A heavy rainfall didn’t stop runners in the Owensboro Invitational cross country meet Saturday morning. Despite the downpour, more than 20 teams competed at the elementary, middle and high school levels at Yellow Creek Park.
Top 20 individual medals, as well as school trophies for the top three teams, were awarded in both the boys and girls divisions.
HIGH SCHOOL RACES
The high school 5K races, which took place between elementary and middle school competition, got started just as the heavy rain started to fall. Apollo’s girls took the top prize behind a first-place finish from Sammi Roberts (20:37.00). Owensboro also had a pair of girls compete as individuals.
Other scoring runners for the E-Gals (42 points) were Abby Rumage (7th, 22:28.32), Angel King (10th, 22:39.37), Baylee Hare (11th, 22:43.69) and Kaitlyn Alvey (13th, 23:47.07).
Owensboro’s runners were Katia Villapondo (27:01.19) and Alondra Villapondo (29:23.43).
In the boys’ race, Owensboro Catholic’s Austin Stallings (16:15.56) blew away the competition for first place, though the Aces (132 points) came in fifth as a team. Apollo (55) came in second, while Owensboro (155) finished sixth.
Scoring runners for the Eagles were Blake Rigdon (5th, 17:50.65), Ethan Dych (8th, 18:04.27), Ryan Payne (12th, 18:17.99), Leland Smith (13th, 18:23.59) and Jake Alvey (17th, 18:37.80).
The Aces also got scoring from runners Jude Neal (20th, 18:51.64), Logan Jones (31st, 19:36.20), Ty Gatton (37th, 20:26.12) and Wes Blondin (43rd, 21:04.99).
Scoring for Owensboro were Gavin Miller (16th, 18:36.43), Nathaniel Turner (25th, 19:00.90), Timothy Payne (28th, 19:16.21), Jonathan Coleman (40th, 20:39.48) and Clayton Rhoads (46th, 21:33.10).
MIDDLE SCHOOL RACES
The middle school boys’ and girls’ teams raced together due to the rainy conditions. The times were not available for either division.
The top girls’ 3K finisher was Lucy Spaw from Burns Middle School (57), who took third as a team. Kayley Payne and Bentlei Stallings came in second and third to lead DCMS (28) to victory. College View (57) finished in third with the help of fifth-place finisher Mallory Velotta.
Other scorers for Daviess County included Sally Tidwell (4th), Raylee Roby (8th) and Anna Robinson (11th). Scoring for CVMS were Kayla Jones (7th), Alexis Jones (9th), Katherine Tillman (12th) and Dakota McCaslin (16th). Burns’ scoring runners also included Natalie Winfield (6th), Alexis Case (13th), Sarah Rice (20th).
The first-place boys finisher was Thomas Ashby from Burns. Nolan Kurz of DCMS placed second overall, and Bryson McGary of College View Middle School placed third. Daviess County (37) finished first, followed by College View (52), Burns (75) and Owensboro (81).
Other scorers for DCMS include Caleb Tidwell (4th), Toby Morris (5th), David Gillaspie (7th) and Evan Howe (19th). College View got scoring from Zach McCaslin (8th), Jack Hamilton (12th), Matthew Rhoads (14th) and William Randolph (15th).
Burns scorers included blake Mullins (10th), Joshua Thomas (13th), Travis Barber (24th) and Ethan Clements (27th). Owensboro’s scoring runners were Tres Farmer (6th), Jacob Coleman (11th), Walker Smith (17th), Beckett Gilmore (21st) and Will WIlson (26th).
ELEMENTARY RACES
The elementary races kicked off before the rain began, and the local teams finished on top in the 1K events. In the girls’ race, Sadie Morris (4:18.49) was the top finisher, leading Daviess County Middle School (24 points) to victory. Other scoring runners for DCMS were Charlotte Waldron (3rd, 4:37.34), Jordis Velotta (5th, 4:41.00), Aliya Murphy (7th, 4:43.97) and Lauren Clark (8th, 4:45.08).
Burns Middle School (75) took second behind scoring runners Kirii Mattingly (9th, 4:45.70), Payton French (13th, 4:57.62), Sophia Brand (16th, 5:04.78), Aurora Brand (18th, 5:06.92) and Olivia Hooker (19th, 5:14.96).
Owensboro Middle School (89) finished third thanks to scoring runners Kianna November (2nd, 4:24.57), Kiley Palmer (6th, 4:42.27), Samantha Brown (12th, 4:56.53), Nikiyah Voyles (28th, 5:35.07) and Addison Dosset (34th, 6:07.93).
In the boys’ race, Camryn Edge (4:08.43) finished first to lead the Daviess County Middle School team to first place (18 points). Other scoring runners for DCMS were Logan Higdon (2nd, 4:14.50), Trent Coomes (4th, 4:25.41), Brody Holbrook (5th, 4:28.89), and Brody Clark (6th, 4:30.11).
Owensboro Middle School (52) took second place and was led by Merrick Joska (3rd, 4:17.75). Other scoring runners for OMS were Dallas Perez (10th, 4:35.30), Jaxon Weissend (12th, 4:41.62), Nash Miller (13th, 4:41.94) and Owen Moore (14th, 4:43.31).
About the writer: Laura Murphy is an 8th Grade LA teacher at Daviess County Middle School. She has three kids who keep her life interesting: Jonah, Lily, and Josiah. She survives on Grape Spark, Jon Gordon books and all things Grumpy Cat.
