St. Ignatius boys knock off Carmel

Trinity Valkyrie Invitational Recap

By Parker West for DyeStat 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Ben Veatch of Carmel IN successfully defended his title at the Trinity Valkyrie Invitational in Louisville, Ky., but the team-first star had to settle for second in the team race. St. Ignatius of Ohio upended the US#10 Greyhounds, 72-89.

Veatch took control of the race seeded boys race early, seeming to jog through two miles in 9:46 with a pack just a few seconds behind. Veatch entered the final stretch all alone, however, as he finished in 15:04, 12 seconds ahead of runner-up Ethan Shuley.

St. Ignatius had its top five scorers compressed within 55 seconds; for Carmel, the spread was 1:08.

The girls seeded race was also top-class. Sophomore Taylor Cuneo of Central Magnet TN, the fifth-fastest returner from NXN last year, took on a field that included Carmel’s Sarah Leinheiser, fellow sophomore Rebecca Story of Christian Academy TN, and others. At the 2-mile mark, the Indiana girls, Lauren Johnson and Leinheiser led the charge with Cuneo hanging back behind them in 11:25. After that, Cuneo made her move and won in 17:42, five seconds ahead of Leinheiser.

The top five all broke 18  minutes and all of them were non-seniors. Seven of the top 10 finishers were juniors or sophomores. Carmel had a little bit of an off day with the back of their pack, but was still able to pull off a comfortable 76-point win.

Perfect running conditions -- 70 degrees, slightly cloudy, and a light breeze -- made for a great day of racing in Louisville.  

The freshmen boys race saw a big pack of runners going together for two miles before two runners broke away. Jack Baum and Zach Larkin duked it out in the end, with Baum being the winner in 16:31. Carmel went home with the team trophy after putting its five scorers in the top eight, all under 17:20. In the girls race, it was a battle between Carmel and Cabell Midland WV. Nine of the top 10 finishers went to one of those two schools. The individual winner was Carmel’s Eva Brungard, but the team score came to a tie. It came down to which team had the fastest sixth runner, and that was Carmel’s Alyson Pickering in 22:01. 

In the varsity races (second tier after seeded), Nash Young edged Jonathan Helton for a 16:20 to 16:23 win. In third place was Helton’s Centennial TN teammate, freshman Davis Boe in 16:27. The girls race was not so close, however. Madisyn Peeples of Bowling Green KY took it out from the beginning and held a 30 second lead nearly the entire race, finishing in 19:05, besting her teammate, Brittney Hansen by 30 seconds. Father Ryan TN took home the win for the boys with 113 points and while Bowling Green went 1-2 for the girls, their team placed fourth, while Oldham County KY won.