Facing some adversity Owensboro Catholic boys cross country was able to put up multiple personal records to finish in the top-30 as a team, while the Lady Aces finished in the top-15 with standout performances from Peyton Reid and Ainsley Sutter in the 1A Cross Country Championship on Saturday.
Reid finished just outside the top-10 in 11th place with a time of 20:29.00, while Sutter finished 51st with a time of 22:14.20. Head Coach Emery Crume was proud of the way Reid managed the course by staying calm and knowing when to push to pass, while noting that Sutter was also dialed in and jumped up a whopping 71 spots from her 122nd place finish in 2021.
“This is a big confidence boost for the two of them,” Crume said. “They both improved their placing from last year by a crazy amount, so it should be encouraging for them moving forward. The team as a whole should see how much you can improve in a year and be excited about the years ahead. I can see this team being a contender for a trophy in the years to come.”
Ashle Hayden finished behind Sutter in 82nd (23:15.10), while Ella Claire Goetz (24:43.80) and Ruthie Jones (26:33.90) finished 145th and 194th respectively to round out Owensboro Catholic’s top-five.
Crume was thrilled with how the team ran, as the growth they’ve had in the past year was on full display by finishing 13th out of a field of 33 teams on a tough course. Knowing just how much of a challenge the course can pose, the Lady Aces tried to go into the meet with enjoying the experience on their minds and it paid off.
“The game plan going in was to have fun,” Crume said. “It’s a tough course, so I wanted to make sure the girls understood just how amazing it was to get here. I told them all to stay relaxed the first mile, then once they saw me in the back to push and pass people. They all did exactly that and that’s how we produced such fast times.”
With such a young team that soared beyond expectations throughout the 2022 campaign, Crume hopes the girls see that their hard work does pay off in the long run and that they are capable of competing with the best runners the Commonwealth has to offer for years to come.
“I want the team to see how hard they’ve worked this year,” Crume said. “Every girl on the team ran a PR this season, which is something so uncommon for a whole team to do. They have worked so hard and I hope this season showed them the potential they have and helped boost their confidence. They’re tough and they proved that.”
The Aces finished 27th overall as a team, as they were led by Braden Davis (19:34.24) and Nolan Murphy (19:38.64) who finished 121st and 122nd respectively. Jacob Hammen finished 155th (20:13.78) and Austin Marsh finished 197th (20:47.47), while Patrick Hauke’s PR of 20:47.18 (182) rounded out their top-five.
Head Coach Scott Lowe was pleased with their performance to close out the season competing well with key players out against a strong field of runners. Lowe also knows that they gained valuable experience competing in the meet, something that will help them going into next season.
“We had a good day today,” Lowe said. “We were absent our top runner Austin Martin due to illness, but the guys stepped up and ran their best times of the year. Patrick Hauke stood out today. He ran his best time of all time and showed a lot of heart… This was a great experience for the underclassmen today. We can build up on today and work hard for the future.”
