Some familiar names and teams found themselves on the podium in the Class 3A, Region 5 region meet at Sherman Elementary School in Grant County, and some unfamiliar ones.
Two new teams joined the Northern Kentucky in the region this year as Highlands and Scott moved up from Class 2A and Covington Catholic moved down to 2A.
The big story is the Cooper boys dethroned the five-time region and two-time defending Class 3A state champion Conner by 10 points at 39-49 to win their first region championship since 2016.
The first two runners on both teams evened out the scores. But Cooper’s third through fifth runners finished at least three spots ahead of Conner’s third through fifth runners, making the difference. Cooper junior Paul Van Laningham took third in 15:58.70 before senior Salah Farah took sixth in 16:35.24. Conner senior Joey Carroll and junior Nathan Hopper finished fourth and fifth in 16:04.86 and 16:27.43, respectively.
“It feels pretty good,” Van Laningham said. “This team has been working really hard. We got our chance to show it. I’m very happy with this race.”
Cooper placed all five scorers in the top 13. Cooper seniors Noah Miller and Preston Winiger finished eighth and ninth in 16:53.65 and 17:15.40 before sophomore Micah Brandeberry took 13th in 17:35.17.
“I had another son run and we never could pull (a region championship) off,” said Eric Van Laningham, Cooper head coach. “Conner got really good and raised the bar for us, which I’m actually thankful for because that made us reach for higher heights.”
Conner still placed all of the scorers in the top 17. Seniors Charlie Hanak and Dawson Benjamin took 11th and 12th in 17:28.52 and 17:29.19. Senior Warren Johnson then capped it off taking 17th in 17:47.49.
“I think it’s a nice thing that these guys have experienced a level of success where second place hurts as much as it does,” said Cody Davidson, Conner head coach. “But they’ve had a great season. There have been things that haven’t been perfect and they pushed through it.”
Carroll, Hopper, Johnson, Hanak and Benjamin ran on last year’s state championship team, but the top two runners in George Johnson and Drew Moore graduated. Davidson also took over for Ian Johnstone this season.
“We told the newcomers to treat it like any other race,” Hopper said. “You don’t have a lot to worry about. The state meet is the big one.”
Ryle senior Tiger Bartlett won the race for the second straight year in 15:41.72. He defeated Grant County junior Lincoln Herald by just more than 10 seconds.
“I’d say more than anything it’s about the preparation, especially mentally,” Bartlett said. “You have to understand if you’re at the top, you have to earn it every time you go out there on the course. You have to show people why you’re at the top.”
Highlands, Ryle and Dixie Heights joined Cooper and Conner in qualifying for next week’s state meet scoring 102, 105 and 124 points, respectively. Campbell County junior Jonathan Christopher, senior Oscar Bankemper, Simon Kenton junior Isaiah Laughlin and Scott junior Jonah Hunt qualified for state individually.
The girls saw the Ryle Raiders win it after Campbell County won it last year. This makes five region championships in the last seven years for the Raiders.
Ryle placed its top five in the top 16 spots. Junior Allison Kopser, who won the individual crowns in 2021 and 2019 as a freshman and eighth grader, led the way taking third in 20:04.66 and eighth grader Stella Carpenter took fourth in 20:37.49.
“It was a great team effort,” said Shawn Proffitt, Ryle girls cross country head coach. “This is the first time we raced all seven together all year and the pack mentality took over. We’ve really been piecing them in the races they’ve needed to run – a varsity or junior varsity race. It’s a great pack.”
The only senior that ran for Ryle in Stella Aschermann took seventh in 20:49.60 and junior Isabelle Morin finished right behind her in eighth in 20:53.80. The Raiders also had another pair with the fifth and sixth-place finishers in eighth grader Julie Morin and freshman Aubrey Poore in 17th and 18th places in 21:31.27 and 21:33.62.
“I just built our team up and they learned to trust each other so we have each others’ backs off the course and on the course,” Aschermann said. “We were able to see each other and pick each other up. We know there’s always another girl counting on us and other girls are counting on us to keep us together focused on that one goal, which was winning the region this year.”
Scott senior Maddie Strong won the race in 19:15.66. Strong won the region and Class 2A individual state championships last year.
“The 2A to 3A change was a shock that kind of got thrown on us at the end of summer. So going in, I knew I was going to have completely new competition that I wasn’t used to running against,” Strong said. “But it’s been really exciting. I’m happy my last year I get to run against the best of the best in the state. I wanted to put my place down in 3A for the first time.”
Campbell County junior Olivia Holbrook followed her in second in 19:38.01. Holbrook won the region individual crown last year.
“I was pretty happy with it. I was trying to stick with Maddie the first mile,” Holbrook said. “I gave whatever I had after that. I try to have fun and warm up well.”
Notre Dame took second for its highest finish since 2017. Two freshmen led the way in Alexandra Burg and Abigail Carnes finishing in 10th and 11th in 20:56.69 and 20:57.37.
“I am absolutely proud of the way these girls have brought this program back up,” said Joe Durrett, Notre Dame head coach. “They are excited. For example, I have a senior crying right now because she ran a personal record.”
That senior was Tessa Lenihan, who took 12th in 21:07.22. Senior Clara Heberling and freshman Olivia Browning capped off the Notre Dame scoring finishing 13th and 15th in 21:13.57 and 21:30.19.
“This is my fourth regional race so to feel near the top in second feels amazing,” Lenihan said. “I’m so proud of everyone on the team. It was about not considering it a big race, but another race because we’ve been training so hard to get where we are. Our best was good enough to get second place.”
Campbell County, Scott and Cooper also qualified for state. Simon Kenton senior Allie Atchley, Highlands freshman Sophie Taylor, Conner junior Isabella Gay, sophomore Avery Vanlandingham and Highlands sophomore Sydney Houlihan qualified for state individually.
The state meet moves back to the Kentucky Horse Park located North of Lexington this year. The Class 3A boys run on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 3 p.m. and the girls race at 3:45 p.m.
