Cooper won its third consecutive boys Class 3A, Region 5b team title, the eighth in school history. Photo provided | Cooper High School Athletics

Saturday’s regional cross country meets at Idlewild Park in Burlington were a great day for two individual defending state champions.

Defending boys Class 3A champion Paul Van Laningham of Cooper (15 minutes, 1.05 seconds) easily won the Region 5 race by nearly a minute over Conner’s Ethan Mann (15:57.18). Girls Class A champion and Kentucky commit Lily Parke of Beechwood did the same. Her 19:06.46 was a little more than a minute faster than Villa Madonna’s Abigail Ford’s 20:11.11. 

The rest of Cooper’s boys had a good time, too. The Jaguars won the team title over Conner, 32-72. Campbell County was third, Ryle was fourth and Dixie Heights was fifth.

Cooper, Conner, Campbell County, Ryle and Dixie Heights qualified as teams for next Saturday’s state meet at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. Joining them as individual qualifiers are Dylan Clemons and Lincoln Treas of Scott, Connor Warner of Simon Kenton, and  Ben Gallagher and Jacob Gubser of Highlands. 

Van Laningham won the Class 3A, Region 5 race by nearly a minute. Photo provided | Chase Richards

Ryle won the girls team title over Notre Dame, 36-60. Highlands was third with 94 points, and Conner placed fourth with 116.               

Campbell County sophomore Lila Dunlevy won the race in 18:58.80, less than a second over Ryle’s Sadie Chalfant’s 18:59.83.

Ryle, Notre Dame, Highlands and Conner qualified for state as teams. Joining them as individual qualifiers are: Dunlevy and Katherine McKee of Campbell County, Faith Foote, McKenzie Burchfield and Ambria Burchfield of Cooper, and Karsy Kreidenweis and Ella Carroll of Simon Kenton.

Like Van Laningham, Parke won her race by about a minute. Photo submitted

Class A, Region 4

Villa Madonna won the girls team title over Bishop Brossart, 34-44. Beechwood was third with 60 points, followed by St. Henry with 86 and Walton-Verona with 138. 

Villa Madonna, Bishop Brossart, Beechwood and St. Henry qualified for state as teams. Joining them as individual qualifiers are Abrielle Hooten, Brooklyn Dills and Taylor Placke of Walton-Verona, Ava Willen of Newport Central Catholic and Charlotte Morris of Dayton.

Villa Madonna won what Vikings coach Brian Rapien believes in the first girls regional team title in school history. Photo courtesy of Villa Madonna Academy

St. Henry’s boys had a much easier time in their 27-70 team win over Beechwood. The Crusaders’ Sam Neuhaus won with a 16:35.36, nearly a second quicker than teammate Logan Vaniglia’s 16:41.81.

The Crusaders placed five runners in the top 10 – Neuhaus, Vaniglia, Bryson Colyer (eighth place) Mason Fields (ninth) and Mac Pearce (10th). Teammates Mason Dunwoody and Henry Dunham took 11th and 12th, respectively.

St. Henry, Villa Madonna, Brossart, Bellevue and Holy Cross qualified for state as teams. Joining them as individuals are William Osborne of Williamstown, Everett Pfeffer and Jonah Cockrell of Walton-Verona and NewCath’s Ian Darnell and Colin Desmond. 

Class 2A, Region 4

Lexington Catholic won the boys team title over Covington Catholic, 31-41. CovCath’s Joe Mayer won by a second over Bourbon County’s Christopher Wells.

LexCath, CovCath, Bourbon County, Franklin County and Lloyd Memorial are going to state as teams. Alex Lopez Juarez of Holmes also qualified as an individual.

Five Northern Kentucky girls qualified as individuals: Savannah Gerding, Jersey Marquis and Rosie Brady of Lloyd Memorial; and Peyton Baker and Ken’yanna Johnson of Holmes.

Lexington Catholic won the girls team title over Bourbon County, 25-38, and Harrison County was third with 66.