It was a clean sweep for Davies County, with both the boys’ and girls’ teams finishing first in the Region 1, Class 3A 5000 meters on Saturday.
Lucy Spaw (1st, 19:47.20) and Asher Alvey (5th, 16:45.90) had the top times for their respective teams.
“I was very proud of them,” Daviess County head coach Josh Bratcher said. “We continued to channel our focus to run a strong and together middle pack. They did that today and it paid off. The boys’ race came down to a tie and our sixth man put us in first. I am super excited and ready to shift our focus to state.”
Lucca Neves (6th, 16:57.14), Nikolas Hodskins (8th, 17:17.47), Ben Nunley (15th, 17:44.91), Brody Holbrook (25th, 18:15.03) and Jonah Murphy (26th, 18:16.40) rounded out the Panthers top six times. For the Lady Panthers, Channey Headey (3rd, 20:32.60), Sally Tidwell (4th, 20:49.90), Mallory Raines (5th, 20:52.70), and Ellie Girten (6th, 20:53.10) rounded out the team’s top times.
Daviess County now heads to the state meet on Saturday at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. Competing in Class 3A, the girls’ race starts at 10:00 a.m., with the boys’ race kicking off 45 minutes later. The Panthers will be joined by the top five teams from each region and the top five individuals excluding those whose team qualified.
Apollo finished second, just three points behind the Panthers, with Emmit Brock (2nd, 16:07.94) and Noah Gray (3rd, 16:22.89) leading the way. Entering the day, the Eagles knew they were underdogs against Daviess County and also had to look out for a tough Marshall County team.
“Today was probably one of the grittiest races I have ever seen,” Apollo head coach Daniel Southard said. “I like to think that anytime you are lucky enough to have a group of coachable guys who run for the right reasons, that you have a chance. Today they proved that to be true. They stuck to the plan, held one another accountable, and almost came away with a regional championship. The growth of the Apollo men is spectacular, and it’s due to their daily promise to simply, ‘Do the best they can.’ Which is easy to say, but is rarely done. Heading to state next week I believe our guys’ confidence will be at an all-time high. I’m just really proud of the entire team and feel blessed to be a small part of their lives.”
The E-Gals finished seventh, ending their season, but Ava Falloway (13th, 21:41.40) advanced to the state tournament as an individual.
The Owensboro Lady Devils finished fourth, keeping their season alive. Abby Ladwig (20th, 22:35.20) had the top time and was followed by Maleeyah Voyles (27th, 23:08.70), (Jersie Kline (31st, 23:41.30), Kiley Palmer (34th, 24:11.10 29), and Fatima Landero-Luna (36th, 24:27.60 31).
“They ran a tough race on a tough course today at Marshall,” Owensboro girls head coach Matt Morris said. “They have worked hard all season and came in today and accomplished one of our goals for the season. I am pretty excited at the direction this team is heading and proud of their result today. It was a total team effort.”
On the boys’ side, the Red Devils just missed the cutoff to advance as a team, being edged out by Christian County by 20 points. However, 7th-grader Jackson Quattrocchi (13th, 17:38.50) advanced as an individual.
“The guys laid it all out on the course today and we came up a little bit short, missing out on the top five team finish that qualifies for the state meet,” Owensboro boys’ head coach Griffen Kelley said. “A lot of tears were shed because the guys wanted it so bad. A year ago, we placed last in our region. Of course, jumping from 10th out of 10 to 6th place in a year’s time is a big accomplishment and a huge step in a positive direction for the program, but it stings knowing you came so close and fell short of achieving a lofty goal.”
Region 2 Class 1A
Competing in the Region 2 Class 2A, the Lady Aces cruised to an impressive win, beating second-place Green County by 37 points. Sophomore Peyton Reid finished first overall, running a 20:02.69. She was followed by Scarlett Isenbarger (3rd, 20:48.03), Caroline Wathen (5th, 21:03.16), Charlie Reid (7th, 21:29.88), and Ainsley Sutter (8th, 21:32.22).
“I am very proud of these girls. They have worked so hard this season, have run very consistently, and do a great job picking each other up when they have a tough day,” Owensboro Catholic head coach Jacob Reid said. “It’s a special group and I’m happy for them to have some great momentum heading into state next week.”
Finishing fourth in the boys’ race, the Aces also advanced to the state tournament with Owen Brey (16th, 18:34.60) leading the way.
“It was a gutsy performance by the guys today,” Owensboro Catholic boys’ head coach Scott Lowe said. “They wanted to qualify for state this year so they pushed themselves at practice to get to this point. Thanks to Samuel Polio who came in this year and helped me prepare these guys for today. All the credit goes to the guys and coach Polio. Samuel ran for me for four years then ran at Centre College. He brought a wealth of knowledge that these guys took in to make them better”
The Hancock County Lady Hornets finished in third, just four points behind second-place Green County.
Isabella Ross (9th, 22:22.71), Ellen Meserve (10th, 22:23.23), Anna Stovall (12th, 22:28.77) Carolina Jones (15th, 22:46.90), and Lyla DeJarnette (26th, 23:26.40) rounded out the team’s top five times. Every girl on the roster ran a personal best except for Stovall. For Stovall, this was her first race back after missing the majority of the season with an injury.
The Hancock boys finished 6th, just missing the cutoff, but the duo of Emmit Meserve (11th, 18:18.12) and Noah Henson (22nd, 19:07.37) advanced as individuals.
“I was really pleased with how our athletes ran,” Hancock County head coach Wes Meserve said. “We were ranked fourth or fifth coming into the meet and finished third right behind Green County. Our girls ran the best race I’ve seen them run in at least the last two seasons. All of our boys except Emmitt and Matthew ran season-best times. I thought we had a chance to make it to state and we were one spot outside of qualifying for the third year in a row.”
