Covington Catholic’s football team won three state titles from 1993-95, and the Colonels’ tennis team accomplished the same from 2023 to last June.
CovCath’s cross country squad would match those feats with a third consecutive state boys Class 2A team championship Nov. 1 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
The Colonels are ranked fourth in the latest ky.milesplit.com poll behind 3A powers Louisville Trinity, Lexington Lafayette and Louisville St. Xavier, and they have two team wins – the Saturday Night Lights Presented by Nike and Runners Plus meet Aug. 23 in Centerville, Ohio and the Diocese of Covington Sept. 6 at Villa Madonna Academy.
Junior Joel Barczak knows his championship history. He does not, however, speak the D-word – dynasty.
“I feel like we’re definitely doing a lot of things right,” he said. “And I think, kind of, the key to that is (having) a lot of guys who are willing to do the work, and we have a lot of good team chemistry centered around that.”
CovCath coach Jeremy Mosher softly chuckled when asked about a potential trophy trio.
“Honestly, it’s not something I really think about,” Mosher said. “Every year, you’re just trying to do right by the guys you have and just try to help them become the best athletes, the best people and the best team that they can be. And we’ve had a lot of talented kids to join the program, hardworking kids.”
Eight Colonels are among the state’s fastest in Class 2A according to ky.milesplit.com: junior Luke McLane (third), junior Braden Franxman (eighth), senior Jack Salyers (10th), freshman Asher Edmondson (12th), sophomore John Neswick (15th), senior Joe Mayer (17th), Barczak (18th) and junior Drew Kurtzner (19th).
“Luke had kind of an up and down track season,” Mosher said. “I didn’t want to put too much expectations on him, but you know, he stepped up in pretty much every way as far as taking care of business academically and being able to get the sleep he needs and the recovery he needs. He’s done an awesome job of stepping into that as a front runner this year.”
Barczak didn’t want to run at first, but he watched a couple of CovCath alumni Barczaks – his dad Dan and uncle Tony – and occasionally ran with them.
“They kept running even in their lives now, and so that also influenced me as well,” Joel Barczak said. “And, you know, that was always a good experience, so that influenced me as well.”
Bizarrely ‘super-cool’
Mayer finished third last year behind Thomas Nelson graduate and Notre Dame freshman Riku Sugie and former CovCath teammate Will Sheets, who runs for Virginia.
CovCath went from Class 3A to 2A in 2023. Mayer called the ‘23 season “really a bizarre year” because Sheets and then-senior Luke Meagher missed much of the year with injuries.
“I think the biggest thing I’ll remember is just finally that (state) meet was the first time that we had all of our guys back together, all on the same starting line, working together and just crossing the line and the hugs shared,” Mayer said. “.We came back together at the end and we were able to put something really special together.”
Mayer said the 2024 title was “super-cool” because he could cherish running with Sheets for the final time.
“And those last couple weeks (of) cross country and going into track was really watching him test his limits and watching the team really kind of take after that,” Mayer said. “You see a guy who’s going out there and putting up a blistering time, and just the way that everybody kind of clung onto his leadership and followed suit, I think it was super-cool to watch.”
Overextension
Mayer suffered a right knee injury after last year’s track season, which eliminated most of the summer workouts. He credits Jeffrey Taylor-Haas, Coordinator of the Division of Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy Division at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, for getting him on the course.
“To be honest, we never really landed on an exact diagnosis, I guess,” Mayer said. “What we think happened is, more or less, I was just overextending my stride a bit. And when that happens, you kind of hit the ground with your legs straight out, which sends a lot of force through the knee. It doesn’t really allow some of those tissues around it to protect it as well as they could. And so just taking some time away from the impact, using some anti-inflammatories, ice, rest, all that stuff, and then shortening up my stride just a little bit, it’s kind of becoming a little bit more efficient with the way I strike the ground and more protective of those joints.”
CovCath could also win a third straight 2A outdoor track and field title next spring. Barczak doesn’t talk about that because he focuses on cross country.
“I mean, we have very lofty goals, we have some,” he said. “We have goals we’re very excited for, but we’re keeping perspective and doing all the little things right to get there.”