By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Scott junior Maddie Strong won the Class 2A girls state cross country meet and led her team to a second-place finish on Friday at the Bourbon County 5,000-meter course in Paris.
In the last three state meets, Strong placed third as an eighth-grader and fourth as a freshman and sophomore. Her winning time of 18:41 Friday was nearly a minute faster than her fourth-place time last year.
Strong is the sixth Northern Kentucky girl to win the Class 2A state meet and the first Scott runner to do it since 1993.
Lexington Catholic won the girls team title with 64 points, followed by Scott with 100. The other scoring runners for the Eagles were sophomore Ansley Lindloff (10th), eighth-grader Grace Klim (18th) and juniors Lorin Neal (35th) and Ellie Stratman (43rd).
Two Highlands runners were among the top 25 finishers with eighth-grader Ella Taylor placing 15th and senior Eden Brumer coming in 22nd.
North Oldham won the Class 2A boys state title with 79 points and Highlands placed fourth with 203. The winning runner was Thomas Nelson sophomore Riku Sugie in 15:38. The top local finisher was Highlands senior Caden Schroeder, who came in 13th.
The state cross country meet continues Saturday with four races at the Bourbon County course in Paris. The starting times are 10 a.m. for Class 1A boys, 11 a.m. for Class 1A girls, 3 p.m. for Class 3A boys and 4 p.m. for Class 3A girls.
Last year, Conner won the Class 3A boys state championship and St. Henry finished on top in the Class 1A boys team standings.