After finishing as the state runner-up last season, no one could keep Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School off the podium this season as the Knights claimed the AHSAA Class 3A State Championship on the boys side.
The Knights made history last week as they claimed the section championship for the third consecutive season, and this weekend made history with their first state championship in the sport. Montgomery Catholic overcame the challenges of Westminster and Cottage Hill, as the pair challenged the Knights all season; however, they did not have enough to overcome three top 10 finishers by Montgomery Catholic on the sport’s biggest stage.
Senior Jarrett Mason finished second overall in the meet, crossing the line in a time of 16:53.84 to pace the Knights. Fellow seniors Timothy McOmber and Skip Martin helped to solidify the Knights’ position with McOmber finishing sixth in a time of 17:19.65 and Martin eighth in a time of 17:24.17.
The trio paced the Knights to 54 points, but needed two more of their runners to cross the line as Westminster had their top five runners finish between 12th and 21st in the race. The Knights led by 56 points with seven runners remaining on the cross, needing just 55 to claim the state championship. They did better than they needed as freshman Nathan Revor crossed the line 24th in a time of 18:25.97, and clinched the title when junior Dylan Martin crossed the line 30th in a time of 18:39.43.
The Knights also had two more runners cross in the top 50 as sophomore Tucker Wilkinson finished 37th in a time of 18:52.14 and freshman James Cleghorn 49th in a time of 19:13.04.
Meanwhile, the Montgomery Catholic girls cross country team – competing in the state championship for the first time since 2009 – finished fourth overall and had two runners earn All-State honors by finishing in the top 15 overall.
Senior Katherine Terino finished fifth overall in a time of 20:03.41, while eighth-grader Kylie Frank finished 15th overall with a time of 21:15.07.
2012 State Champs are:
Jarrett Chestnutt, James Warner Cleghorn, Josh Davis, Patrick Gregorius, Harry Harris, Devin Kelley, Dylan Martin, Skip Martin, Jarrett Mason, Timothy McOmber, Alex Nyairo, Nathan Revor, Cameron Searcy, Tucker Wilkinson
Head Coach: John Terino
Assistant Coach: Shelby Soukup
