Five Boys Who Could Surprise Us
These are in no particular order...stop reading too far into this!
1. Carson Sharber - North Oldham
Carson is a senior and ready for a breakout season. As a sophomore he dropped 16 seconds in one month on the same course from the Lexington Catholic Invitational to the Kentucky State Cross Country Championships. As a primarily short distance runner in the outdoor season, Carson ran the 800m eight times during the season and landed at a 1:57 at the State Track and Field Championships which was good for 3rd place overall. Carson is the top returning runner for North Oldham who comes into the season as the third best team based on last year's times, however it is a close one. Can the senior step up and lead his team to a state championship and improvement on last year's 6th place team finish? I think so!
Class AA State Meet Projections Based on 2017 Season BEST Times
2. Brian Reinhart - Lexington Catholic
Brian has huge shoes to fill on the Lexington Catholic squad. The two time defending team champions lost Spencer Carman, Adam Walker, and Josh Castillo to graduation, so Brian goes from the #5 guy to the #2. His track season culminated in a state runner up finish in the 3200m in class AA and a personal best of 9:58.99 set at the Eastern Relays. He also set a personal best in the 1600m with a 1600m. Last cross country season he took off 1 minute and 6 seconds from the first race of the season to the last race of the season, with a quick 16:58 in the middle at the KTCCCA Meet of Champions.
3. Garrett Watts - Madisonville-North Hopkins
Another senior that had a solid track season is ready to build on an improved cross country season in 2017 to take the next step to the top 10 in class AAA. Garrett Watts took 44 second off of his last 3200m time in 2017 in his best 3200m time in the 2018 outdoor season. He was not much of a factor in his region and at the state level as he placed fourth in his region in the 3200m and therefore did not make it to the state meet, however he returns after a 28th place finish at the State Cross Country Championships in 2017. Garrett also has an advantage at his disposal with training with one of the top runners in all of the state in Christian Parker. They have competed as teammates over the past four seasons and put it all together in a culminating senior season. One other data point to discuss with Garett has been his state meet finishes over the past three seasons: 53rd as a freshman, 51st as a sophomore, and 28th as a junior. I see a trend with a big jump.
4. Griffin Staude - Western Hills
This might be my lowest risk pick as Griffin has already placed very well at the state cross country meet (8th in 2017) and did not have a bad track season (12th in the 3200m); however, this may be my boldest prediction...Griffin will win the class AA state title in 2018. His progression in the 5,000 meters over the last two seasons has seen him go from a 2016 season best of 18:32 to a 16:29 at the KTCCCA Meet of Champions in 2017. So maybe that one race was a fluke...nope. His 2017 state cross country meet time was a 17:02 on a course that is traditionally a little slower than the Masterson Station course. Combine his progression with the openness of the class AA boys race, the timing is right. Griffin has shown his improvement continue the past track season with a 26 second gain in his 3200m time over the season.
Griffin's 5K progression since late 2016 shows his ability to make big leaps
You can check out your own time progression on your athlete profile under the "Progression" tab
5. Connor Hayes - Lexington Christian
Last season was tough for Connor as he went through a couple injuries that sidetracked his season, yet he managed a 16:51.29 on a fast Bluegrass Invitational course at Masterson Station and an 18th place finish in the class A state cross country meet. His track season was not what he had hoped with only competing in a handful of meets. However, a healthy Connor Hayes is an athlete that can take down a state title. In 2017, he was the state runner up in class A in the 3200m. He will have the obvious competition in his classification with Keeton Thornsberry being the frontrunner and a number of other quality runners between Connor and Keeton. BUT, Connor is one to keep an eye on.