Cross country was Lily Parke’s favorite sport – at least on Saturday.
Beechwood’s senior capped her career with a second consecutive girls Class A title at the Kentucky Horse Park. She defeated Lexington Christian’s Kennedy Moughamian by nearly 16 seconds.
So how long had Parke been thinking about Saturday?
“Since I won last year,” she said.
Parke, who’s going to the University of Kentucky next year, thus added her name to a list of Northern Kentucky’s finest runners. In her four years for the Tigers, she finished second twice to go with the two titles.
The 2025 season was strong, too. She finished first in seven of nine races, one in third place and one in fifth. Beechwood coach Tricia Sturgeon hasn’t seen anyone like Parke.
“Her work ethic, her determination, she never gives up,” Sturgeon said. “All of that.”
Parke’s strategy Saturday – stay with Moughamian for about a mile. They were stride for stride for about that far.
“It definitely wasn’t an easy mile; we got out pretty fast,” Parke said. “It was just stay steady through that first mile.”
Then, the hill in the second mile. Parke led Moughamian by nine seconds at that point, later expanding it to 17 seconds.
“Honestly, I was just feeling out whatever she did,” Parke said. “I knew I had a pretty good kick. I do like hills.”
Parke covered the 3.1 miles in 18 minutes, 55.64 seconds. Moughamian finished in 19:11.07.
There’s one more chapter for Parke to write: adding to her five state indoor and four outdoor track titles. Still, she’s happy with her cross country career.
“I want to be remembered as, obviously, someone who’s competitive, wins and does good and pushes herself,” Parke said. “But also someone who’s happy and really enjoys what she’s doing.”
St. Henry boys take second, Villa girls place third
Louisville Collegiate beat St. Henry for the boys team title, 69-136, but Northern Kentucky was well-represented. Beechwood placed third with 193 points and 2024 champion Villa Madonna was fifth with 247.
Sam Neuhaus was the first Crusader to finish, taking 14th place in 17:13.23. The next four were: Logan Vaniglia in 24th(17:35.35), Mason Fields in 29th (17:48.17), Bryson Colyer in 36th (18:09.78) and Mac Pearce in 53rd (18:30.48).
Sturgeon said the Tigers finishing third was “amazing.”
“I’m pretty sure that ties a school best finish ever,” Sturgeon said. “They all ran amazing. We knew they could do that.”
Beechwood’s first five were: Gannon Parke in 21st (17:33.36), Charlie Skeen in 38th (18:10.94), Braxton Lindloff in 41st(18:15.99), Sloan Pangallo in 42nd (18:18.01) and William Mooney in 80th (19:16.05).
Bishop Brossart junior Adam Tarvin was the first Northern Kentucky boy to finish – he placed eighth in 16:59.19.
Tarvin gleefully overachieved.
“I was shooting for somewhere between 10-15,” he said.
Tarvin said the first mile was a little slower than he anticipated.
“I was just trying to do my best and stick with those people up in the front and have them try and coast me towards the top,” he said.
Lexington Christian won the girls team title over Owensboro Catholic, 57-62. Villa Madonna was third with 103 points, Bishop Brossart was fourth with 150, and Beechwood was fifth with 159.
Eighth-grader Abigail Ford was Villa Madonna’s first runner, taking eighth place in 20:12.80. Nina Tibbs was next in 10th place in 20:23.40, followed by Norie Barker in 19th (21:12.90), Alyssa Martin in 23rd (21:20.99) and Anna Kolar in 57th (22:55.44).
Brossart coach Kendall Schuler said fourth place was about what she expected.
“We knew there were some teams, after looking at the regions, that were going to be pretty solid,” Schuler said. “We were just hoping to get on the podium.”
Four local runners made the top 15: Parke, Brossart’s Callie Ochsner (seventh place in 20:12.30), Ford and Tibbs.
For complete results, visit here.