after the high school track season ended in June. When workouts resumed, they focused on building their mileage back up in preparation for the fall. Johnstone said the team may run five or six miles on an easy day and then turn it up to 10-12 miles.
“We didn’t really get into a whole lot of organized practice until late July and they have just been slowly building their mileage,” Johnstone said. “Nothing too hard over the summer. It’s just a lot of just distance runs and some tempo training, not like race-pace repeats or anything this early in the season. We’re really just trying to get mileage on their legs and make sure they’re strong for the end of the season.”
None of Conner’s runners were born when Boone County brought home the last Class 3A boys state championship trophy to Northern Kentucky in 1990. Warth, Impelletti and Hanak are seniors who have one last chance to end that 31-year hiatus before they graduate.
“We really haven’t talked about that, but we might bring it up at some point,” Johnstone said. “I don’t really want the state meet to be hanging over their heads, I just want them to just be working on getting better and trying to run to their best of their ability.”
Johnstone doesn’t know what his runners would receive if they win Conner’s first state championship in cross country. He expects the school’s athletic departrment would give them something, possibly state championship rings.
“They would be ecstatic,” Johnstone said. “I think they’re aware that Northern Kentucky doesn’t have a whole lot of success in the state meet in 3A, so they would be real excited.”