Area 7 XC Championships

Here is a press release from Mason County Cross Country coach Mark Kachler:


On Saturday at the Area 7 Championships, the Runnin Royals were the dominant program in attendance returning home with 5 out of 6 team trophies, 2 individual champions, and 31 medal places over the 6 races contested.
The Lady Royals started the day off with a girls varsity championship over a field that included #10 ranked Fairview in KHSAA single A. The girls team beat Fairview 29 points to 52 with Russell third at 87. The girls team was lead by 8th grader, Valerie Rice (21:45) who finished 2nd overall. Samantha Grayson and Blaine Menke finished 5th and 7th respectively and all three earned 1st team All Area 7 honors. Rachel White was 11th , Iretta Carpenter 13th and Alexi Loving 14th each earned 2nd team All Area 7 honors. St Patricks Ali Mo 4th , and Sara Moe 6th also earned 1st team All Area 7 honors. Fleming County’s Kayla Brown 16th and Kelsey Dillon 17th, were selected second team All Area 7 girls varsity. Fleming County finished 6th as a team and Lewis County was 7th.
In the boys varsity race the Mason Country Royals placed third and were lead by Jim Meyers 8th (18:24) who was named 1st team Area 7. Connor Appelman 15th and Braun Applegate 19th were named second team All Area 7. Ashland won the boys varsity race and Russell was second. Lewis County finished 6th and Fleming County was 8th.
In the Middle School race Julia Woods and Mikal Thackston of Mason County each won their races and by winning are the Middle School Female and Male Runner of the Year for Area 7. Both lead their teams to 1st place finishes. Raylee Kirkland, Sara Bellingham, Jessica Shotwell and Abby Huff all finished in the top 10 and were 1st team All Area 7 selections. Carlee Moore and Renee Stewart were medallist and were named second team All Area 7 for Mason County. In The boys race Daniel Appelman and Nathaniel Grayson finished in the top 10 and were first team All Area 7 with Peyton Moyer being named second team All Area 7 for Mason County.
The 6th grade and under races saw Mason County bring home second place team trophies in both the girls and boys races. Elizabeth Mason (4th), Sierrra Anderson (7th) and Cara Woods (9th) were 1st Team All Area 7, Savannah Bothman was named 2nd Team All Area 7 for the Lady Royals. In the boys race twin bothers Nick and Alex Robinson (5th & 6th) were 1st team All Area 7, Zach Taylor (12th), Garrett Appelman (15th), and Daulton Myers (17th) were named 2nd Team All Area 7.
The Mason County Varsity squads will next run on Thursday at the Harrison County Invitational. The Middle School and 6th and under teams will finish their seasons this Saturday in Lexington at the State Championships for each age division.