By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Covington Catholic winning its first Class 2A championship since 1994 and local teams sweeping the Class 1A boys and girls titles for the second straight year were among the storylines from the state cross country meet on Saturday at Kentucky Horse Park.
Brossart senior Nathan Ruth
CovCath won the Class 2A boys meet by a wide 62-151 margin over Mason County. The Colonels’ lead runner was junior Will Sheets, who placed third after sitting out much of the season with a hip injury.
In the Class 1A division, Beechwood repeated as girls state champion with a 28-point victory margin and Brossart won a tight scoring battle with Villa Madonna, 87-92, to take the boys team title for the first time since 2014.
Brossart senior Nathan Ruth won the boys race in 16:04. Beechwood’s top finishers in the girls race were sophomores Lily Parke and Nora Wilke, who placed second and third.
Cooper was runner-up in the Class 3A boys team standings and three local runners were among the top 10 finishers. Cooper sophomore Paul Van Laningham placed fourth in 15:41, the fastest time recorded by a local runner in Saturday’s state meet. Joey Carroll of Conner and Tiger Bartlett of Ryle, came in ninth and 10th.
Scott senior Maddie Scott came in fifth in the Class 3A girls state meet and recorded the best time (18:35) among local girls state qualifiers in all three classes. Ryle junior Allison Kopser placed 10th in the race and the Raiders were fifth in the team standings.
Here are the top 10 times recorded by local boys and girls who competed in three classes at Saturday’s state cross country meet:
BOYS TOP 10 TIMES
Paul Van Laningham (Cooper) 15:41, Joey Carroll (Conner) 15:56, Tiger Bartlett (Ryle) 15:57, Nathan Ruth (Brossart) 16:04, Will Sheets (CovCath) 16:10, Jonathan Christopher (Campbell County) 16:10, Nathan Hopper (Conner) 16:14, Salah Farah (Cooper) 16:22, Joe Mayer (CovCath) 16:22, Noah Miller (Cooper) 16:27.
GIRLS TOP 10 TIMES
Maddie Strong (Scott) 18:35, Allison Kopser (Ryle) 19:09, Lily Parke (Beechwood) 19:27, Olivia Holbrook (Campbell County) 19:53, Allie Atchley (Simon Kenton) 20:15, Nora Wilke (Beechwood) 20:20, Alexandra Burg (Notre Dame) 20:25. Maggie Durrett (Holy Cross) 20:28, Alexandra Rooney (Cooper) 20:29, Stella Ascherman (Ryle) 20:30.
For complete state meet results, go to the khsaa.com website.
