After strong showings in the regional meets Saturday, the boys and girls cross country teams for Apollo, Daviess County and Owensboro Catholic all advanced to the state championship. Owensboro will also send one runner to compete as an individual in the state meet, held Nov. 3 in Lexington.
The squads for Apollo, Daviess County and Owensboro all competed in the Region 1 Class AAA meet at Yellow Creek Park. Owensboro Catholic’s Region 2 Class A competition was held at the Hardin County Fairgrounds in Elizabethtown.
Read below for details on each race, followed by a full listing of all scoring runners for each local team.
REGION 1 CLASS AAA GIRLS
Daviess County senior Karlee Hoffman led for most of the girls race, but she finished second overall after she was out kicked by McCracken County’s Maggie Aydt. Hoffman’s time of 18:46.39 led the Lady Panthers to a dominant team victory.
“It was a good day,” Hoffman said. “We just had some hard training leading up to this race and I went too hot and was done by the end.”
Hoffman said she is looking forward to the state race and is looking for the team to pack tighter and finish strong.
Panthers head coach Mark Fortney said the girls team was solid with their performance. They scored 40 points, far outpacing second-place McCracken County’s 70 points.
“Whatever they did today was blamed on the training I’ve thrown at them the last couple weeks,” Fortney said. “We’ll be sharper next week.”
After failing to make it to state for several years, the Apollo girls team will make their second consecutive appearance after finishing fourth overall. Senior Sammi Roberts (20:07.26, 5th) lead the team.
Owensboro High School girls placed ninth as a team. With no one qualifying for state, the regional meet ends their season.
REGION 1 CLASS AAA BOYS
In the boys race, Apollo took second place and were led by sophomore Ethan Dych (17:16.13, 13th). Their team score of 82 points was just behind first-place Madisonville-North Hopkins’ score of 78. The Maroons were led by Christian Parker, who set a new course record on the boy’s side with a time of 15:22.74.
There was only a 12-second split for the Eagles’ top five runners, helping them earn the strong finish.
“A 12-second split is as good as any coach could ever ask for,” said Apollo head coach Charlie Shoulta. “Our guys ran absolutely wonderful. They trained all season specifically for this race.”
Shoulta said this season’s regional field is as tough as he’s ever seen in the last 10 years.
“Honestly there are five teams out here that realistically could have won,” he said. “When you have a team like Madisonville so crazy strong up front, you just do the best you can and hope for the best.
The first local runner to cross the finish was Daviess County sophomore Brady Terry (16:22.99, 4th), who said he thinks he went out too fast and got tired about the 2K mark but was still happy with where he finished.
“The last kick at the end was good,” he said. “Now we just need our team to work together to speed up some as we go into the state meet.”
The Panthers finished fourth overall with a score of 105.
While Owensboro High School did not secure a spot at the state meet as a team, junior Michael Ashley’s time of 17:33.35 was good for 22nd place, fast enough for him to go as an individual.
REGION 2 CLASS A GIRLS
The Owensboro Catholic girls (46 points) finished runner-up to Green County (44 points) and secured their spot in the state meet.
“Those girls ran phenomenal in some not-so-great conditions,” said coach Scott Lowe. “They were guttin’ it out. It was muddy, cold and windy, and the finish was uphill.”
REGION 2 CLASS A BOYS
The Owensboro Catholic boys also ran a tight race with Green County, but the Aces came out on top with a score of 26.
“We thought Green County was going to sweep the race on both sides,” Lowe said. “What it came down to was where Sean (Whitehouse), Jude (Neal) and Logan (Jones) finished. That’s how we got in the win — their fifth runner was with our fifth runner, and then all of sudden Jude passes him and then so does Logan. So we ganged up on their number five guy.”
RESULTS
REGION 1 CLASS AAA
GIRLS
Apollo (4th, 132 points)
1- Sammi Roberts (5th, 20:07.26)
2- Abby Rumage (27th, 21:52.36)
3- Kaitlyn Alvey (32nd, 22:24.86)
4- Angel King (33rd, 22:29.07)
5- Caroline Boarman (35th, 22:40.38)
Daviess County (1st, 40 points)
1- Karlee Hoffman (2nd, 18:46.39)
2- Ainsley Taylor (6th, 20:15.66)
3- Riliegh Owens (9th, 20:27.16)
4- Emily Rempe (11th, 20:35.99)
5- Lauren Howe (12th, 20:36.68)
Owensboro (9th, 260 points)
1- Tasih Pettigrew (30th, 22:12.72)
2- Ashley Colburn (40th, 22:58.25)
3- Katia Villapondo (60th, 25:45.13)
4- Emily Farmer (64th, 26:40.19)
5- Alondra Villapondo (66th, 28:23.30)
BOYS
Apollo (2nd, 82 points)
1- Ethan Dych (13th, 17:16.13)
2- Thomas Ashby (15th, 17:18.82)
3- Blake Rigdon (17th, 17:27.18)
4- Jake Alvey (18th, 17:28.18)
5- Leland Smith (19th, 17:28.79)
Daviess County (4th, 105 points)
1- Brady Terry (4th, 16:22.99)
2- Alex Adams (9th, 16:59.10)
3- Logan Gish (29th, 17:42.51)
4- Justin Shelton (31st, 17:45.62)
5- Ryan Ward (32nd, 17:48.35)
Owensboro (8th, 208 points)
1- Michael Ashley (22nd, 17:33.35)
2- Gavin Miller (38th, 18:02.94)
3- Tres Farmer (43rd, 18:36.02)
4- Nathaniel Turner (50th, 18:49.64)
5- Timothy Payne (55th, 19:15.63)
REGION 2 CLASS A
GIRLS
Owensboro Catholic (2nd, 46 points)
1- Alexandra Scheithe (2nd, 20:54)
2- Bethany Mayfield (7th, 23:04)
3- Kate Weaer (8th, 23:08)
4- Katie Hayden (14th, 24:12)
5- Elisa Clouse (15th, 24:13)
BOYS
Owensboro Catholic (1st, 26 points)
1- Austin Stallings (1st, 16:46.35)
2- John Cason (3rd, 17:43.01)
3- Sean Whitehouse (5th, 18:16.14)
4- Hank Dotsey (7th, 18:27.09)
5- Jude Neal (10th, 19:01.32)
LINKS TO FULL RESULTS:
Region 1 Class AAA Girls
http://ky.milesplit.com/meets/328688/results/619585/raw#.W9TOlxNKhbU
Region 1 Class AAA Boys
http://ky.milesplit.com/meets/328688/results/619564/raw#.W9TOxRNKhbU
Region 2 Class A Girls
http://ky.milesplit.com/meets/328685/results/619507/raw#.W9TPFRNKhbU
Region 2 Class A Boys
http://ky.milesplit.com/meets/328685/results/619505/raw#.W9TPDBNKhbU
