The 2025 girls’ cross-country high school teams have a mix of returning and new runners, and many squads are setting high expectations this year.
Apollo: The E-Gals enter the year with Ava Falloway leading the way. A rising senior, she has qualified for the state meet in each of the last four seasons. She is joined by senior Kirii Mattingly, who head coach Charlie Shoulta stated brings a wealth of expereience. Senior Abbie Carmen also returns and Shoulta acknowledged he expects her to have one of the most significant leaps on the team this fall.
Shoulta has also been pleased with freshman Avery Boarman’s summer progress and is excited for transfer student Anna Stovall.
“I’m extremely excited about the upcoming season,” Shoulta said. “As a group, we’re focused on controlling what’s within our power and on making small improvements each day. I truly believe our program is moving in a very positive direction, and if we remain committed to that process and continue putting in the work each day, I believe we’ll be able to field our strongest team in recent years at the regional championship. The future of the Apollo Girls Distance program is bright.”
Daviess County: Fresh off finishing 10th at the state meet a year ago, the Lady Panthers enter the season with a new head coach in Les Orlow. Orlow is pleased with his team’s progress and their ability to pack up and run together. Daviess County returns multiple athletes from last year’s state roster, including Chaney Heady, Haley Wolfe, Mallory Raines, and Julia Zopiyactle.
Bentley Stallings and Kloee Gaynor also return, but are recovering from injuries. They are joined by up-and-comers Rylee Emmick, Kloee Gaynor, Marley Day, Chloe Kim, and Dakota McCaslin, while Anna King and Lily Kurz are new to the team.
“I am basically a teacher. I like teaching the philosophy of the girl and try and give them examples of how to run races,” Orlow said. “Cross country is a team sport, so I have been trying to instill that as much as possible. They do a really great job of running together, and they have been running and working together really well.”
Hancock County: The Lady Hornets enter the season looking to reach the KHSAA State Championship for a 30th straight year. Hancock County is looking to replace two of their top runners from a year ago, but return Ellen Meserve and Izzy Ross. The duo are coming off of a strong 2024 season in both cross-country and track and are looking to take the next step.
“These two should be a strong pair for us,” Hancock County head coach Wes Meserve said. “Our primary goal this season is to qualify for state for a 30th consecutive year. With us being so young, it’ll be a week-by-week, day-by-day process. We’re a small, young team with a lot to learn, but also a lot of potential.”
Owensboro: The Lady Devils graduated two athletes from last year’s roster but in their stead are seniors Abby Ladwig and Kiley Palmer. According to head coach Matt Morris, the duo has stepped up as leaders. Joining them are Sophomores Jersie Kline and Fatima Landero Luna and Morris said both have had a great summer preparing for the upcoming season and look to take big steps forward.
“The Lady Devils look to return as a team to the State Championships for the third time in four years,” Morris said. “Our team goal is to be more competitive as we have more experience competing at a much higher level.”
Owensboro Catholic: The reigning Class 1A Region 2 winning Lady Aces enter the season with a veteran-filled roster led by senior Anna Katherine Wathen and juniors Ainsley Sutter, Anna Booker, Ashlie Hayden, Caroline Wathen, Emree Coomes, and Peyton Reid.
“We hope to defend our region title again this year and improve on our 3rd place finish at state from last year,” Owensboro Catholic head coach Jaocb Reid said. “This summer, we have had a large group of middle school runners show up, several of whom are just getting started but showing great promise. Very excited to see how this group progresses over the season. Last year, Brian Neltner stepped in and started up our elementary program, which has just exploded. It’s looking very promising for the future of this program.”
