KENTUCKY STATE MEET

Oldham County and Madison Central’s O'Shea both make it three in a row in the 3A girls final, with St. Xavier adding to its record with 24th team title following 3A boys victory; Louisville Holy Cross captures fourth straight 1A boys crown

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

For the first time in 40 years, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association held its state cross country championship at a venue other than the Horse Park in Lexington.

But despite the new environment at the Bourbon Cross Country Course in Paris, a two-day format with 2A competition Friday, followed by 1A and 3A races Saturday, in addition to three wave starts separated by five-minute intervals for each classification as a result of health and safety concerns linked to the Coronavirus pandemic, there were some aspects of the state final that remained quite familiar.

Madison Central sophomore Ciara O’Shea won her third consecutive 3A individual girls title with the fastest performance of the meet, covering the 5-kilometer layout in 18 minutes, 15.37 seconds.

Oldham County captured its third straight 3A girls team championship and seventh in program history with a 58-134 victory over Assumption.

Freshman Tula Fawbush took second behind O’Shea in 18:57.19 for Oldham County, which had four scorers finish in the top 20. Chloe Boa (20:02.93) was 15th, Sammy Freeland (20:03.48) secured 16th and Savannah Cagle (20:07.88) finished 18th for the Colonels.

The 76-point victory was the closest margin for Oldham County during its impressive three-year run, defeating DuPont Manual 58-151 last season after producing a 64-174 victory over Daviess County in 2018.

Although St. Xavier didn’t extend a title streak in the 3A boys final, the Tigers did add to the most impressive championship legacy in state history, prevailing by a 93-116 margin over Conner to capture a record 24th overall team crown since 1959.

Following a thrilling showdown for the individual title, with Madisonville senior Jackson Watts clocking 15:41.83 to edge Madison Central junior Brady Masters in 15:42.23, senior Nolan Hester (15:50.64) took third for St. Xavier.

But Hester collapsed as a result of exhaustion after crossing the finish line. He was attended to by on-site medical personnel and was cleared to be able to celebrate the first team title since 2017 for the Tigers, who also had senior Joshua Striegel (16:44.80) secure 11th place.

Conner was led by sophomore Drew Moore (16:54.32) finishing 15th. It marked the second year in a row that Masters finished runner-up in the state final.

In the boys 1A final, Louisville Holy Cross had three seniors finish in the top five to capture a fourth consecutive championship with a 61-83 victory over St. Henry District.

Josh Meiman secured his first individual title for the Cougars, clocking 16:16.95, with DK Schnieders placing second in 16:36.83 and Jackson Gawarecki finishing fifth in 16:59.66.

Sophomore Dixon Ryan led St. Henry District by securing sixth in 17:18.45.

Bishop Brossart swept the top three spots in the 1A girls final to win its third team championship in four years with a 36-96 triumph over Kentucky Country Day.

Junior Claire Curtsinger, who had never finished higher than 12th at the state meet, won her first individual crown in 19:42.90. Sophomore Amy Klocke was second in 20:05.82 and eighth-grader Sadie Hartig took third in 20:16.82.

Sophomore Haley Schoenegge led Kentucky Country Day by finishing fifth in 20:26.58.

The 2A boys final Friday provided the most dramatic conclusion, with junior Lane Hoyes of Thomas Nelson holding off Western Hills senior Griffin Staude by a 16:21.97 to 16:22.04 margin to capture his first championship.

North Oldham won its eighth overall team title, including the first since 2015, with a 78-133 victory over Corbin.

Junior Jake Pyles was seventh in 16:55.32 and freshman Adam Patel placed ninth 17:11.97 for North Oldham. Junior Sean Simons (16:44.93) finished fifth for Corbin.

Highlands senior Maggie Schroeder, who won the 2A girls title in 2018 before placing 10th last year, rebounded to earn another championship by clocking 19:16.87.

Christian Academy of Louisville won its first team title since 2016, earning the second in program history with a 97-112 triumph over Highlands.

Junior Addi Dewey was second in 19:42.01 and eighth-grader Brooke Greenwell (20:30.10) finished 10th for Christian Academy. The next highest finisher behind Schroeder for Highlands was sophomore Eden Brumer (20:59.70) in 20th.

Team champions

Class 3A: St. Xavier boys 93 points; Oldham County girls 58 points - RESULTS

Class 2A: North Oldham boys 78 points; Christian Academy of Louisville girls 97 points - RESULTS

Class 1A: Louisville Holy Cross boys 61 points; Bishop Brossart girls 36 points - RESULTS