By STEVE CORNELIUS, CJ Sports Editor
Lexington — Somerset High School sophomore Austin Adams and junior Lauren Cornett made strong individual showings in the KHSAA State Cross Country Championships at Masterson Station on Saturday.
Adams placed 29th in the boys Class A race after he ran a 17:45 on the 5,000-meter course.
Cornett covered the 5,000-meter course in 21:37 to place 34th in the girls Class A race.
Two of the best female local times were turned in by a group of Lady Warrior underclassmen.
Southwestern freshman Emily Belwood ran a 21:19 to place 72nd in the girls Class AAA race. Southwestern seventh-grader Jill Collier ran a 21:24 to place 78th, and eighth-grader Tiffany Russell was clocked at 21:36 to place 88th.
The Southwestern trio helped guide the Lady Warriors to a 16th place finish overall.
“I am very excited about how Southwestern girls preformed on Saturday at State,” Lady Warrior coach Jill Goff said. “They have worked hard all year. We didn’t concentrate on one race this year, but on each race as it came. Most of our girls did multiple sports, a few times we didn’t know who would be there and who wouldn’t.”
“We have had a very winning year, that is something the girls and school can be proud of,” Goff stated. “When we found out Jill Collier wasn’t going to get to run region, the girls were very nervous. I told them one girl couldn’t win the race, it will take each of you giving a 110 percent. When they won (region), I felt it was a real confidence builder. You never know what will happen to a child on race day, that may cause them to be out. We are a team, not just individuals.”
The top local boys state meet time was turned in by Pulaski junior Brandon Smiley, who covered the 3.1-mile course in 17:31. Smiley placed 48th in the boys Class AAA race.
Team-wise, Somerset boys finished in 16th place and the Somerset girls finished in 15th place in Class A . In the Class AAA team standings, Pulaski girls finished in 26th place, Pulaski boys finished in 19th place and the Southwestern boys finished 26th place.
Top local finishers in the boys Class A boys race were Somerset’s Adams 29th, Brent Joplin 74th, Jarrod Wesley 82nd, DJ Townsend 122nd and Cody Sutton 124th.
Top local finishers in the girls Class A boys race were Somerset’s Cornett 34th, Whitney Wallace 92nd, Jessica Wallace 113th and Maria Kerr 133rd.
Top local finishers in the boys Class AAA boys race were Pulaski’s Smiley 48th, Michael Eads 116th, Jimmy Goldson 131st, Mason Stevens 140th and Morgan Stevens 142nd; and Southwestern’s Seath Whiles 132nd, Michael Tounge 167th, Alan Sharp 168th, Jamie Sharp 173rd and Jacob Jones 177th.
Top local finishers in the girls Class AAA boys race were Southwestern’s Belwood 72nd, Collier, 76th, Russell 88th, Faith Call 138th, Casey Crowder 174th and Katie Goff 180th; Pulaski’s Paige Ingram 118th, Makayla Sidwell 145th, Allie Stevens 156th, Andrea Jenkins 161st and Allison Kerns 163rd.
