St. Xavier boys crush 3A field with 33 points

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

The St. Xavier boys, the top-ranked team in the NXN Southeast region, took care of its business in Kentucky on Saturday by scoring 33 points to dominate the Class 3A race. Trio Patrick Schaefer, Ryan Guenthner and Cooper Marchal went 3-4-5.

Up front, Yared Nuguse of DuPont Manual broke open a tight race with Alex Mortimer from Tates Creek and won the state title in 15:41.2. Mortimer was seven seconds back for second place.

Alena Sapienza-Wright made it an individual sweep for DuPont Manual as she won the 3A girls race in 18:08.9. Fellow junior Kaitlyn Lacy of Louisville Male was a second back.

DuPont Manual won the title with 113 points Daviess County was next with 125 points.

Michaela Reinhart of Lexington Catholic ran 17:57.2 and won the Class 2A girls race by nearly 70 seconds. Reinhart, a senior, won her second straight title. Christian Academy (Louisville) put three in the top nine and scored 64 points to win the team title. Two-time Foot Locker finalist Gabby Karas of Collins did not qualify for state.

Jacob England of Warren East ran 16:05.1 to win the 2A boys race, outkicking Shelby County’s Matt Paverd by two seconds. Lexington Catholic scored 61 points to take the team win.

A pair of sophomores won the Class 1A races. Keeto Thornberry from Louisville Holy Cross ran 16:16.3 and won by five seconds as Lexington Christian Academy ran to the team title with 68 points. Thornberry and his team were second with 106.

Kailee Perry from Morgan County won the girls race in 19:46.2, stepping up from last year’s fourth place. St. Henry District won the team title with 91 points, followed closely by Lexington Christian Academy (92) and Bishop Brossart (99).