Not only was Masterson State Park home to many high school races but was also home to nine middle and elementary races with the highlight of these being six state championships. The younger kids started running later in the afternoon and were divided into many divisions, the first three divisions were middle schools, the second and third were 4th&under and then 6th&under. All of these three divisions were respectively divided three more times into boys, girls, and an open division.
First for the youngsters was the 4th& under age bracket. These boys and girls were competing over a distance of 2000 meters featuring hundred of athletes in each heat. The girls’ race was first with Devin Mayfield, a fourth grader from Pulaski County completing the 2k in a swift 8:22.06. This was a close race where it was generally head to head until the last few hundred metes where she was closely followed by Rachael Snyder another 4th grader of Christian County in 8:27.19. The top five was completed out by Avery Renner of Dunn in 8:36, Anastasia Newsome of Rineyville (8:41), and one of two second graders in the top-twenty in Abby Jones of St. Joesph (8:43). As for other strong finishers, it should be mentioned that Lucy Westlake of Highlands Latin finished in 18th with a time of 9:12, only 50 seconds off winning, and she is only a first grader! Winning team awards were Dunn Elementary in third with 110pts, Pulaski County in second with 105 points, and Harmony Elementary winning it with 89.
The boys’ race also over 2k had over 230 athletes and was won by Stevie Heckman of Greathouse in a time of 7:53. Second and closely following, holding on until the very end was George Schmid of St. Mary Academy in a time of 7:57. The top five was filled out by Garrett Watts (Mad. N. Hopikins (7:58)), Keeton Thornsdberry (Notre Dame), and Andrew Landers (Henry County). Just as in the girls’ race a first grader ran spectacular against older peers finishing 18th also, this being Thor Newsome of Rineyville in 8:26. The team title was taken by Dunn Elementary (171) closely followed by Locust Grove (178) and Stopher (182) who held off Kenwood Station for third with Kenwood tallying 183 pts.
The next series of championship races were the Middle school girls and boys races (4K). First of these was the Girls race which was won easily by Maddox Patterson, a stellar athlete that’s been cruising to victory in more of her high school races too. She was one of many great finishers from Sayre on the day, with Sayre bringing back past athletes to help coach them, it seems that Sayre is only going to get better in the years to come with many of their top runners being underclassmen. Second in this race was a minute behind Maddox (14:37 & 15:36) with second place going to Lauren Ossege a 7th grader from Highlands. Finishing out the top five were Erin Edmundson of North Oldman (15:47), Erin Wilson of South Oldham (15:52), and Samantha Hentz of St Henry (15:59). Winning the team comp. was East Oldham with 150, followed by North Oldham (183) and St. Henry District (200).
The boys’ middle school state championship was won in an almost photo finish with Brady Baker of Cooper (13:43) besting Brian Carlson of Lincoln County (13:45). Though Brady may have won this year, they should battle it out for the next four years. The top five was completed out by Matt Bode of Collegiate (14:11.45) barely beating Scout Bundy of North Laurel (14:11.77), and David Terkula of North Oldham (14:36) completing the top five finishers. The team race was a two-team race with North Oldham winning with 83 and Cooper in a close second with 94 with the next closest being College View in third with 238.
Last for the championship series of races were the girls and boys 6th & under over a distance of three thousand meters. The girls’ race was up first and was won in a swift 11:25 by Gabriella Karas of St. Edward, which would have got her second in the guys’ race. Following Gabriella was Michaela Reinhart of St. John in 12:06, Madisyn Peeples of Bowling Green (12:10), Sydney Ossege (4th in 12:21) of Highlands who just like her sister Lauren placed highly in her respective race with her older sister placing second in the middle school race behind Maddox Patterson. Finishing out the top five was Avery Fryman of Goshen in 12:37. The team battle was a very close one with only 10 points separating first to fourth. Winning this tightly contested bout was The Lexington School winning with 169 points barely besting Locyst Grove with 170. Third was taken by Hite with 178 and fourth was taken by Goshen Elementary with 179 respectively.
The boys’ race was won by Matthew Jones of Southwestern in 11:14 where he bested the other top nine whom were all a grade above him. In second was Brad Pierce of Christian Academy in 11:25 with Elliot Wells of Daviess County closely behind in 11:30. The fourth and fifth were very close with Michael Sheets of Highlands Latin (11:32.15) beating Chance Oxford of Webster County (11:32.83). The team bout was another close one with Goshen Elementary winning with 101pts and Burns Middle School finishing second with 106. In third and completing the top three was Davies County Middle with 119pts.
Along with these Championship races, there were three open races, one for each division. In the 4th & under division this race was won Taylor Limprevil (8:16) of Camden Station on the girls side and overall with Nathan Beard finishing first for the guys in 8:22. In the 6th & under division race the open race was decisively won by Stevie Swanger of Trimble County in 12:45. Winning the girls side of this race was Carmen Harper of Northeast YMCA (13:21) bettering her teammate Catherin Sullivan (14:13) by almost a minute. For the middle school open race it was Logan Campbell of Owsley County in 15:20 with three North Oldham runners closely behind (Otter, Gardiner, McClarty). The girls’ side was won by Morgan Chappell of Trimble County (16:48) who bested her teammate Kirsten Baird with a dually impressive 17:36 second place for the girls
So not only were spectators able to watch great high school competition, they also received the treat to be able to watch such a pure competition as The State Championships for all three levels of middle and elementary competition. We can almost be certain to see many of these great athletes at the high school level and hopefully at even higher levels, KYtrackXC.com would like to extend congratulations to all the great athletes competing and hopes they continue to compete and enjoy the great sports of running.
Not only was Masterson State Park home to many high school races but was also home to nine middle and elementary races with the highlight of these being six state championships. The younger kids started running later in the afternoon and were divided into many divisions, the first three divisions were middle schools, the second and third were 4th&under and then 6th&under. All of these three divisions were respectively divided three more times into boys, girls, and an open division.
First for the youngsters was the 4th& under age bracket. These boys and girls were competing over a distance of 2000 meters featuring hundred of athletes in each heat. The girls’ race was first with Devin Mayfield, a fourth grader from Pulaski County completing the 2k in a swift 8:22.06. This was a close race where it was generally head to head until the last few hundred metes where she was closely followed by Rachael Snyder another 4th grader of Christian County in 8:27.19. The top five was completed out by Avery Renner of Dunn in 8:36, Anastasia Newsome of Rineyville (8:41), and one of two second graders in the top-twenty in Abby Jones of St. Joesph (8:43). As for other strong finishers, it should be mentioned that Lucy Westlake of Highlands Latin finished in 18th with a time of 9:12, only 50 seconds off winning, and she is only a first grader! Winning team awards were Dunn Elementary in third with 110pts, Pulaski County in second with 105 points, and Harmony Elementary winning it with 89.
The boys’ race also over 2k had over 230 athletes and was won by Stevie Heckman of Greathouse in a time of 7:53. Second and closely following, holding on until the very end was George Schmid of St. Mary Academy in a time of 7:57. The top five was filled out by Garrett Watts (Mad. N. Hopikins (7:58)), Keeton Thornsdberry (Notre Dame), and Andrew Landers (Henry County). Just as in the girls’ race a first grader ran spectacular against older peers finishing 18th also, this being Thor Newsome of Rineyville in 8:26. The team title was taken by Dunn Elementary (171) closely followed by Locust Grove (178) and Stopher (182) who held off Kenwood Station for third with Kenwood tallying 183 pts.