?? | Bluegrass cross country teams are entering the final lap of the regular season. 

Trinity (US 7) and Lafayette (US 40) continue their elite status nationally. 

Two athletes are also receiving recognition and have committed to powerhouse collegiate XC programs: Cooper's Paul Van Laningham (US 25) to Wisconsin, and Lafayette's Xavier Richardson (US 50) to Syracuse.

From KHSAA partner MileSplit, below are Kentucky's statewide overall, class, and region rankings through 10/1.

? ky.milesplit.com 

Best of the Bluegrass ~ 

1 Trinity, 2 Lafayette, 3 St. Xavier, 4 Cooper, 5 Cov Cath, 6 Lex Cath, 7 E Jessamine, 8 N Oldham, 9 Oldham Co, 10 Ryle 

11 Manual, 12 Apollo, 13 Bourbon Co, 14 Daviess Co, 15 Cent Hardin, 16 Male, 17 Eastern, 18 Henry Clay, 19 Conner, 20 Collegiate 

Class 3A ~

☘️ As noted in the National Rankings thread, Trinity and Lafayette are the class of the field. The Generals have three terrific athletes, but the Rocks run a tight pack 1-5, and their superior depth should win out come November.

1 Trinity, 2 Lafayette, 3 St Xavier, 4 Cooper, 5 E Jessamine, 6 N Oldham, 7 Oldham Co, 8 Ryle, 9 Apollo, 10 Manual 

1 Paul Van Laningham, Cooper; 2 Xavier Richardson, Lafayette; 3 Kobey Yates, Marshall Co; 4 Van Weimer, Lafayette; 5 Nick Sanders, St Xavier 

The top three from each Region should have no trouble qualifying for State. The tightest race should be in the far west, where Apollo and Daviess Co are closely matched.

R1: Apollo, Daviess Co, Marshall Co

R1 SB: Kobey Yates, Marshall Co

R2: Cent Hardin, Greenwood, S Warren

R2 SB: Justin Doran, Greenwood 

R3: St Xavier, Manual, Male

R3 SB: Nick Sanders, St Xavier 

R4: Trinity, N Oldham, Oldham Co 

R4 SB: Christian Stewart, Trinity 

R5: Cooper, Ryle, Conner

R5 SB: Paul Van Laningham, Cooper 

R6: Lafayette, Henry Clay, PL Dunbar 

R6 SB: Xavier Richardson, Lafayette 

R7: E Jessamine, Madison Cent, W Jessamine 

R7 SB: Lucas Gabbard, E Jessamine 

Class 2A ~

?? ⚔️ Two-time defending champ Cov Cath will have their hands full with a much improved Lex Cath squad, lead by super-frosh Mark Reinhart.

The Colonels are a little harder to pin down, running split squads at different meets, and bitten by the injury bug. They'll need Joe Mayer, the top returning runner from last year's state meet in top form. Depth 1-7 gives them an slight edge. 

Thomas Nelson soph Daniel Filiatreau, who set the national middle school 5,000 meter record on the track two years ago, is poised to follow ex-teammate Riku Sugi as a three time individual winner.

1 Cov Cath, 2 Lex Cath, 3 Bourbon Co, 4 Corbin, 5 John Hardin, 6 Russell, 7 Union Co, 8 Tilghman, 9 Henry Co, 10 Boyd Co

As in 3A, the far west has the tightest race prediction, a " too close to call" between Union County and Paducah Tilghman. The Top 3 from each Region are sure to make an appearance in Lexington.

R1: Union Co, Tilghman, Webster Co

R1 SB: Tristan Coy, Union Co

R2: J Hardin, Warren E, T Nelson 

R2 PB: Daniel Filiatreau, T Nelson 

R3: Henry Co, CAL, Spencer Co

R3 PB: Olin Inscore Essick, Henry Co

R4: Cov Cath, Lex Cath, Bourbon Co

R4 SB: Mark Reinhart, Lex Cath 

R5: Corbin, Wayne Co, Mercer Co 

R5 SB: Kaleb Terrell, Corbin 

R6: Russell, Boyd Co, Ashland

R6 PB: Landon Hammer, Russell

R7: Harlan Co, Johnson Cent, Letcher Cent

R6 PB: Elijah Moore, Harlan Co

Class 1A ~

C? ??????? Louisville Collegiate is the midseason favorite to dethrone 2024 champion Villa Madonna. Titan senior James Gurley seeks to repeat and lead his team to their first XC crown.

St. Henry will make state interesting while on the quest for their 20th team title. The Cru is celebrating the 50th anniversary of their 1975 championship, the school's first in any sport.

1 Collegiate, 2 St. Henry, 3 Bethlehem, 4 Beechwood, 5 Villa Madonna, 6 LCA, 7 Highlands Latin, 8 Fort Campbell, 9 Owen Co, 10 Brossart

There are a couple of nice Region battles shaping up: Region 5, Owen County vs. '24 champ LCA; Region 6, Somerset and Lee County challenging defending titlist Jackson County.

The favorites ~

R1: Ft Campbell, University Hts, Dawson Springs

R1 SB: Easton Bourland, Dawson Springs

R2: Bethlehem, Green Co, Edmonson Co

R2 SB: Grant Greenwell,  Bethlehem 

R3: Collegiate, Highlands Latin, Evangel

R3 SB: James Gurley, Collegiate 

R4: St Henry, Beechwood, Villa Madonna 

R4 SB: Sam Neuhaus, St Henry

R5: LCA, Owen Co, Frankfort 

R5 SB: Kyle Stickel, LCA

R6: Jackson Co, Somerset, Lee Co

R6 SB: Tanner Daniels, Harlan

R7: Pikeville, Jenkins, Shelby Valley 

R7 SB: Patton Trimble, Pikeville 

23 hours ago, Runcible Owl said:

Class 3A ~

☘️ As noted in the National Rankings thread, Trinity and Lafayette are the class of the field. The Generals have three terrific athletes, but the Rocks run a tight pack 1-5, and their superior depth should win out come November.

1 Trinity, 2 Lafayette, 3 St Xavier, 4 Cooper, 5 E Jessamine, 6 N Oldham, 7 Oldham Co, 8 Ryle, 9 Apollo, 10 Manual 

1 Paul Van Laningham, Cooper; 2 Xavier Richardson, Lafayette; 3 Kobey Yates, Marshall Co; 4 Van Weimer, Lafayette; 5 Nick Sanders, St Xavier 

The top three from each Region should have no trouble qualifying for State. The tightest race should be in the far west, where Apollo and Daviess Co are closely matched.

R1: Apollo, Daviess Co, Marshall Co

R1 SB: Kobey Yates, Marshall Co

R2: Cent Hardin, Greenwood, S Warren

R2 SB: Justin Doran, Greenwood 

R3: St Xavier, Manual, Male

R3 SB: Nick Sanders, St Xavier 

R4: Trinity, N Oldham, Oldham Co 

R4 SB: Christian Stewart, Trinity 

R5: Cooper, Ryle, Conner

R5 SB: Paul Van Laningham, Cooper 

R6: Lafayette, Henry Clay, PL Dunbar 

R6 SB: Xavier Richardson, Lafayette 

R7: E Jessamine, Madison Cent, W Jessamine 

R7 SB: Lucas Gabbard, E Jessamine 

⏱️ ? ...

22 hours ago, Runcible Owl said:

Class 2A ~

?? ⚔️ Two-time defending champ Cov Cath will have their hands full with a much improved Lex Cath squad, lead by super-frosh Mark Reinhart.

The Colonels are a little harder to pin down, running split squads at different meets, and bitten by the injury bug. They'll need Joe Mayer, the top returning runner from last year's state meet in top form. Depth 1-7 gives them an slight edge. 

Thomas Nelson soph Daniel Filiatreau, who set the national middle school 5,000 meter record on the track two years ago, is poised to follow ex-teammate Riku Sugi as a three time individual winner.

1 Cov Cath, 2 Lex Cath, 3 Bourbon Co, 4 Corbin, 5 John Hardin, 6 Russell, 7 Union Co, 8 Tilghman, 9 Henry Co, 10 Boyd Co

As in 3A, the far west has the tightest race prediction, a " too close to call" between Union County and Paducah Tilghman. The Top 3 from each Region are sure to make an appearance in Lexington.

R1: Union Co, Tilghman, Webster Co

R1 SB: Tristan Coy, Union Co

R2: J Hardin, Warren E, T Nelson 

R2 PB: Daniel Filiatreau, T Nelson 

R3: Henry Co, CAL, Spencer Co

R3 PB: Olin Inscore Essick, Henry Co

R4: Cov Cath, Lex Cath, Bourbon Co

R4 SB: Mark Reinhart, Lex Cath 

R5: Corbin, Wayne Co, Mercer Co 

R5 SB: Kaleb Terrell, Corbin 

R6: Russell, Boyd Co, Ashland

R6 PB: Landon Hammer, Russell

R7: Harlan Co, Johnson Cent, Letcher Cent

R6 PB: Elijah Moore, Harlan Co

⏱️? 2A ~

1 Daniel Filiatreau, T Nelson; 2 Mark Reinhart, Lex Cath; 3 Christopher Wells, Bourbon Co; 4 Luke McLane, Cov Cath; 5 Tristan Coy, Union Co 

15 hours ago, Runcible Owl said:

Class 1A ~

C? ??????? Louisville Collegiate is the midseason favorite to dethrone 2024 champion Villa Madonna. Titan senior James Gurley seeks to repeat and lead his team to their first XC crown.

St. Henry will make state interesting while on the quest for their 20th team title. The Cru is celebrating the 50th anniversary of their 1975 championship, the school's first in any sport.

1 Collegiate, 2 St. Henry, 3 Bethlehem, 4 Beecwood, 5 Villa Madonna, 6 LCA, 7 Highlands Latin, 8 Fort Campbell, 9 Owen Co, 10 Brossart

There are a couple of nice Region battles shaping up: Region 5, Owen County vs. '24 champ LCA; Region 6, Somerset and Lee County challenging defending titlist Jackson County.

The favorites ~

R1: Ft Campbell, University Hts, Dawson Springs

R1 SB: Easton Bourland, Dawson Springs

R2: Bethlehem, Green Co, Edmonson Co

R2 SB: Grant Greenwell,  Bethlehem 

R3: Collegiate, Highlands Latin, Evangel

R3 SB: James Gurley, Collegiate 

R4: St Henry, Beecwood, Villa Madonna 

R4 SB: Sam Neuhaus, St Henry

R5: LCA, Owen Co, Frankfort 

R5 SB: Kyle Stickel, LCA

R6: Jackson Co, Somerset, Lee Co

R6 SB: Tanner Daniels, Harlan

R7: Pikeville, Jenkins, Shelby Valley 

R7 SB: Patton Trimble, Pikeville 

⏱️? 1A ~

1 James Gurley, Collegiate; 2 Grant Greenwell, Bethlehem; 3 Tanner Daniels, Harlan; 4 Kyle Stickel, LCA; 5 Easton Bourland, Dawson Springs 

? Championship Saturday in Lexington!

⏰️ Today's schedule at the Horse Park:

3A 10:00

2A 12:30

1A 3:00

? Current team rankings for each class ~

● 3A

1. Trinity 

2. Lafayette 

3. St. Xavier

4. Cooper

5. North Oldham 

6. East Jessamine 

7. Oldham County 

8. Apollo 

9. Male

10. Central Hardin 

● 2A

1. Covington Catholic 

2. Lexington Catholic 

3. Bourbon County 

4. Russell 

5. John Hardin 

6. Corbin 

7. Boyd County 

8. Union County 

9. Paducah Tilghman 

10. Henry County 

● 1A

1. Collegiate 

2. St. Henry 

3. Bethlehem 

4. Beechwood 

5. Villa Madonna 

6. Lexington Christian Academy 

7. Highlands Latin 

8. Owen County

9. Green County 

10. Bishop Brossart