Pikeville High School’s cross-country teams both qualified for the second straight year to advance to the state meet.
The girl’s team was led by Kelci Adams who finished 20th overall. Other top finishers for the girls included Allie Samples (22nd), Jewel Booher (27th), Rachel Wright (29th) and Christian al Akhrass (36th).
Meanwhile, the Pikeville boys won their second straight Class 1A, Region 7 championship. Eighth-grader Rylan Keathley was the overall regional champion. Others to finish in the top 10 included Harrison Booth (4th), Jason Lin (6th), Drew Hurley (9th) and Eric Green (10th). Adam Swofford was 12th.
Betsy Layne’s Colin Howell was 14th overall. Frank Tackett was 18th, Zach Bentley 21st and Shawn Dee Howell came in 22nd.
Shelby Valley High School’s Austin Rhodes (25th) was the lone Wildcat to qualify following this performance in the regional.
Letcher Central landed four runners in the Class 2A, Region 7 championship top 10 and the Cougars won the team title. Javier Polly was the overall regional winner for the Cougars. Teammates advancing include Nick Mason (2nd), Jonathan Little (4th) and Seth Terry (8th).
Other finishers for the Cougars were Jordan Osborne (19th), Malachi Fields (20th) and Nick Spangler (24th).
Lawrence County’s Cody Maynard was sixth and teammate Alex Ratliff finished 10th as both advance to the state finals. Will Dillow (11th), Tyler Maynard (14th), Tristan Robertson (15th), Adam Scaggs (16th) and Luke Johnson (18th) rounded out the strong Bulldog squad.
Pike County Central’s Justin Hughes placed 17th overall.
Prestonsburg High School’s Kaitlyn Keathley (8th) advanced to her eighth state championship appearance. She now has more state appearances for any girl’s runner every in Pike or Floyd County.
LCC’s girls also won the regional title easily over Magoffin County. Sarah McAuley (4th), Abigail McDougal (5th), Hope Roark (6th) and Tori Holcomb (8th) powered the win.
Magoffin County’s Kaddance Gasparac was second and Lawrence County’s Camberl Maxi-Stepp was 10th to advance.
Paintsville’s Anna Keeton was 24th and Phelps’ Danielle Prater was 25th.
The championships will be run this coming weekend in Lexington.