Elijah Reed signs with Georgetown College

Mason County senior Elijah Reed signed on Tuesday to continue his track and field and academic careers at Georgetown College.

At the 2024 indoor track and field state meet, Reed was eighth in the pole vault and 11th in the triple jump.

During the 2024 outdoor track and field season Reed was the region runner-up in the triple jump and 17th in the pole vault and 19th in the triple jump at the state meet. 

Reed was also a member of Mason County's back-to-back region champion cross country teams.

Reed received Berea College's Dr. Carter G. Woodson Scholars Award in May.

Royals cross country team wins second straight region title, Lady Royals take fourth place

Last year the Mason County Royals cross country team won a region championship for the first time since 1973.

On Saturday the Royals won their second straight region title, finishing with 40 points and edging the Russell Red Devils by eight points at Bourbon County Park.

The Mason County Lady Royals finished in fourth place and also qualified for the state meet.

Mason County senior Deshawn Overly won the boys' individual championship with a time of 16:14.58.

Two other Mason County seniors had top five finishes. Ed Brannon was the runner-up (16:41.24) and Elijah Reed took fifth place (17:51.02).

The Royals also got top 20 finishes from sophomore Parker Mead in 15th place (18:54.26), junior Daniel Klump in 17th place (19:03.69) and junior John Yazell (19:12.41).

The Lady Royals were led by sophomore Kolby Galloway in seventh place (22:01.40) and junior Lilly Dean(23:57.63).

Here is a link to the complete results.

The 2024 Kentucky Beef Council State Cross Country Championships presented by UK HealthCare will take place on November 2 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. 

Elijah Reed receives Dr. Carter G. Woodson Scholars Award

Mason County track and field athlete Elijah Reed received Berea College's Dr. Carter G. Woodson Scholars Award at the Mason County Board of Education meeting on Monday night.

The award honors outstanding high school juniors who embody Dr. Wooden's spirit in the areas of academic excellence, civic engagement and community spirit.

Dr. Woodson, a Berea College graduate, was the second African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University. He was the first to develop the field of African American studies and created Black History Month.

Royals XC team is state runner-up

The Mason County Royals cross country team is the state runner-up, the best finish in program history.

The Royals had 151 points at the KHSAA Class 2A meet at Kentucky Horse Park on Saturday. 

The Covington Catholic Colonels won the state championship with 62 points.

Deshawn Overly led Mason County with a 16th place finish with a time of 17:16.94.

Ed Brannon was 24th (17:44.76), Bryant Curtis 35th (17:58.85), Peyton Ullery 41st (18:04.96) and Nicholas Schiltz 51st (18:16.16) to roundout the Mason County team score.

Two other Royals ran in the race: Elijah Reed finished 140th (20:10.18) and Casey Magee came in 229th (22:50.10).

In the girls' race Kolby Galloway was 34th (22:06.61) and Calleigh Passmore finished in 121st place (25:08.95).

Boys XC Class 2A State Runner-Up ! pic.twitter.com/e4aZsHGR9S

— Mason Co. Athletics (@RoyalsAth1etics) October 28, 2023

Royals XC team wins first region championship since 1973

The Mason County boys' cross country team's 50-year wait for another region championship ended Saturday.

The Royals had four of the top five finishers and won the Class 2A Region 6 meet at Morgan County.

It is the boys' first region championship since 1973.

Bryant Curtis won the individual championship with a time of 17:11.78. Ed Brannon was the runner-up (17:17.11), Nicholas Schiltz was third (17:24.69) and Peyton Ullery was fifth (17:35.83). 

Those four combined for 11 points.

Elijah Reed finished in 14th place (19:43.59) giving Mason County a team score of 25.

Casey Magee was 38th (21:46.86) and Daniel Klump 46th (25:37.26).

The top five finishers account for the team score.

One of the Royals' top runners, Deshawn Overly, sat out the race due to an injury.

East Carter was the runner-up with 65 points and Boyd County was third with 76 points.

Mason County had four runners in the girls' race: Kolby Galloway finished 10th (22:31.89), Calleigh Passmore was 34th (27:39. 62), Lily Dean was 37th (28:39.16) and Cece Hiatt was 38th (29:07.09).

Galloway and Passmore are individual qualifiers for state.

The KHSAA State Cross Country Championships are next Saturday at Kentucky Horse Park.

Royals XC 2023 Region Champs ! pic.twitter.com/uZSTcK1Y2j

— Mason Co. Athletics (@RoyalsAth1etics) October 21, 2023

Royals XC team wins Morgan County Sorghum Run

The Mason County Royals cross country team won the Morgan County Sorghum Run in West Libery Tuesday evening.

Five Royals finished in the top 20, including three in the top 10.

Dashawn Overly led the way with a third place finish in a time of 16:50.90. 

He was followed by Bryant Curtis in fourth place (17:19.70), Ed Brannon in eighth place (18:15.20), Nicholas Schiltz in 19th place (19:11.80) and Elijah Reed in 20th place (19:12.50).

Kolby Galloway led the Lady Royals with an eighth place finish in a time of 22:27.00.

Mason County will run in the Roy Wright Invitational at Rowan County Saturday.

Royals XC team wins Giovanni's Boyd County Invitational

With five runners finishing in the top 10, the Mason County Royals cross country team cruised to a victory in the Giovanni's Pizza Boyd County Invitational Saturday.

The Royals beat runner-up East Carter by 82 points.

Mason County was led by Dashawn Overly with a second place finish in a time of 16:35.73. 

The other Royals in the top ten were Peyton Ullery in fifth place (17:02.34), Bryant Curtis in sixth place (17:12.53), Alex Brannon in eighth place (17:31.08) and Nicholas Schiltz in ninth place (17:41.39).

Elijah Reed finished in 18th place (18:38.79).

Kolby Galloway was the Lady Royals' top runner, finishing in eighth place (21:26.82).

Decker and Royals are XC region champions, Overly and Royals are runners-up

Mason County senior Paige Decker was the individual champion and she led the Lady Royals to the team title today at the Class AA Region 6 cross country meet at Boyd County. It's the Lady Royals 10th regional team championship in the last 15 years.

In the boys' meet, Mason County sophomore Deshawn Overly was the individual runner-up and he led the Royals to a runner-up finish, their best finish since 2012.

The Lady Royals had 35 points. Boyd County was a distance second with 65 points and Russell was third with 66.

Decker crossed the finish line with a time of 19:02.06.

Layla Henderson was third (20:08.18), Elizabeth Lavinder was seventh (20:46.96), Morgan Carpenter was 12th (21:50.83), Ava Thompson was 13th (21:57.93), Alexis Decker was 22nd (22:47.56) and Hadley Maher was 31st (23:28.78)

Boyd County won the boys' meet with 34 points followed by Mason County with 66 and East Carter with 81.

Overly had a time of 17:24.23.

Peyton Ullery as seventh (17:36.15), Alex Brannon was 16th (18:37.61), Elijah Reed was 19th (19:19.45), Jackson Truesdell was 22nd (19:38.88), Keenan Galloway was 31st (20:32.88) and Casey Magee was 34th (20:46.06).

The Lady Royals and Royals both advance to the state meets next Friday at Bourbon County.

Lady Royals Paige Decker wins Region 6 AA individual XC title leading her team to the title over Boyd Co pic.twitter.com/fTbkbqaBSE

— Mason County XCTF (@MasonCountyXCTF) October 21, 2022

Lady Royals 4th, Royals 25th in Class AA State Cross Country Championships

The Mason County Lady Royals took fourth place today for their fourth straight podium finish at the KHSAA Class AA State Cross Country Championship.

Lexington Catholic won the state championship with 77 points. Scott was the runner-up with 132 points, followed by Boyd County with 142 points and Mason County with 153 points.

Paige Decker led the Lady Royals with a 17th place finish in a time of 20:32.74. Alyssa Bisotti was 21st (20:51.39), Layla Henderson was 25th (21:00.79), Elizabeth Lavinder was 45th (21:35.94) and Jennifer Buttery was 63rd (22:08.71).

The Mason County Royals finished in 25th place in the boys' meet. 

Peyton Ullery was the Royals' top finisher in 101st place with a time of 19:08.38. Rounding out the top five for the Royals were Dashawn Overly (107th, 19:12.,03), Cole Wright (148th, 19:57.64), Jackson Truesdell (157th, 20:09.45) and Elijah Reed (170th, 20:21..66).

Mason County girls' and boys' XC teams qualify for state

The Mason County girls' and boys' cross country teams both qualified for the state meets with second place and fourth place finishes, respectively, in the Class AA Region 6 meets today at Boyd County.

Boyd County won both the girls' and boys' meets. The Lady Lions had 42 points. The Mason County Lady Royals had 51 points.

Three Lady Royals finished in the top 10. Layla Henderson was third (19:06.16), Paige Decker finished fifth (19:20.96) and Alyssa Bisotti had an eighth place finish (19:39.34).

The Royals edged Rowan County by one point for the final berth in the state meet.

Mason County was led by two freshmen: Dashauwn Overly in 17th place (18:18.78) and Elijah Reed in 18th place (18:21.95).

The KHSAA Class AA girls' and boys' state championships will take place next Friday at the Bourbon County Cross Country Course.