Lily Parke was No. 1 with a bullet.
So were her Beechwood cross country teammates.
The two-time defending Class A state champion Tigers don’t have any songs zooming up the charts, but they rose to the top of the table Saturday – they claimed their third straight Class A, Region 4 trophy, a 34-42 win over Villa Madonna at Williamstown High School.
As is usually the case, Parke won the race by nearly two minutes over Villa’s Ryan Bennett. Fellow Tiger Annie Harris was third, Isabel Ginter was eighth, Charlie Gerrein was ninth, and Nora Willke was 14th.
“Last year (Harris) was our fifth runner,” Beechwood coach Tricia Sturgeon said.
Parke didn’t receive live ammunition for her win – a blank cartridge was her reward. What you assume she’d love is a gold medal at next Saturday’s state meet at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington – especially because she finished second the last two years.
“I focus on the race of the day,” Parke said. “So this is regionals, I’m not really trying to worry about state the last two years. Out of sight, out of mind.”
Out of sight has been Parke’s strategy – Saturday was her sixth win in seven races this season.
What you should also notice about Parke: she doesn’t head for team tent after a race. Saturday, she was near the finish line.
“She’s instilled the passion in me to always work harder, push harder,” Harris said of Parke.
After Bennett for Villa, Alyssa Martin and Abigail Ford finished fifth and sixth, Scarlett Wainscott was 10th and Lena Schroeder was 20th.
St. Henry placed third with 64 points, Bishop Brossart was fourth with 74, and Walton-Verona was fifth 151. All five teams advance to the state tournament.
It’s been a rough year for St. Henry. Longtime coach Jeremy Hurm, 47, passed away Sept. 22 after a battle with brain cancer.
“I’ll tell you what; at times, we’ve come together because of it, which sometimes can help racing,” Crusaders coach Anne Beck-Kaliin said. “But to be honest with you, at other times, I feel like the girls are exhausted. I think we’re exhausted and we’re sad.”
Three St. Henry runners finished in the top 15: Jordyn Brockman in seventh place, Molly Francis in 12th and Mackenzie McMain in 13th.
Five individual qualifiers made it to Lexington: Emma Squibb and Meseret Freking of Holy Cross, Mary Kennedy of Newport Central Catholic, Lucy Juelg of Covington Latin, and Annabelle Brooks of Williamstown.
Villa boys victorious
Saturday looked a lot like a Villa Madonna training run.
The Vikings went 1-2-3 and placed five in the top 20 in a 29-55 win over St. Henry.
“We came into it expecting to win,” Villa senior Mark Antrobus said. “We had to take care of business, and we did that (Saturday).”
Villa won the Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference team title two weeks ago. Villa coach Brian Rapien’s last word to describe Saturday’s win was “easy.”
“It’s never easy,” Rapien said. “The rest of the schools in Northern Kentucky are amazing – Brossart, St. Henry among others. It’s never easy in Northern Kentucky, that’s for sure.”
Saturday was Antrobus’ first individual win this season. He finished about 14 seconds over fellow Viking Ethan Martin, and Brendan Ramdass was third. Alex Chadwick was sixth, and Ethan Barker was 17th.
Antrobus and Bishop Brossart’s Griffin Hill were together for a little more than a mile.
“It was about the mile and a half mark when he started to pull away from me,” Hill said. “I didn’t see him after that.”
Antrobus also became the second Villa runner to win region; 2015 alumnus Eric Baugh did it 2014 on the way to finishing second in the state.
“Cross country runners at Villa, we all kind of look up to him,” Antrobus said. “And we’ve been chasing his times in track and cross country my whole high school career at least.”
Beechwood was third with 109 points, Walton-Verona was fourth with 113, and Bellevue was fifth with 140. All five advance to state.
Individual qualifiers include: Hill, who finished fourth, Cayden Evans and Joel Bryant of Dayton, and Williamstown’s Aaron Reynolds and Owen Taylor.
For complete results, visit ky.milesplit.com (bit.ly/3YkjXoA).