By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The winning runners in the Class 3A, Region 5 cross country races on Saturday are teammates and they both have family members who were also region champions.
Campbell County junior Lila Dunlevy repeated as girls champion with a 19:16 finish time on the 5000-meter course at Idlewild Park in Burlington. Her father, Brad, won back-to-back Class 1A boys region titles in 1990 and 1991.
Grant Holbrook, a senior on the Campbell County boys team, won Saturday’s second race in 15:43, the fastest time of the day. His older sister, Olivia, was a two-time Class 3A girls region champion in 2019 and 2022.
Based on times from Class 3A region meets across the state, Holbrook is seeded ninth and Dunlevy 12th among qualifiers for the state championship races on Saturday at Kentucky Horse Park.
The winning runners in the Class 1A boys and girls region races were Brossart sophomore Henry Kramer (16:25) and Villa Madonna eighth-grader Jasmin Cozmanciuc (20:01).
St. Henry moved up to Class 2A this year and junior Logan Vaniglia (16:10) placed first in the region boys race.
Beechwood won a tight scoring battle with Villa Madonna, 53-59, to take the Class 1A girls region team title and Brossart topped the boys team standings.
Covington Catholic returned to Class 3A and posted the best boys score with Ryle repeating as girls region champion. Lexington Catholic swept the Class 2A region team titles with Highlands placing second in both.
Kramer and Cozmanciuc are both seeded fifth going into the Class 1A boys and girls state meets. Local runners seeded fifth in Class 2A are Vaniglia and Highlands eighth-grader Morgan Ripley.
Cross country state championship meets
SATURDAY AT KENTUCKY HORSE PARK
CLASS 3A — Girls 10 a.m. / Boys 10:45a.m.
CLASS 2A — Girls 12:30 p.m. / Boys 1:15 p.m.
CLASS 1A — Girls 3 p.m. / Boys 3:45 p.m.