HIGH SCHOOL-KENTUCKY

St. Henry girls win cross country team title

James Weber
jweber@enquirer.com
Dixie Heights freshman Danielle Hooper 82 runs early in the race. KHSAA state cross country meet. Nov. 7, 2015. Kentucky Horse Park. Lexington KY

LEXINGTON - Winning state cross country championships at St. Henry District High School is almost expected, but not taken for granted.

The four seniors on this year's girls team helped set a new milestone for the program Saturday at Kentucky Horse Park. They won their fifth consecutive team championship in the 1A race, becoming the first St. Henry girls team to achieve that and only the second 1A girls team in the state to do (Frankfort Western Hills 1994-98).

"This is a really awesome experience for all of us," said senior Renee Svec. "It's really cool to continue the St. Henry tradition. Winning five in a row is special to us and to be able to give that to the underclassmen is really important for us to do."

Svec finished fifth individually in 19:39 to win an individual medal. Senior Holly Blades was 11th, senior Elizabeth Hoffman 12th and senior Abbey Epplen 17th, then junior Ellie Plapp was 28th. St. Henry scored 60 to beat second-place Beechwood (103).

"We just came out here and did what we were born to do," Epplen said. "Special thanks to our coach because he does so much for us and we're a family. We couldn't do it without each other."

St. Henry won its 18th overall title, a state record.

"Their freshman year, we were ranked 10th and they won state because of this group of freshmen. It's been a special group," said head coach Tony Harden. "Not only did these guys win four in a row but they got a fifth, and it's only been done once which is pretty cool. They worked hard for four years and I'm glad they got to go out the way they came in."

Beechwood reached its highest finish in the three-year history of its program, pacing an all-area sweep of the top five spots. Bishop Brossart was third, Walton-Verona fourth and Villa Madonna fifth. Local runners took up 12 of the top 21 spots and seven top-15 medals. Junior Haley Holbrook led Beechwood in eighth place. Kendall Schuler (14th) and Becca Schroer (15th) paced Brossart. Senior Celeste Bergman medaled for Holy Cross in 13th.

St. Henry led the 1A boys in third place, overall, led by senior Josh Hannon, who finished fifth and won the Kentucky National Guard Best and Brightest Award given to a standout senior. Brossart finished fifth overall led by Cody Chism in sixth and Adam Hartig in eighth. Villa Madonna had two individual medalists in Zack Werner (seventh) and John Komaromy-Hiller (12th) and Beechwood senior Grant Birindelli medalled in 15th.

Saturday was also a day of tradition and familiarity for Highlands, who celebrated repeat championships in Class 2A.

The girls team won its fourth consecutive title to set a school record and brought home their 10th overall title, second only to St. Henry. Senior Ethan Shuley ran 15:33 to win his second straight individual title.

"It's awesome," said senior Molly Mearns. "I'm really glad we could finally get four in a row since three in a row has been a Highlands tradition. We all just went out and did our best. We all know that some days some people run faster than others so it's nothing to stress over. Your just have to work as hard as you can."

Senior Lauren Ossege led the way in sixth, followed by seventh-grader Maggie Schroeder in seventh. Chloe Gastright medaled in 12th place. Karsen Hunter was 17th and Mearns 25th.
"We all make each other laugh," Ossege said. "We all know we're running for the right reasons. We're not running because we feel like we have to, we're running because we want to."

Shuley led the Bluebirds to second place in the team standings, scoring 71 points to finish 10 behind North Oldham (61). Geoffrey Mearns also medaled in ninth place.

"Overall we had a good day," Shuley said. "All of our teammates did their best, same for me. As an individual, it's great to see the hard work pay off, the tons of time I put into training. Winning that is always a fantastic goal for me to achieve."

Two Scott seniors medaled in 2A, Lauren Radenhausen placing 10th in girls and senior Chris Stoeckel 10th in boys.

Simon Kenton brought home two medals in Class 3A, as freshman Sophia DeLisio finished sixth and junior McKenzie Lachmann 11th. SK, the Region 5 champion, was the top local team in 10th place overall.

Ryle senior Justin Reed, the regional champion, was 19th in the state to lead the area. SK's Kyle Mastin was 26th and Cooper's Caleb Watson 41st. Covington Catholic was the top local team in the standings in 11th place and regional champ Cooper was 12th.