While the focus this weekend may be on the college races this weekend, there will be plenty to talk about in the afternoon when the high school races kick off this Saturday at E. P. Tom Sawyer State Park. Teams from West Virginia and Tennessee will join the fray as the Greater Louisiville Classic gets set to occur this weekend. Strong fields are assembled including several of the best large school individuals and teams in the state and with five weeks before the postseason begins, things are starting to shake out in the team races and we can expect to learn more this weekend.
First and foremost is the opportunity for us to see duPont Manual’s ladies run their full strength varsity for the first time on Kentucky soil. The Class AAA #1-ranked squad has looked very strong in several invites so far this year, but this will be our first chance to see them put it all together in one race with Kentucky competition involved. Looking to keep pace will be a strong squad from Eastern High School in Louisville, which showed nicely at the Adidas Saturday Night Lights meet in Centerville, Ohio last weekend. The front four from Eastern looked very formidable and will look to have another good showing on the course where they practice daily. St. Henry’s group will make yet another trip down I-71 to take part in the Greater Louisville Classic this weekend, and if thei r performance from the last four weeks is any indication of what we should expect here, then they will be looking to match-up with duPont Manual as well. Cabell Midland, West Virginia’s #1-ranked girls’ team, will be in attendance as well and will look to match-up with some of the best Kentucky has to offer.
Individually, for the ladies, duPont Manual’s Elizabeth Anderson and Cassidy Hale will look to challenge for the win, along with a pair of ladies from St. Henry in Ashley Svec and Maria Frigo, Eastern’s Tori Mayfield, last weekend’s Franklin County Invite winner, Caterina Karas of Shelby County and Jenna Rodgers of Christian Academy of Louisville should also make an impact in the individual race. Cabell Midland (West Virginia) showed well at last week’s Centerville meet as well and should be an out-of-state runner who can mix it up in the front, and several more from Kentucky including, Casey Richardson of Presentation, Madison Peace of Walton-Verona, Danielle Hoop of Owen County, and Gabby Gonzales of Ryle.
On the boys’ side of things, there is an interesting race taking place. Apollo’s boys come in after taking 5th place at the Trinity Invite just a few weeks ago at the same venue. They finished several spots in front of a solid Greenwood team that didn’t have a great day and will be looking to rebound here. Conner comes in as the #3-ranked team in Class AAA, though, and will wear the favorite title in this one. They are a strong team that raced well at the Rumble Through the Jungle a few weeks ago, but haven’t gone head-to-head with many of the ranked teams in Class AAA yet this year. This is a chance for them to go against several ranked squads as Apollo comes in as the 3rd-ranked team in Class AAA, Greenwood is 6th, Butler is 7th, duPont Manual is 8th, and Shelby County is 10th. Cabell Midland’s boys also come in as the #1-ranked team in West Virginia and will look to have a strong showing on a fast course against some of the better programs in Kentucky.
Individually, this race has plenty to offer, as Ryan Eaton of Greenwood enters on an unbeaten streak thus far this season. Stacey Eden took the win at last weekend’s Franklin County Invitational and seems to be coming around at this point. Justin House of Apollo, Trevin Petersen and Jacob McIntyre of Walton Verona, Sean Vandermosten and Joey Brendel of Conner, and Robert Sandlin of Franklin County are among the runners who have an opportunity to be in the mix up front.