WCMS girls capture conference championship

Woodford County runners had a big night at the Central Kentucky Conference cross country meet Tuesday, Sept. 22 in Paris.  

A tightly grouped scoring pack made it a championship day for the Woodford County Middle School girls.

Emmeline Zaluski led the Tigers, placing second in 12:25.77. Kalyn Browning followed in fifth at 13:22.50 before Willa Divine (13:36.24) and Gentry Moore (13:36.64) crossed four-10ths of a second apart in sixth and seventh. Sydney Moore secured the title by placing ninth in 13:53.15.

That five-runner sequence proved decisive. All five scorers finished before any opponent placed a fifth runner across the line, allowing the Tigers to create separation. A near-photo finish for sixth and seventh gave Woodford consecutive scoring positions, and the ninth-place runner closed the championship group for the victory.

The Tigers’ depth continued with Ruby Holsapple, 15:06.80; Claire Wiley, 15:52.89; Grace Craig, 16:36.49; and Ava Moore, 17:25.21.

The WCMS boys came within two points of completing a Woodford sweep.

Ryland Ritchie won the individual championship in 10:55.15, and Brody Fazio took second in 11:04.76. Hattox Browning placed sixth in 11:33.49, while Zachary Dorsey was seventh in 11:43.24. Christian Wiley, 13:10.48, completed the scoring as Woodford finished with 32 points, just behind Shelby County’s 30.

Eli Higgins ran 13:23.61, followed by Noah Klutka, 13:40.50; Sam Appler, 14:04.43; Galvyn Goins, 14:13.77; Sam Crawford, 17:19.28; and Patrick Bryant, 17:20.63.

In the high school 5K, Avery Gill’s fourth-place time of 19:24.96 helped the Woodford girls place fourth. Penny Oxnard ran 20:45.84, while Lucy Danks, 22:47.39, and Jacey Lyddane, 22:50.15, finished three seconds apart. Ashlyn Dearinger completed Woodford’s scoring in 23:41.54.

Allie Twehues ran 25:05.32, followed by Ava Jones, 26:17.63; Juliana Christensen, 26:19.29; Genevieve Cox, 26:20.50; Madison Cabell, 28:39.84; and Camilla Peroni, 28:45.06.

The WCHS boys’ team placed sixth.

Blake Porter led the Yellow Jackets in 17:11.58, and Oliver Cox followed in 17:33.24. Logan Cox ran 19:05.24, Gavyn Burns finished in 19:09.27 and Liam Muniz completed the scoring in 19:43.29.

Clancy Fehrman ran 20:08.95, followed by Paxton Magruder, 20:41.21; Andrew Wellman, 20:45.65; Adrian Bowers, 22:25.25; Colston Gampper, 22:37.03; Sam Magruder, 23:42.68; Thomas Young, 25:48.09; Nate Gresham, 26:54.63; Gerrit Hall, 27:17.04; Link Christensen, 28:06.50; and Jake Crain, 28:33.49.