Class 1A Boys State Championship Preview

Saturday will feature the most exciting day in KY cross country, the State Championships. All season our athletes have been building towards this point where everything is on the line. We will see great heartbreak, but also exceptional happiness. Without further ado, let's take a look at the KHSAA State Championships Class 1A Boys race.

To kick off this preview, let's talk about the top individuals at play. The obvious first choice is James Gurley. The Junior from Louisville Collegiate has been the class of 1A all year having a 15:14 season best, a cool 16 seconds better than the next closest athlete. His season average of 15:26 is also faster than the next closest making him the clear favorite in this race. He's not without challenge though as his teammate Roman Sierpina will be on his heels. Sierpina has run 15:30 this year while maintaining the second fastest average in the field this year at 15:50. He is the highest placing finisher from last season's championship as well. Other individuals to watch out for are Kentucky Country Day's Ryan Shaps, and the talented Bethlehem duo of Isaac Riggs and Grant Greenwell. Shaps has run 15:38 this season albeit in August. The duo from Bethlehem has been slowly getting better all season and needs to be special Saturday if the Eagles have any chance at bringing home the team championship. Greenwell has a PR of 15:48 and his teammate Issac Riggs has a PR of 15:57. Another name to watch out for is Samuel Claunch of Highlands Latin. The Freshman ran 15:59 last Saturday.

In the team race, there seems to be a clear top 5 with Villa Madonna, Bethlehem, Louisville Collegiate, Highlands Latin, and Lexington Christian in the mix. The clear favorites are the boys of Villa Madonna who come in with 4 boys projected to finish in the Top 25 and 2 in the Top10. They also are very experienced racing 4 seniors and 3 juniors. This experience should bode well for them as they seek to avenge there narrow loss at last season's championship. The other major contenders in this race are Louisville Collegiate, Bethlehem, and Highlands Latin. The strategy for the first two there are simple: rely on your awesome duo to score in the Top 5 and then hope your 3-5 runners get into the Top 40. This will be more difficult for Louisville Collegiate as their 5 man is a 19:07 runner whereas Bethlehem's is an 18:02. On the other hand, Highlands Latin will implore a more team friendly approach. Like Villa, Highlands Latin is projected to place 4 in the top 25 with Claunch leading the way in the Top 10. For Highlands Latin to have a chance at upsetting Villa Madonna, they will need big performances out of Samuel Claunch and Luke Hamilton, likely needing them to finish in the Top 10.

Predictions from the Milesplit Team