Nobody idled at Burlington’s Idlewild Park during Saturday’s KHSAA regional cross country meets. Instead, runners motored around the 5-kilometer course, jockeying for spots at this weekend’s state championships at Lexington’s Kentucky Horse Park.
The area celebrated four team champions and five individual winners across six races, highlighting Class 1A, 2A, and 3A events for both girls and boys.
Beechwood captured the Class 1A Region 4 girls championship, while Bishop Brossart took the boys’ crown. Ryle secured a repeat Class 3A Region 5 girls title, and Covington Catholic claimed the big-school boys’ trophy in its return to 3A after three years in 2A. Highlands’ boys and girls finished as this year’s runners-up to repeat double-champion Lexington Catholic in the Class 2A Region 4 races.
The Beechwood girls compiled 53 points in Class 1A, edging runner-up Villa Madonna with 59 and third-place Bishop Brossart with 61. Brossart won the small-school boys’ division with 28 points over runner-up Beechwood (44) and third-place Holy Cross (68).
Ryle dominated the Class 3A girls race, using 23 points to finish well ahead of Notre Dame Academy’s 60 and Cooper’s 103. On the boys’ side, Covington Catholic cruised to victory with 39 points, building a comfortable cushion over Ryle (61) and Campbell County (88).
“One of the things we’re most excited about in going back up to 3A is having all the local competition,” Covington Catholic coach Jeremy Mosher said. “We want to go up against Ryle, Campbell County, Conner, Dixie Heights, and all them. They are the teams the kids like knocking heads with.”
Youth highlighted the individual leaderboards, as four of the five local champions are underclassmen with a chance to repeat next season.
Class 1A individual titles went to Bishop Brossart freshman Henry Kramer and Villa Madonna eighth grader Jasmine Cozmanciuc. Kramer breezed across the finish line in 16 minutes and 25.53 seconds, while Cozmanciuc posted a winning time of 20:01.45.
St. Henry junior Logan Vaniglia won the Class 2A boys crown in 16:10.17. That lifted the Crusaders to a third-place finish with 88 points.
Campbell County boasted double champions in Class 3A. Senior Grant Holbrook secured the boys’ title in 15:43.32. Junior Lila Dunlevy defended her crown on the girls’ side in 19:16.38.
All winners and qualifying top finishers advance to the state meet.
Covington Catholic celebrated a triumphant return among the large schools. The Colonels won the program’s first Class 3A title since 2017, its fifth at that level. They won a 22nd regional crown overall.
“We’re really proud of it. But we’re still looking for the top prize,” Colonels senior Braden Franxman said, noting they won state in 2024. “We understand as a team what we’re capable of.”
Sophomore Asher Edmondson paced the Colonels’ individual efforts, placing third with a personal-best time of 16:20.89. He finished roughly 20 seconds behind Conner runner-up Ethan Mann (16:00.94). Edmondson proved he is back to full strength after putting last year’s injuries in the rearview mirror.
“Asher has been a known quantity since middle school,” Mosher said. “It’s taken some time to get his mojo back after being hurt. Saturday, he was the guy we all know.”
CovCath senior Luke McLane crossed the line right behind Edmondson in fourth place at 16:23.53. McLane found his stride after battling low iron levels early in the season.
“Luke has had a rocky road; he dealt with injuries last year and he’s flying under the radar this year,” Mosher said. “He just committed as a preferred walk-on at the University of Dayton. He was awesome Saturday and could surprise some people at state.”
Senior Joel Barczak followed in ninth place and freshman Salem Glasgow earned 11th with a personal-best 16:55.79. Franxman took 12th to give the Colonels five runners in the top dozen.
“I personally had a terrible meet. But all the guys picked me up and that really fires me up,” Franxman said. “Asher had a great meet for us. He was the man in middle school but was all beat up last year and is really coming around. And he’s picking the perfect time to do it.”
In the 3A girls race, Ryle senior Aubrey Poore placed second behind Dunlevy, while eighth-grade teammate Sadie Chalfant took third. Both broke the 23-minute mark.
Highlands eighth grader Morgan Ripley led the local Class 2A girls finishers. Fellow Bluebirds eighth grader John Gesenhues paced the boys’ squad with a fifth-place finish.
In Class 1A boys, the top local finishers behind Kramer included Beechwood runner-up Gannon Parke, Brossart’s third-place finisher Adam Tarvin, and Holy Cross’s Miles Feldman in fourth. All three cleared the line in under 17:16.
Behind Cozmanciuc in the Class 1A girls race, Brossart runner-up Callie Ochsner, Villa Madonna’s third-place finisher Norie Barker, Beechwood’s Ellie Groene (fourth), and Dayton seventh grader Ashton Clifton (fifth) all finished under 21 minutes.