This is part two of my first article about Cross Country. It will recap the rest of the season from the DCA Battlefield Blitz on September 14th to the State Meet on November 3rd. The end of the Cross Country season had some exciting moments, with a back-to-back state champ, a new school record, an amazing regional meet, and more.
On September 14th some of the team went to Perryville Kentucky to run at the Danville Christian Academy Battlefield Blitz at the Perryville Historical Battlefield. This was the hilliest course of the season. Charla Gormley was first on the girl’s side in this meet getting 17th running 25:36.66. Then 2 Woodford runners came in pretty close at 34th and 38th. Ashlyn Dearinger got 34th with a time of 28:01.53, and Kennedy Cabell got 38th running 28:25.00. 4th for the team was 48th running 29:53.50, then rounding out the top 5 for the team getting 55th was Katie Butler running a 30:59.75. The boys had a duo finish 15th and 16th in Blake Porter and Jayden Mattingly. They ran a 20:19.47 and a 20:20.00. Ian Mattingly then came in 3rd for the team running 22:09.15. The final scorers for the team were Jake Crain who got 50th and ran 24:05.97, and Eugenio Langdoc who got 54th and ran 24:34.66.
The next week was the season’s biggest meet other than the postseason meets: Trinity Valkyrie. This meet drags in competition from all surrounding states. This course is flat and fast which leads to big times. However, the races for the team weren’t the greatest except for Ryan Hendrix who stole the show for the Woodford Boys running a new Woodford County school record. He got 13th running 15:15.27 leading the seeded boys. The other seeded boys Blake Burns had a rough day running 18:01.79 getting 271st. Chase Lee also had a rough day running 19.51.99 getting 341st. The only other runner on the Woodford County team who ran in the seeded race was Addison Moore. She didn’t have the day she wanted only getting 10th running 18:22.73.
The next best 7 for the team ran in the Trinity Valkyrie Varsity Race. Jayden Mattingly and Ian Mattingly led the way for the boys both having strong individual performances. Jayden Mattingly got 126th running a 19:11.52. Ian Mattingly almost got his coveted sub-20 time but was just short, running 20:03.49, and getting 167th. Will Seitz got another race under his belt running in 201st place with a 21:20.60. To round out the scoring two Woodford runners ran back to back getting 225 and 226 Eugenio Langdoc got 23:01.39, and Jake Crain ran 23:02.31.
The Woodford Girls Varsity had some impressive showings. For example, running in 16th place was Larkyn Hewett running a nice 20:47.56. Gabby Gampper finished 10 spots behind her in 26th running 21:22.31. These performances were very impressive getting top 50 in a race of this stature puts you as one of the best in the state. Charla Gormley ran 23:59.06 getting 113th. Kennedy Cabell ran 151st running a 25:59.83. Then Ashlyn Dearinger ran a few spots behind in 158th getting 26:34.24.
The rest of the team that didn’t race at Trinity Valkaryie ran the Varsity race in Georgetown at the Double S Stampede. The boy’s team had enough to score at this meet, while the girls only had 2 runners so they didn’t have enough to score. Paxton Magruder had a very nice day on the boy’s side getting 65th running a nice 21:47.34. Logan Cox also had a nice race getting 72nd and a 23:02.66. Clancy Fehrman who was working back from sickness was getting another race under himself running a 23:50.34 getting 85th. Thomas Young got 100th running 26:07 and rounding out the top 5 for the boys was Kaden Crouse running 28:10 and getting 108th. All of the boys who scored in this race were freshmen which highlights the future potential of the squad. The girls were led by Katie Butler in this race getting 92nd running 29:03.28, and Sara Langdoc ran in 104th getting 30:37.03.
The next scheduled race for the team was supposed to be at Masterson Station at the Bluegrass Invitational. This was the meet I was most looking forward to since it is a fast quick course. However, it stormed all day Friday and Saturday leading to the cancelation of this race.
The next meeting was an optional meeting since it was the last few days of fall break. It was at our Regional Course in Bourbon County. However, the old course had changed and there was a new course that nobody had ever run at. The boys had just enough runners to score. Leading the team was Blake Burns getting 11th place running at that time a Personal best running at 17:23.44. Jayden Mattingly had a nice second-place finish for the team getting 33rd overall running 19:05.61. Blake Porter ran at 19:32.35 getting 48th overall. Jake Crain had a big day running 21:07.15 and getting 80th a big time for the last time he ran at Bourbon County a year previous. Bart Dabney got 101st and rounded out the scoring for our team running 22:49.46. The girls only had two runners and leading them in getting a 4th place finish was Larkyn Hewett who ran 21:21.82 and then Lucky Danks who ran 31:54.04 getting 79th. This was a great meet for these runners to run at since it will prepare them for their regional race, which may be the season’s biggest meet.
The next meet was one of the team’s favorite races: The Haunted Woods Classic. This meet was a Halloween meet with many decorations and music. This meet was also in the woods which were also all decorated. The woods did create a tough course with some sharp turns and steep hills but this still created a fun environment for the team. It was a pretty big meet though since it was up near Louisville. The boys had a Top 10 finisher as Ryan Hendrix got 6th running a 15:48.07. Blake Burns got 48th running a 17:30.88, followed by Jayden Mattingly in 85th going sub-19 running 18:52.69. Blake Porter was 10 spots behind Mattingly getting 95th running 19:03.46. Ian Mattingly ran a 20:20.04 and finished in 124th. Then on the girl’s side, they had the race winner: Addison Moore who ran 18:04.17. Then Larkyn Hewett also had a top 50 finish, finishing 30th at 21:01.49. Gabby Gampper just missed out on the top 50 getting 61st running 22:23.74. The next Woodford runner was Kennedy Cabell running 25:53.26 getting 127th. Rounding out the top 5 for the team getting 136th was Ashlyn Dearinger running 26:12.29.
The next race was the most important race of the season for the team: The Regional Meet. While this is not the state meet the team has to rely on getting the top 6 in the region to go to state. Last season at the regional meet both the boys and the girl’s teams made the state with some impressive individual performances. However this year both teams were on the bubble again. Both the boys and the girls were rated 5th in the region this year going into the regional meet, but everyone knew that each team would bring their best no matter what. The boy’s side had a strong start with Ryan Hendrix getting 2nd running a blazing 15:26.06. This may not necessarily be his fastest time of the year but he had to save some for the state meet the next week. Blake Burns had a big day running another personal record running 17:09.88 and getting 21st. This race was a little bittersweet for him however since he was on the sub-17 pace once he hit mile 2 but he couldn’t contain it the last mile since the start was so quick. Prime Chase Lee came back for this race running his best time of 18:25.00 getting 34th, and having another great regional meet like he did the year prior. Blake Porter finished 2 spots behind and 4 seconds later running 18:29.06 getting 36th. Rounding out the top 5 was Jayden Mattingly with another great race running in 43rd and getting 19:10.66. This was a solid top 5 for the team, this deemed them 5th place in the region which meant the whole team was heading off to the state meet. The girls also had a great top 5 and it all started out with two runners in the top 15. Addison Moore won the region again with a massive gap between her and second place. She ran 18:02.65 doing the same strategy as Hendrix by saving some of her energy for the State meet. Gabby Gampper was the other Woodford runner in the top 15 getting 11th. She was close to getting under 20 running a great time of 20:23.50. Charla Gormley ran 35th getting 22:34.16. Then Ashlyn Dearinger got 44th getting 23:40.35. The girls did better than expected getting 4th as a team. This meant that for the second straight year, both the boy’s and girl’s teams were heading to state.
The final meet of the season was the State meet. This meet at the Horse Park is pure chaos. The course is pretty hilly and also about 200 meters long impacting the times of the race. This was the biggest meet for two of the runners on our team Ryan Hendrix and Addison Moore since they both wanted to win. Hendrix did not win the meet and just barely missed the top 10 getting 11th. He ran 16:03. Anyways he had a great meet and a great season in general highlighted by the Woodford County school record in the 5k.
The rest of the boys were a little low with Blake Porter out of town and Chase Lee not being able to run. They were led by Blake Burns finishing 2nd for the team. He had a great start but he ended up having trouble later in the race. He finished just outside the top 100 getting 112th running a 17:50.04. Jayden Mattingly was next for the team getting 244th getting 19:54.65. Will Seitz ran 4th for the team getting 271st getting a 20:45.53. Then Ian Mattingly finished 279th running 21:05.23.
Addison Moore had a terrific meet getting yet another win on the season! This means that Moore went back-to-back as the 3a state champion in Kentucky. She had a very similar strategy from last year where she hung around the front the whole race till about 400 meters and then she just pulled away. This strategy worked again and led to Moore running a great time of 18:06.82 winning by 9 seconds. This time put her as the fastest runner out of all girls in the state of Kentucky meaning she was faster than both the 1a and 2a winners.
The rest of the scoring runners for the girls were led by Gabby Gampper and Larkyn Hewett getting 120 and 124 running 21:42.82 and 21:45.53. Charla Gormley ran 24:33.00 which was good for 242nd. Then the final scorer for Woodford was Ashlyn Dearinger who got 248th running a 25:07.72.
This race is a very tough race and with how tough this course is and the amount of people Woodford did a pretty good job at the state meet.
This Cross Country season was a great season for the Jackets. They had a goal of having both teams end up going back to the state meet which they accomplished. Coach Swingle has done an excellent job coaching this team these past two seasons. Having back-to-back state appearances for both the boys and the girls. This season was fun and exciting with some great performances. Next year, it will be interesting to see how the boys do without the talented Ryan Hendrix who is going to run at Western Kentucky. While the girls don’t lose much talent meaning Addison Moore can 3-peat as the state championship but they do lose one of their top 3 scorers in Larkyn Hewett. Next year is going to be a fun one, but until then, Go Jackets!
