Paris, Ky. is home to the world's tallest three-story building, two replicas of the Eiffel Tower and - this weekend - a cross country meet that's sure to entertain.
The Bourbon County Colonel Charge is set for Saturday at Bourbon County Park. The site probably sounds familiar for race fans - it's where the KHSAA Cross Country State Championships were staged the last two years, and where those meets will be contested in October.
Defending Class 2A KHSAA titiist Caden Miracle (Bell County) makes his season debut here. His time of 16:04.67 was the fastest across all KHSAA meets last October, and he's since set a personal record; Miracle ran 15:43.76 at the Eastbay South Regional on Nov. 27, 2021. His time is the only sub-16 minute seed on the entry list.
Caden Miracle won the 2021 KHSAA State Cross Country Championship
Jessica Secor (Dupont Manual) paces the girls' field with a seed time of 18:05.90, a mark she set in her freshman season. The three-time defending Jefferson County Public Schools champion top runner was less than a second from matching her career mark last December during the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships; she finished 12th there, and first among all Kentuckians, with a time of 18:06.48.
Here are some other quick observations about this year's event.
Daviess County and Dupont Manual each boast three boys' seed times in the top 20 among all entries. Daviess' Nolan Kurz (16:36.36), Bryson McGary (16:50.79) and Caleb Tidwell (16:56.83) all come in with top-10 times that are, averaged out, about a minute and a half faster than they collectively ran in last year's Class 3A meet on the same course. The same is true of Manual's trio - Ryan Barrett (17:02.00), Sam Chandler (17:22.90) and Tate Sinclair (17:31.70).
Quinn Gulden, also of Dupont Manual, sits just outside the top 20 with a seed time of 17:41.70.
This meet is staged about 20 miles east of Lexington, but Kentucky's largest city is set to show much better on Saturday. Nearly half of the top 20 seed times were put up by girls from Louisville, with Assumption and Dupont Manual fielding four apiece.
Reagan Gilmore (Assumption) has the best girls seed time after Secor at 18:23.70. She and teammates Leah Penick (18:55.30) and Julia Schmitt (18:56.98) all sit within the top 10, and account for three of the eight entries with sub-19 minute seed times. Assumption's Mattie Whitworth is right on the top-10 doorstep with a time of 19:22.10.
Jonathan Christopher (Campbell County) and Caden Cull (Male) rank behind Bell County's Miracle, with seeds of 16:09.82 and 16:13.78, respectively. They were among the fastest freshman boys on the course during last fall's Class 3A KHSAA state meet.
Addison Moore (Woodford County; 18:43.70), Olivia Holbrook (Campbell County; 18:48.67), Bethany Simpson (Bourbon County, 18:48.70) and Maggie Twehues (Woodford County, 18:50.04) are running 3-6 behind Secor and Gilmore on the seed list.
Moore won five consecutive races last season as an eighth grader, including the KHSAA Region 6 Class 3A meet. She finished second in last year's edition of this race and was 11th in last season's Class 3A state meet.
Eight middle school boys come in with times faster than 11:30. From the top: Gannon Parker (Beechwood, 11:01.50); Stephen Bryce Perraut (Bourbon County Middle School, 11:05.66); Carson Collett (North Laurel, 11:06.84); Jacob Brannon (Bell County, 11:11.84); Bruce Hayden (Paris, 11:19.09); Matea Ivanov (Beaumont Middle School, 11:19.87); Grant Perraut (Bourbon County Middle School, 11:27.62); and Adam Fidowicz (Beaumont Middle School, 11:28.18)
Six middle school girls enter with sub-13 minute seed times. They are: Alex Reis (Beechwood, 11:54.20); Abigail Turner (Sayre Middle, 12:03.86); Sophia Anderson (E.J. Hayes, 12:21.38); Chloe Shafer (East Jessamine, 12:39.83); Julia Moore (Beechwood, 12:42.20); and Kylie Marcum (West Jessamine, 12:47.68)