Nathan Hutchinson
Student-athletes from all four Madison County high schools are set to compete this weekend at the Kentucky High School Athletic Association State Cross County Meet.
The event is scheduled for Saturday at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
Model, Berea and Madison Central all had teams qualify for the state meet based on performances last week at regional competitions.
Madison Southern also had a pair of runners qualify to compete in the meet as individuals.
Led by Janie Ward, Hannah Durbin and Chelsea Harnack, the Model girls team finished second at last weekend’s Class A, Region 6 Meet in Somerset. The Lady Patriots finished just three points behind the first-place team — Somerset.
Ward finished second overall, while Durbin was fifth and Harnack was 11th. Wendy Jensen finished 13th and Amy Dong was 16th.
Berea Community’s Bailey Rosenbarker finished seventh at the regional and also earned a spot in the state meet.
In the boys race, Berea finished third, edging out Model by just six points. Camryn Shaffer led the Pirates at the regional, finishing 12th. Bryce Rosenbarker was 17th and Bryce Carlburg was 18th.
Model’s Jason Humphreys finished 13th, while teammate Kelly Daniels was 15th and also earn a spot in the state meet.
The Madison Central boys team finished fourth last weekend at the Class AAA, Region 7 Meet in Winchester.
Senior Matt Bendure led the Indians at the regional, finishing seventh. Kirt Caldwell was 27th, Jerome Williams was 29th, Matthew Keber finished 33rd and Tommy Fox was 34th.
In the girls race, Central’s Alyssa Sandusky finished seventh and Alexa Dechant was 17th as both qualified for the state meet.
At the Class AA, Region 5 Meet last weekend in Barbourville, Madison Southern’s Kayla Christensen finished 12th. In the boys race, Ryan Christensen finished 12th as well.
Model finished eighth in the Class A girls state meet last year. Durbin was 33rd, Ward was 50th and Harnack was 65th.
Humphreys was the only Patriot runner to compete in last year’s Class A boys state meet. He finished 204th.
Kayla Christensen (71st) and Ryan Christensen (146th) both represented Southern at last year’s state meet.
Sandusky qualified for last year’s state meet and finished 178th.
The Class A girls race is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., followed by the Class A boys race (10:15 a.m.), the Class AA girls race (11:30 a.m.), the Class AA boys race (12:15 p.m.), the Class AAA girls race (1:30 p.m.) and the Class AAA boys race (2:15 p.m.).
