The Trinity Valkaryie meet was on Saturday, September 21st. This meet is one of the biggest meets of the season in the state of Kentucky. This gains people from different states like Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and of course Kentucky all coming to Louisville’s Tom Sawyer Park to run. This course is known to be a fast flat course meant to get Personal Records. The top competition from around the state comes to this race. Going Sub-15 minutes is such a big deal and an absurdly fast pace that many runners strive to achieve. There were 5 runners that ran sub-15 showcasing the speed at the race.
Woodford County had three runners that ran in the seeded race which is the race with the most competition, and leading them was Ryan Hendrix. Hendrix has been one of the top runners on this Woodford squad for a while now and his quick times have put him in contention for the Woodford County cross-country school record. He has a history of breaking records. In this past track season, he has broken numerous school records. He was a part of the 4×800 school record and he also has the record for the 1600m.
He has shown his speed in distance running for Woodford County and going into this race he was looking for a big time.
The School Record was held by Zach Wilder. Who held many records at Woodford County for distance running. Wilder ran a 15:25.74 and has held the school record since 2003. Zach Wilder was a very successful runner in his time at Woodford County, holding many school records. He gained many accolades in the state of Kentucky, including runner of the year in his sophomore and junior year. He helped lead his team to some Woodford County regional titles. Then in his senior year, he won the 2003 3A State Championship. Then after high school Wilder went to Purdue University, then transferred his junior year back home to the University of Kentucky. Wilder has been one of the greatest distance athletes that has come through Woodford County. However, over the past years, he has seen some threats to his records with the rise of Jace Crume and Ryan Hendrix.
Some of his records have been taken in track, however, one record still stood strong which was his Cross Country Record.
Hendrix had the opportunity to start in a box stacked with competition. In the Seeded race, all runners who didn’t have at least 5 runners were all put into a box. Therefore the teams with one great runner started in this box who helped Hendrix get out with a quick group. Hendrix said before the race that he liked the starting spot that they were in.
I didn’t get to see Hendrix race since I was running the race of my own but Hendrix had a big race at Tom Sawyer Park running a 15:15.27 which is a blistering quick pace, averaging 4:54 every mile. Beating the school record by 10 seconds! Hendrix got 12th in the race ahead of some big names.
Hendrix had already been seen as a top runner in Woodford County History, but this solidified his greatness as a Woodford County distance runner, breaking this 21-year-old record.
Over fall break Ryan Hendrix made a decision that had a big influence on his running career. Hendrix decided to commit to Western Kentucky University to run on the Division 1 level. Hendrix’s hard work has paid off as he gets the opportunity to run at the college level.
