By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Three weeks after his record-setting performance in the Kentucky high school cross country boys state meet, Cooper senior Eric Van Laningham qualified for the NXN national meet sponsored by Nike.
In the Southeast qualifying race on Saturday in Cary, N.C., Van Laningham placed third in a field of 264 boys high school runners from 12 states. He completed the 5,000-meter course in 14 minutes, 52.7 seconds, which was seven seconds behind winning runner Andrew Beroset of Florida.
Covington Catholic senior Joe Mayer placed 14th in the qualifier with a time of 15:19.6. But only the top five finishers advance to the national meet to be held Saturday, Dec.6 in Portland, Oregon.
Last year, Van Laningham placed 33rd in the Nike national meet.
During the high school season, Van Laningham recorded the state’s fastest time (14:39.50). He won the Class 3A boys state meet in 15:01.12, eclipsing the course record (15:19.87) he set last year.
He’s the first Northern Kentucky cross country runner to win the Class 3A boys state title twice.
The next race on Van Laningham’s schedule is a region qualifier for the Brooks Cross Country Championships on Saturday in Charlotte, N.C. In that one, he’ll compete with runners from 14 states, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands for 10 qualifying spots in a national meet that’s scheduled for Dec. 13 in San Diego.
Van Laningham has made a verbal commitment with the University of Wisconsin. He’ll be joining a men’s cross country team that placed 19th in this year’s NCAA Division I championship meet.
Basketball teams will face perennial power this season
Cooper, Simon Kenton and Notre Dame, the top three teams in the Northern Kentucky girls basketball coaches preseason poll, scheduled games against five-time defending state champion Louisville Sacred Heart this season.
Sacred Heart has home games against Cooper on Dec. 13 and Simon Kenton on Feb. 13. The Valkyries will end the regular season with a game at Notre Dame on Feb. 20.
The Louisville team had won 92 consecutive games against in-state opponents until Simon Kenton broke that streak last season with a 75-70 win in overtime.
The Pioneers have all five starters returning from that 8th Region championship team.
Dixie Heights, ranked No. 6 in the local coaches poll, has a home game against Sacred Heart on Jan. 22. The Valkyries will also play in the Hoops 4 Harvest at Dixie Heights on Dec. 6. Their opponent will be Winton Woods of Ohio.
Cooper graduate leads college basketball team in scoring
Cooper graduate Liz Freihofer is the leading scorer on the Eastern Kentucky University women’s basketball team that’s averaging 80 points per game after a 5-1 start this season.
The sophomore guard is averaging 15.8 points and has team-high shooting percentages of 47.8 (22 of 46) from 3-point range and 88.2 (15 of 17) at the free throw line. She’s also the Colonels’ second leading rebounder with 6.2 per game.
Freihofer was unanimously selected to the preseason all-conference team by coaches in the Atlantic Sun Conference. She received that honor because last season she averaged 11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and made 70 3-pointers as a freshman.