Published: November 07, 2009 09:41 pm      

Renneker, Tomcats run away to titles

CANNONSBURG — Ashland’s boys put on a convincing show in the Class 2A Region 6 Cross Country Championships.

Individual champion Jon Renneker led five Tomcats in the top 10 on a sunny and windy Saturday afternoon on the Boyd County campus course.

“I think this is the strongest our program has been in a while,’’ Renneker said. “We gave it all we could today.’’

Renneker, a junior, crossed the finish line in 17 minutes, 12.1 seconds for a comfortable edge over runner-up Tanner Alexander of Russell.

Ashland sophomores Brennan Kizziar and Timmy Callihan took the next two spots. Callihan ran a personal-best time of 17:58.6.

Freshman Taylor Bradley finished ninth and junior Rakesh Iyer was 10th for the Tomcats.

“We had a real good day,’’ said Ashland coach Phillip Caudill. “We put five guys in the top 10 and Timmy ran a PR (personal record) by 20-some seconds. I’m happy, especially since we have no seniors in that bunch.’’

The Tomcats, ranked sixth in Class 2A, also got a 13th-place finish from freshman Austin Craft.

Renneker had hoped to run faster Saturday but said the wind was a factor.

“That kind of hurt,’’ he said. “There was a lot of head-on wind.’’

Russell’s Alexander, the defending champion, is making a nice comeback from mononucleosis and finished second in 17:30.5.

“Last year, Tanner did not lose a race until the State Meet,’’ said Russell coach Gary Salyer. “This year, he had the flu and before he got over it he was diagnosed with mono.’’

Salyer said Alexander’s weight dropped from 145 pounds to 132.

“From everything the kid has been through this year, you couldn’t ask for a better finish today,’’ Salyer said. “Tanner has a lot of heart. He showed a lot of character.’’

Renneker and Alexander have had their share of tight battles in cross country and track.

“I prefer that,’’ Renneker said. “I think it’s a healthy competition. I can’t wait till next week to see if we can push each other.’’

Mason County, Russell and Rowan County earned the other three team qualifying spots for next week’s State Meet in Lexington.

Individual qualifiers included Dalton Leet and Taylor Hunt of Fleming County, Eric Burton of West Carter, Brandon Sander of Lewis County and Brad Wilburn of Boyd County.

In the girls’ race, Mason County freshman Julia Woods repeated as champion and led her team to the title.

Woods, running on the course for the second time, clocked in at 20:35.9 and finished almost a minute ahead of Russell eighth-grader Jennifer Sloan.

“When we ran here earlier this year, it was freezing and wet,’’ Woods said. “The warmer weather was nice, but it was hard to run against the wind.’’

Woods had a 10-second lead after the first mile and was never challenged the rest of the way.

The Lady Royals bunched five runners into the top dozen. Raylee Kirkland placed fourth, Valerie Rice sixth, Cara Woods 11th and Sierra Anderson 12th.

“Our team did really great,’’ Woods said. “Cara and Sierra both had good races. Their knees have been hurting, but they pushed through it.’’

Rice, a sophomore, missed half of the season with a right knee injury and is just now getting her race legs back. She was pleased with her result Saturday, especially considering that last year she passed out in the regional meet.

“They said I was overexcited and stressed,’’ Rice said. “Today felt a lot better.’’

Woods and Rice said they wouldn’t be as fast if not for each other.

“Julia is amazing,’’ Rice said. “She’s just a beast. She works really hard and keeps our team motivated.’’

Russell’s Sloan improved two places on her regional finish from a year ago.

“The wind was a little rough to fight, but I gave it my best,’’ she said. “I’ve made lots of improvement from last year.’’

Sloan and fifth-place Jennifer Miller paved the way for Russell’s runner-up team finish. Teammates Sarah Velasquez, Marissa Malone and Emily Hanson also placed in the top 26.

A young East Carter squad also qualified for the State Meet. Eighth-grader Macy Dyer paced the Lady Raiders by taking third in 21:32.9. East Carter’s next four runners included Kirsten Jordan, Taylor Burnett, Delancey Morse and Kady Chaffin.

Qualifying individually were Lawrence County’s Charline Tarring, Roan County’s Kayleigh O’Connor and Taylor Lewis, Greenup County’s Katie Coldiron and West Carter’s Julia Duncan.

ROCKY STANLEY can be reached at rstanley@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2671.