The Woodford County Cross Country season is officially underway. Both the boys and the girls teams are coming off a pretty good 2023 season with both teams placing top 5 in the region. Both the Boys and the girls this season have grown in size, bringing in new talent while returning top-of-the-state talent. The girls return the 2023 3A State Champ Addison Moore who looks to repeat while the Boys return a top 10 runner in the state in Ryan Hendrix. The team is strong and looking for top finishes in the region qualifying both teams for the State Meet in November.
The season has started and the team has already had 3 meets all hosted by Woodford County. The meets include Beat The Heat, Woodford County Invitational, and Woodford All Comers 1.
Beat The Heat was a 2.25-mile race which is shorter than any race that the team will do this season. At Beat The Heat both the Boys and the Girls brought home the win. On the Boy’s side, they were led by Blake Burns who finished 2nd place running 12:45 followed by Chase Lee in 5th running 13:38 who was followed by Blake Porter who finished 9th with a time of 14:01. Then with a time of 14:34, Ian Mattingly finished 4th for the team and 16th overall. Then rounding out the Top 5 for the team Eugenio Langdoc ran a 15:32 and 29th overall. On the girl’s side, Larkyn Hewett led the way for Woodford running 15:02 getting 2nd overall. Then in 3rd overall Gabby Gampper ran a 15:45. Charla Gormley came in 5th overall and 3rd for Woodford running a time of 16:40. Then in 4th place for the team and 9th overall Kennedy Cabell ran 17:44. Closely behind in 10th was Lucy Danks who ran 17:51 for her first High school race.
This race doesn’t have many implications on the season for the Jackets since it is just a scrimmage and not a meet that counts since it wasn’t a full 5k. However, this was a promising start for the Jackets.
The next race was the Woodford County Invitational which was the first 5k of the season and one of the bigger meets of the season. Normally this race is in late October but this year it was the Second Weekend of the official Cross Country season. The Jackets had their first look at some pretty difficult competition and they fared pretty well against it. The boys finished third in the meet and the girls finished second. The Boys were led by Ryan Hendrix who won and ran a 16:09 which is a very quick time for the tough Woodford County Course. Blake Burns came in 8th running a solid 18:02. The next Woodford runner was Blake Porter who got 25th running 19:37 and two spots behind him in 27th was Chase Lee who ran 20:18. Then rounding out the top 5 for the team was Ian Mattingly who got 34th running 20:40.
This was Blake Porter’s first High School 5k and he had a very impressive time. I had the opportunity to talk to him. Porter expressed his thoughts about the Woodford County Invitational by saying “I had a good race” he also added, “I’m excited about my starting 5k time and looking forward to progressing throughout the year.” This starting point is impressive for an athlete at his age and he mentions he wants to improve on his time and has a goal of going “under 19 minutes or right at 19 minutes.” The change from middle school to high school hasn’t seemed to affect Porter; he does mention that in “high school you get a lot more miles and the race distance is longer.” With this quick start he was able to rival an experienced Junior in Chase Lee however he believes that “I think I can Pressure Chase Lee but I don’t know if I can keep beating him but I can give him a lot of pressure”.
On the Girl’s side, there was no doubt in the world who was winning. It was the reigning 3A Kentucky State Cross Country Champion Addison Moore who ran a nice 18:38 – a great start to her season. Coming in second for the team was Gabby Gampper who got 3rd running 21:41. Then coming in 13th, and 3rd for the team, was Charla Gormley ran 24:07. Then Ashlyn Dearinger came in 23rd with a time of 25:40. Then rounding out the top 5 for the team and getting 28th was Kennedy Cabell who ran 25:59.
I was able to talk to Addison Moore about her race and Goals for this season. She mentions that she wasn’t thrilled about her race saying “It wasn’t my best performance” However she did win and she mentioned, “I did get first and that was a pretty good start to the season.” With this win to start the season it seems like she can win State again and she said “I think I can put in a good fight for that state championship win.” To win state back-to-back is one of her goals along with going “sub-17-minutes”.
Then the next race was Woodford All Comers 1 which was the same course as the Woodford County Invitational and again it was an impressive meet for the team with both a boys in girls victory. On the Boy’s side, they were led by Blake Burns who finished 2nd narrowly behind the 1st place runner. However he ran 3 seconds faster than Saturday, running a 17:59. Then one spot behind in 3rd Chase Lee had a big comeback race from Saturday running 19:14. Then the final 3 Woodford runners ran in 5th, 6th, and 7th. In 5th overall Blake Porter ran a 20:04. In 6th Jayden Mattingly in his first race ran 20:08. Then in 7th Ian Mattingly (no relation) ran a 20:09.
Chase Lee had a big bounce back and I was able to ask him about his performance. He said “I feel great but I don’t think it’s a bounceback. It was a good race.” This race was a nice improvement from Woodford County all comers and he mentioned: “I’ve had the confidence but this builds confidence and will lead to a great season even though I am still looking forward to track.” This confidence seemed to be a big boost since he says his goal is to “win state” While this is unlikely this race seemed to boost the confidence of Lee.
The Girls were led by Larkyn Hewett getting 2nd and running 21:25. Then in 4th was Gabby Gampper who ran 21:55 running the race as a workout. Then third for the team was Charla Gormley getting 6th overall and running a 24:16. Then we had three girls finish 8, 9, and 10 overall with Kennedy Cabell getting 8th and running 25:43, in 9th was Ashlyn Dearinger who ran 25:55 and then getting 10th overall was Lucy Danks running 25:56.
The Team has looked strong to start the early parts of the Cross Country Season. Two months are still ahead for the Jackets littered with meets. Both teams look due for another top 6 finish in the region which would automatically qualify the whole team for State. With the new depth and talent, this looks to be a great season for the Cross Country team.
Keep your eyes open for an article recapping the whole Cross Country season in November.
Boys roster: Ryan Hendrix, Blake Burns, Blake Porter, Chase Lee, Jayden Mattingly, Ian Mattingly, Eugenio Langdoc, Will Seitz, Clancy Fehrman, Paxton Magruder, Jake Crain, Bart Dabney, Logan Cox, Thomas Young, Will Carey, Colston Gampper, and Kaden Crouse.
Girls Roster: Addison Moore, Larkyn Hewett, Gabby Gampper, Charla Gormley, Kennedy Cabell, Lucy Danks, Ashlyn Dearinger, Katie Butler, Sarah Langdoc, Zel Carey, Millie McEntee, Sara Jo Vanhoose, and Sarah Goodrich.
Woodford County High School Cross Country Team Page
Schedule
8/20/2024- Beat The Heat- Woodford County Park Beat The Heat Results
8/31/2024- Woodford County Invitational- Woodford County Park Woodford County Invitational Results
9/3/2024- Woodford All Comers 1- Woodford County Park Woodford All Comers 1 Results
9/14/2024- Danville Christian Academy Battlefield Blitz- Perryville Kentucky Meet Link
9/21/2024- Trinity/Valkyrie Invitational- Tom Sawyer Park, Louisville Kentucky Meet Link
9/28/2024- Bluegrass Invitational- Masterson Station Park, Lexington Kentucky Meet Link
10/05/2024- Hopewell Invitational- Bourbon County Meet Link
10/12/2024- Haunted Woods Classic- Buckner Kentucky Meet Link
10/26/2024- Regional Meet
11/03/2024- State Meet
