Early Signs: Who are the State Championship Favorites in Class 1A Girls
With two weeks down, it's time we take a deeper look at the top performers in each class on a team and individual level. August performances are typically slower than what our athletes will be running come championship season, but it gives a nice indication of where things stand right now. To begin, we will look at the Class 1A, 2A, and 3A girls.
Girls Class 1A
Individuals
Lily Parke, Junior, Beechwood
Kennedy Moughamian, Freshman, Lexington Christian
Isabelle Shearer, Senior, Jackson County
Peyton Reid, Sophomore, Owensboro Catholic
On the individual side, Lily Parke has been dominant winning both of her races this season. She also has the fastest time in Class 1A this season by a full 36 seconds making her one of the favorites to win the State Championship come November. Outside of her, there is a real youth movement as Moughamian, Raisor, and Reid are all Sophomores or younger. Keep an eye on these names over the coming years. Lastly, there is the lone Senior, Isabelle Shearer of Jackson County. She has run well this year placing in the top 20 at the Run for Gold.
Teams
A regular affair, this year's team championship will likely be decided by the ladies of Lexington Christian Academy (LCA) and Beechwood, with Owensboro Catholic (OC) playing spoiler. Lexington Christian has a very tight knit pack featuring 4 of the projected top 10 finishers in the Class 1A Championship. Then you have Beechwood who are carried by their talented front runner Lily Parke. Behind her is a solid pack of runners led by Nora Wilke and Charli Gerrein, but they are vulnerable with the 2 minute gap between their first runner and second runner. Owensboro Catholic is a similar story. Owensboro Catholic is led by Peyton Reid and she is backed up by a really solid 2-4 pack. What could make the difference come November is their number 5 runner as Beechwood is able to put there 4,5,6 and 7 runners between OC's 4 and 5. If this gap shrinks for OC, they could play spoiler and finish as a top 2 team come November.