|
Brian Carlson of Lincoln, left, had more runners at his back than in front of him Saturday in the Lexington Catholic Invitational, placing 15th out of 183 runners in the boys large varsity 5K at the Kentucky Horse Park. (Nancy Leedy / nancy@theinteriorjournal.com / October 26, 2012) |
LEXINGTON – It wasn’t the state cross country meet, but the turnout Saturday at the Kentucky Horse Park was equal to that of the state championships, with approximately 1,500 athletes converging on the park for the annual Lexington Catholic Invitational.
The LexCath meet drew many of the elite runners in the Class A, 2A and 3A divisions. The large number of competitors competed in eight different divisions: large varsity boys and girls, small varsity boys and girls, jv boys and girls and middle school boys and girls.
Lincoln County had runners on course in the large varsity and middle school divisions. The Patriot varsity runners were one of the first to compete, going off on a 10 a.m. shotgun start.
Brian Carlson led the way for Lincoln and the boys large varsity field placing 15th out of 183 runners to earn himself a medal. The LCHS sophomore completed the 3.1-mile race in 16:50.90.
Carlson was the lone Lincoln runner to receive a medal at the meet. Katherine Rowe, a sixth-grader, came close to medalling for Lincoln in the middle school girls run, placing 15th out of 125 runners in the 4K race with a time of 18:04.44, but only the top 10 runners received medals in the middle school races.
The Lady Patriot varsity’s top runner, Alex Bunch, who finished in 20:12.68 in last year’s large varsity race to take third, did not post a time in Saturday’s run. Bunch, a senior, had not been feeling well prior to the race and was forced to drop out before completing the 3.1-mile course.
The Lady Patriots would have a runner to cross in the varsity run, though, with freshman Morgan Gourley turning in a time of 21:28.10 to place her 63rd overall out of 171 runners.
Bunch wasn’t the only Lincoln varsity runner not completing the LexCath run. Luke Smith, an eighth-grade runner, started the boys large varsity run but was forced to withdraw from the race due to breathing difficulties.
Jordon Smith was the only other Patriot on course in the boys large varsity run. He finished in a time of 19:31.12 to place 139th.
Patrick Gregory from Butler High School won the boys varsity race in 15:48.19. Connor Sheryak and St. Xavier teammates Sam Lewis, Chris Striegel and Nick Reader claimed the second- through fifth-place spots to help the Tigers easily win the boys team title. Sheryak finished in 15:54.02, Lewis in 16:04.81, Striegel in 16:07.61 and Reader in 16:13.30.
In the girls’ large varsity, Maggie Allen led Sacred Heart Academy to a girls team title by winning the girls race in 18:43.15. Whitney O’Bryan of Daviess County was runner-up in 18:52.95, Samantha Simms of Sacred Heart ran third in 18:58.25, Cassidy Hale of DuPont Manual was fourth in 19:02.57 and Claire Payne of Daviess was fifth in 19:10.17.
Lincoln had its biggest numbers in the middle school division races, with five runners in the boys race and five in the girls.
Those middle-schoolers places and times were:
Boys (field of 175): 83)¿Chance Sallee 18:13.08; 94) Austin Wethington 18:41.26; 95) Justin Cummins 18:42.15; 163) Zach Spears 24:00.19; 170) Jacob Tillett 25:55.04.
Girls (field of 125): 15) Katherine Rowe 18:04.44; 47) Allie House 19:55.19; 52) Celia SanJuan 20:06.93; 93) Ashlyn Jarman 22:38.50; 113) Taylor Mingo 25:57.03.
