The year was 2006 and it was the first week of October in Kentucky. Below are the Class AA Rankings from October 2nd of that season.
Girls
Suzanne Holt was ranked #1 and kept her ranking as she went on to win the Class AA State Championship that year. She then went on to run at the University of Kentucky and is currently an Assistant Coach at Daviess County High School. She also led her teammates to a team title that year upsetting then #1 Bell County by 5 points. Two young ladies from that squad still compete today for Muhlenberg County (Muhlenberg South and North combined in 2009) Lindsey Mathis as a 6th grader was 22nd overall and is still the teams #2 runner today. She was 18th last year in the Class AAA State Championship four years later. Kristen Pendley was the 7th runner for that squad as a 5th grader. She is still a varsity member for Muhlenberg County today.
Michaela Hunter (Rockcastle County) is no longer a distance runner like she was back then, checking in at #5. Instead she switched to the jumps and is a state champion sprinter (400m 58.46, Triple Jump 37-10.75, and Long Jump 17-10.25.) Bell County’s Kelly Brown finished as the #2 runner for the runner-up squad as a 5th grader and she is still achieving at a high level as she recently won the Bobcat Invitational with a 21:17.
Boys
Nothing shocking on the boy’s side as Nathan Liversedge (West Jessamine) was ranked #1 at that point of his senior year. He ran into an injury issue and slipped a little late in October but battled back strong to win the AA State Championship over #2 Willie Polio (Owensboro Catholic.) Individually, a 7th grader named James Brown (Bell County) was ranked #19 in these rankings. That 7th grader is now ranked #1 in Class AA as a senior.
Owensboro Catholic held down the #1 spot and went onto to win the title with Polio finishing second and Ben Thompson finishing fifth (even though he was 13th in these rankings.) Warren East and Highlands finished the season just as they were ranked in the first week of October.
Class A and Class AAA Rankings (from that same week)
2006 Class AA Girls Ranking
Top 10 teams
1) Bell County
2) Warren East
3) Elizabethtown
4) Muhlenberg South
5) Rockcastle County
6) Highlands
7) Edmonson County
8) North Oldham
9) Lloyd Memorial
10) Lexington Catholic
Top 20
1) Suzanne Holt Muhlenberg South
2) Chelsey Talley Spencer County
3) Alex Carter Elizabethtown
4) Kelsey McCain Pendleton County
5) Michaela Hunter Rockcastle County
6) Kelly Brown Bell County
7) Brooke Bemis Warren East
8) Tenny Ostrem Powell County
9) Morgan Poore Muhlenberg South
10) Betsy Hines North Bullitt
11) Maddie White Union County
12) Adrianne Shearer West Jessamine
13) Whitney Maurer Elizabethtown
14) Brianne Porter Muhlenberg South
15) Claire Herrington Warren East
16) Laura Dollins Rockcastle County
17) Courtney Siefert Lloyd Memorial
18) Erin Overcash North Oldham
19) Brooke White Bell County
20) Stevi Rone Warren East
October 2, 2006 Rankings
2006 Class AA Boys Ranking
Top 10 teams
1) Owensboro Catholic
2) Warren East
3) Highlands
4) West Jessamine
5) Lexington Catholic
6) Pendleton County
7) Muhlenberg South
8) North Oldham
9) Boyle County
10) Lloyd Memorial
Top 20
1) Nathan Liversedge West Jessamine
2) Willie Polio Owensboro Catholic
3) Zach Shuffett Warren East
4) Cody Napier Muhlenberg South
5) Sam Morgan Boyle County
6) Blake Searcy Owensboro Catholic
7) Brian Mirrielees Highlands
8) Scott Ritter Pendleton County
9) Aaron Poore Muhlenberg South
10) Griffin Austin Highlands
11) Thomas Canary Lexington Catholic
12) Corey Hatfield Pendleton County
13) Ben Thompson Owensboro Catholic
14) Matthew Daniel Rowan County
15) Jeff Green Warren East
16) Tyler McClain East Carter
17) Daniel Thurston Western Hills
18) Brad Bilbro Muhlenberg North
19) James Brown Bell County
20) John Anderson Boyle County