By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
Both the
Highlands cross country teams expected to repeat as Class 2A, Region 4
champions.
One did and
one just missed out. The Highlands girls ran away from field scoring 27 points
outdistancing second-place Scott with 51 points. Highlands came into the season
as heavy favorites to repeat as state champions.
“We just got Molly Mearns back from an injury,” said Brian Alessandro, Highlands Head Coach. “We knew we’d win with any of the five
girls we put out there.”
Freshman
Chloe Gastright finished second in the meet in 19 minutes, 30.2 seconds to
Lexington Catholic freshman Michaela Reinhart in 18:44.8. Freshman Sydney
Ossege finished fourth in 19:53.9. The other three Highlands scorers were
eighth-grader Brianna Collins (sixth in 20:18.6), sophomore Lauren Ossege
(seventh in 20:45.6) and Molly Mearns (eighth in 20:48.5).
The other
two Highlands runners did not run far behind. Senior Frances Tracy finished 11th
in 21:19.8 and eighth-grader Karsen Hunter took 12th in 21:35.1.
The
Highlands and Covington Catholic boys placed their top five runners in the Top
10. The Colonels edged the Bluebirds, 27-28.
“It was like a dual meet,” Alessandro said. “That
(two teams placing top five in top 10) almost never happens. (A wider number of
teams) could be a huge difference in a big meet like that.”
Sophomore
Ethan Shuley won the race for Highlands in 16:21.6 and senior John Michael
Griffith followed in second in 16:39.8. After the Colonels took the next three
spots, sophomore Geoffrey Mearns finished sixth in 17:19.2.
But CovCath
took the next two places to take the win. Junior James Smith finished ninth for
Highlands in 17:31.9 and sophomore Jackson Paul finished 10th in 17:33.1.
Sophomores
Matt Gray and Will Backscheider also ran for Highlands. Gray finished 12th in
17:49.8 and Backsheider 17th in 18:09.8.
The region
meet took place at Sherman Elementary in Dry Ridge. Grant County served as meet
host.
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