By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Conner won the boys Class 3A region cross country meet with a perfect score and Villa Madonna nearly swept the Class 1A boys and girls team titles on Saturday at Ryle High School.
The first five runners across the finish line in the Class 3A boys race were Conner teammates Joseph Impellitteri, Logan Warth, Ryan Hanak, Drew Moore and George Johnson. Impellitteri’s winning time was 16:23 and he only had to wait 23 seconds for the rest of his teammates to join him in a victory celebration.
This is the fourth consecutive year the Cougars have won the boys large-school region meet.
Joseph Impellitteri led Conner to a perfect score in the Class 3A boys region meet.
Villa Madonna won its first Class 1A boys region championship by a two-point margin, 44-46, over St. Henry, but the girls team placed second to Brossart by a four-point margin, 46-42. The winning runners in those races were St. Henry junior Dixon Ryan (16:55) and Brossart senior Claire Curtsinger (19:29).
This is the fifth consecutive year that Brossart has won the Class 1A girls region meet. The Mustangs have also won three of the last four small-school state meets.
Ryle freshman Allison Kopser led her team to its third straight Class 3A girls region title by placing first in a time of 18:55 that was more than one minute faster than her winning time last year.
In the Class 2A region meet at Versailles, Scott edged Lexington Catholic, 36-40, to take home the girls championship trophy for the third straight year while Highlands won the boys team title by 50 points.
Scott sophomore Maddie Strong placed third in the girls race and Highlands junior Sam Hopper finished fourth in the boys race.
The state cross country meet will be Friday and Saturday at the Bourbon County course in Paris. Starting times for the Class 2A races on Friday are 4 p.m. for girls and 5 p.m. for boys. Saturday’s schedule has Class 1A girls at 10 a.m., Class 1A boys at 11 a.m., Class 3A girls at 3 p.m. and Class 3A boys at 4 p.m.
Last year, Brossart won the Class 1A girls state championship and three local teams placed second — St. Henry in Class 1A boys, Highlands in Class 2A girls and Conner in Class 3A boys.
