In Northern Kentucky, winning three or more consecutive state cross country team titles is not unusual.
St. Henry and Conner’s boys programs have a chance to capture a third straight championship this fall at the Kentucky Horse Park near Lexington.
St. Henry’s boys and girls are a familiar fixture atop the Class A medal stand – the Crusader boys have 18 titles, including 10 in a row from 2003-2012, while the girls have 19, including a six-peat from 2011-16.
Conner’s boys 3A win in 2021 was the first by a local school in Kentucky’s largest class since Scott’s girls did it in 1998.
“Last year we came into the season with a good shot to be on the podium and maybe even win,” Covington Catholic coach Jeremy Mosher said. “Conner, they’ve really helped elevate us in what we’re trying to do because they’ve been the team to beat the last two years.”
Scott senior Maddie Strong (the 2A girls state champion) and CovCath junior Will Sheets (who won in 3A boys) will have new foes to slay. The Eagles and Highlands move to 3A, Region 5, while the Colonels go to 2A, Region 4.
There are two new coaches – Cody Davidson takes over the Conner boys program from Ian Johnstone, and Kendall Schuler will lead Bishop Brossart’s girls.
Class 3A
Davidson is a head coach for the first time; he has been an assistant coach at schools in Ohio, and he was Johnstone’s assistant the past two seasons.
“I’m very passionate about competitive running,” Davidson said. “I’ve grown pretty close with these boys over the past couple years as their assistant coach.”
Conner’s first challenge is replacing 2022’s top two finishers, 2023 alumni George Johnson and Drew Moore, who finished fifth and ninth, respectively. All is not lost – senior Joey Carroll was 10th last season.
Junior Nathan Hopper and seniors Dawson Benjamin and Charlie Hanak return, and senior Brett Jones is back after missing much of last season with an injury.
Ryle senior Tiger Bartlett has one more shot at a state title – he finished third last year. Campbell County junior Jonathan Christopher was 18th.
Scott’s girls finished second to Lexington Catholic last year, and Highlands was seventh.
Strong was not the only Scott runner to finish in the top 25 a season ago; junior Ansley Lindloff was 10th and freshman Grace Klim was 18th. Highlands freshman Ella Taylor finished 15th. Highlands and Scott finished fourth and 19th in the boys 2A team standings, respectively.
Class 2A
CovCath finished third behind Conner and St. Xavier in 3A last year. What makes Mosher happy: Sheets, sophomore Joe Mayer and senior Luke Meagher return. (They were three-fourths of the state champion 3A 4×800 relay team.)
Mosher has been “somewhat cautious” with Sheets’ training regimen.
“He’s been patient (with) us keeping the reins in,” Mosher said. “His training volume, we’ve kept that capped a bit his first two years. But it also means how we work in cross-training, how we work in rest days. I’m a big believer in not running the races in practice.”
Class A
St. Henry convincingly won the boys team title over Villa Madonna, 53-103, but winning a third consecutive title could be difficult because state champion Dixon Ryan graduated. Senior Lake Durrett, who finished fourth, returns.
“(Durrett) and Jeff (senior Jeff Stewart) have really trained hard together, so they’re neck-and-neck this year,” Crusaders coach Jeremy Hurm said. “Jeff likes to get out hard; Lake, he’s pretty methodical and strategic; he comes hard over the last mile.”
Seniors Sam Baker, Jacob Moore and Josh Brockman round out the top five.
Bishop Brossart was fifth in the boys team race. Whatever the Mustangs do likely revolves around senior Nathan Ruth, who finished second to Ryan by nearly 15 seconds.
Beechwood’s girls edged Lexington Christian, 65-76, for their first team cross county championship in school history. (The Tigers also won the Class A outdoor track crown in 2019.) St. Henry was third, and Brossart was fourth.
With 2022 state champion Haley Schoenegge of Kentucky Country Day having graduated, Tigers sophomore Lily Parke, who finished second, could be the favorite this year.
“That helps any team,” second-year coach Tricia Sturgeon said. “I’ve just seen her training, how her track season was; I think she’s the favorite, one of the favorites.”
You’d think Sturgeon is feeling comfortable with this year’s prospects. The next four Tigers who placed in the top 25 last year – junior Isabel Ginter (who finished 10th), junior Charli Gerrein (12th), sophomore Nora Wilke (19th), and junior Annie Harris (22nd) return.
Senior Catie Hazzard and junior Lana Holt round out Beechwood’s projected top seven.
St. Henry’s girls finished third last year, and Brossart was fourth.
Look for St. Henry senior Molly Kamer, who finished 18th last year, to lead the Crusaders. Joining her are junior Mackenzie McMain, junior Chloe Hurm and sophomore Kelcey Bollman.
Brossart, meanwhile, has to find replacements for 2023 alumnae Amy Klocke (who finished third), Cora Bertsch and Natalie Reis. Schuler said this season is a rebuild.
“Knowing we were only going to have two returning runners (junior Alia Thomas and freshmen Anna Curtsinger) this year, I wasn’t sure what this season would look like,” Schuler wrote in a text message. “However, we have had some new runners come out, both freshmen and upperclassmen, who have already shown me hard work and dedication in the preseason. I am excited to see them compete in our strong NKY region.”