LouisvilleCatholicSports.com

St. Xavier, Jacob Thomson dominate cross country season

LouisvilleCatholicSports.com chronicles the 2011-2012 sports year in review. We will bring you every sport, every season, every team’s results in a capsule each weekday until we're finished. From Cross-Country to Softball and Baseball and all sports in between, here’s what happened in 2011-2012 on the Louisville Catholic sports scene.

It was Jacob Thomson’s world and everyone else seemed to flailing at his shoestrings. The standout junior harrier and track man so thoroughly dominated the Kentucky prep running scene that it seems unfair that he has another year to shatter records he set in 2011-2012.

In addition to his state championship title in Cross Country, Thomson swept the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meter runs at the state Track & Field championships to earn the title of Kentucky’s Mr. Track. And his 1,600 meter run shattered the state record of St. Xavier alum and international running star Bobby Curtis.

Class 3A found the state champion St. Xavier Tigers crushing the competition and cruising to their 18^th state title crown. The Tigers placed their best five runners among the top 12 places in the state scoring an incredible 31 points. Cross-town rival and defending state champions Trinity high school finished second overall, 89 points behind St. X.

But make no mistake, when you talk about Kentucky high school runners, Thomson is the name that stands out. The humble young man from Holy Cross only sees himself representing a long line of terrific runners produced by the school. After finishing 19^th in the 2011 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships National Finals (and No. 6 out of all the juniors invited), Thomson told LouisvilleCatholicSports.com that the support he receives from family, friends and school was a big factor in his success.

“That was definitely in my head going into it," said Thomson of his Cougar pride. "I'm proud to be from Holy Cross and to represent the great runners that have come through the school. I'm thankful for all the support I've gotten from classmates and teachers and staff, and everyone around the community."

Here’s how Thomson and his Holy Cross mates and the rest of the boys Cross Country teams fared last fall in the KHSAA Cross Country championship:

Class 1A: Holy Cross - 9^th; DeSales – 10^th

With Thomson winning the 5K run in a time of 15:55, besting the second place finisher by 0:23. His Holy Cross teammate, senior Justin Welty, finished 65^th with a time of 18:34 and sophomore Chase McCauley finished 74^th clocking in at 18:44.

For the DeSales Colts, several underclassmen finished in a bunch in the top 1/3 of the 215 total runners at the state championship meet. Junior Nico Casper finished 64^th with a time of 18:34 and sophomore Parker Bettag came in just a second behind his teammate in 67^th place with a time of 18:35. Jonathan Mattingly, another Colts sophomore, finished in 81^st place (19:04) and freshman Patrick Coyne finished in 95^th place (19:19).

Class 3A: St. Xavier – state champions; Trinity – state runners-up

The St. X Tigers put forth one of the best efforts in team history, taking 1^st, 2^nd, 8^th, 11^th and 12^th places and running away with the title. Their 31 points out-distanced runner-up Trinity (120 points) by a whopping 89 points. The Tigers average time of 16:36 beat Trinity’s average (17:19) by 0:43.

Junior Connor Sheryak took top honors at the state meet with a time of 16:00 while junior teammate Sam Lewis finished 2^nd in a time of 16:23. Senior Zach Beavin finished 8^th overall with a time of 16:48, while a pair of juniors, Nick Reader (16:52) and Mark Johnson (16:58) finished 11^th and 12, respectively.

For the 2010 champion Trinity Shamrocks, their runner-up finish was a testament to solid performances with their top five runners scoring 14 to 36 points.

Junior Keegan Raidt came in as the Shamrocks top finisher in 16^th place with a time of 17:01. Senior Sam Meredith was two places behind Raidt in 18^th place with a 17:04 finishing time. Junior Evan Hancock (17:22) earned 26^th place, with sophomore Nick Eckert (17:30) finished 33^rd. Senior Thomas Albrektson (17:35) rounded-out Trinity’s top five finishers in 39^th place.