By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The Covington Catholic boy cross country team that lost its top runner to an injury earlier in the season was still able to win the Class 2A, Region 4 championship with five of the top seven finishers in Saturday’s meet at Bourbon County Park.
CovCath junior Will Sheets, who won last year’s Class 3A state championship, has been sidelined with a hip injury for several weeks. But the first three runners across the finish line in the region meet were his teammates Joe Mayer (16:34), Michael Zechella (16:36) and Nolan Bonta (17:10.)
Beechwood sophomore Lily Parke won the Class 1A region meet for the second consecutive year. (File photo by Bob Jackson)
Luke McLane and Jackson German placed sixth and seventh to give the Colonels a team total of 19 points. Bourbon County was region runner-up with 47 points.
In the Class 1A, Region 4 meet at Grant County Park, defending state champion Beechwood took the girls team title by a wide margin and Brossart won a tiebreaker to place first in the boys teams standings.
Five of the first six finishers in the Class 1A girls meet were Beechwood runners with sophomore Lily Parke winning the race in 19 minutes, 48 seconds. Holy Cross eighth-grader Maggie Durrett placed second, followed by Beechwood runners Charli Gerrein, Nora Wilke, Annie Harris and Catie Hazzard.
Brossart and Villa Madonna tied for first place in the Class 1A boys team standings with 46 points. The sixth finisher for each team was used to break the tie and Brossart’s runner placed ahead of Villa Madonna’s runner.
The first two finishers in the boys race were Brossart senior Nathan Ruth (16:36) and Beechwood senior Sam Weldemichael (16:40).
The winning runners in the Class 3A, Region 5 meet at Grant County Park were Ryle senior Tiger Bartlett (15:41) and Scott senior Maddie Strong (19:15.), who was the Class 2A girls state champion last year.
Cooper won the boys team title by a 10-point margin over two-time defending state champion Conner. The front runner for Cooper was sophomore Paul Van Laningham, who placed third overall.
Ryle was the Class 3A girls team champion with junior Allison Kopser and eighth-grader Stella Carpenter placing third and fourth to lead the Raiders to the title.
The state championship cross country meet will be Saturday at the Kentucky Horse Park in Georgetown. The starting times are 10 a.m. for Class 1A boys, 10:45 a.m. for Class 1A girls, 12:30 p.m. for Class 2A boys, 1:15 p.m. for Class 2A girls, 3 p.m. for Class 3A boys and 3:45 p.m. for Class 3A girls.
Complete results for the region meets are posted on the khsaa.org website at these links:
Class 1A, Region 4 boys and girls
Class 2A, Region 4 boys and girls
Class 3A , Region 5 boys and girls
