Saint X senior Bobby Curtis literally cruised to victory in the
Metro Meet of Champions yesterday in Louisville, covering the soft,
muddy 5K at Seneca Park in 14:49.7. Running alone--as always-Curtis
ran the first mile in 4:36 and reached the half-way point in 7:15.
He then eased off the last half and cruised home with a 37-second
victory over Jacob Buckman of Louisville’s Butler HS, who
was clocked in 15:26. Buckman also ran alone as Jon Richard of Daviess
County was 48 seconds behind him (16:14). Sophomore Caleb Lafond
of Louisville’s Seneca HS was fourth in a time of 16:19.
After the race Curtis expressed some disappointment at his time,
explaining that his recent workouts indicated that he was capable
of perhaps breaking 14:30. He said that he was “lethargic,”
attributing his lack of sharpness to two days which he was forced
to take off as a result of an injury suffered in last week’s
duel with Missouri’s Adam Perkins in the North Hardin Invitational.
Curtis won that race in 15:25 in the mud and pouring-down rain,
but took a hard fall just before the two-mile mark and took two
days off from training in order to rest his right calf. Curtis said
that he thought the two days off would help him physically, but
instead they had taken away his mental edge.
Team scores at the meet were rather meaningless as many teams rested
some of their varsity members in preparation for next week’s
regionals. Actually, Curtis is scheduled to take off next week as
Coach Chuck Medley of Saint X is confident that his Tigers can qualify
for state without their super-star. However, Curtis indicated that
he plans to ask Medley to let him run next week in order to help
Bobby sharpen his racing edge in preparation for an all-out assault
on his current state record of 15:06. (Although Curtis has broken
15:00 on a number of occasions, the KHSAA only recognizes records
made in the state meet, which will be held at the state Horse Park
in Lexington on Saturday, November 9th. Curtis’ state meet
record presently stands at 15:06)
Many of the leading girls rested as well, including Carmen Mims
of Mercy Academy, Maddie Schueler and Leah Ryan of Louisville Sacred
Heart, and the entire Campbell County squad which barely lost to
Sacred Heart at last week’s North Hardin Invitational and
is intent on beating the Valkyries for the team championship at
the state meet in two weeks.
In the Kentucky Track and Cross-Country Coaches Meet of Champions
at Cave Lake Park in Monticello, Michael Eaton of Greenwood HS won
the AAA division in 16:20; Jacob Fortney of Muhlenberg North HS
demonstrated that he is a serious contender for the AA state crown
by winning that division in 16:17; and Chris Dank of perennial power
Saint Mary’s claimed the A race in 16:32.
On the girl’s side, Andrea Halasek of Scott County won the
AAA race in a time of 19:42; Darcie Doersman of Highlands HS won
the AA race in 19:06; and Jackie Gordon of Frankfort HS took home
first place in the Class A race in 20:22.
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