The Mason County Lady Royals cross country team brings their whole team back from back-to-back top four finishes at the Class 2A state meet. (Evan Dennison, The Ledger Independent)

The Mason County Lady Royals cross country team brings their whole team back from back-to-back top four finishes at the Class 2A state meet. (Evan Dennison, The Ledger Independent)

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY

After back-to-back finishes in the top four at the KHSAA Class 2A state meet, the Mason County Lady Royals cross country has their sights set higher.

With everyone back, those sights could be set on a state title.

The Lady Royals will highlight area teams as the cross country season gets underway this week.

After sending out email questionnaire’s to each team, here’s a look at Kentucky Ledger Independent coverage area cross country teams.

MASON COUNTY

All seven runners who competed in last year’s state meet will be running again for the Lady Royals with a couple others to push the competition even higher.

They’ve put together back-to-back podium finishes for the first time in program history and may enter 2020 with the deepest team they’ve ever hard.

“It could be the best team we’ve ever had. It all amounts to health, always does in cross country. It’s a war of attrition at times. We’re very deep and at the moment very healthy (knock on wood),” Royals coach Mark Kachler said.

Paige Decker, Layla Henderson, Alyssa Bisotti, Hayden Faris, Elizabeth Lavinder, Morgan Carpenter and Alexis Decker return from running in the state meet to form one of the top teams in the state for 2020.

It doesn’t stop there as the roster keeps going with Kylee Howe, Jennifer Buttery, Kendra Shoemaker, Hadley Maher and newcomer Rachel Payne will all be pushing them for their spots.

While the Lady Royals have everyone back, the Royals have to replace Isiah Riggs and Nicholas Drury due to graduation. With an early season injury to Asher Braughton, the team will look for four freshman and two sophomores to help bring up the pace with Carson Adams, Cole Wright and Tyler Thompson.

“They’re parallel opposite to the girls. Lost a couple big contributors and just haven’t been healthy, lot of bad luck there,” Kachler said.

Mason County starts its season Tuesday with a quad-meet and their Mason County Invitational to follow on September 12.

BRACKEN COUNTY

The Polar Bears return four runners that qualified for the state meet last season as they have a new coach in Rick Staviski after Forrest Hunt departed for Harrison County.

Staviski comes over from Bath County, where he ran a successful program and the Polar Bears hope to continue their success.

“What I like best about the team is that they work hard every day. They have accepted the new training program and have bought into the benefits,” Staviski said.

Nicholas Cummins and Damon Bryant will be the leaders of the boys’ team while Maisey Dietrich is a new addition to the Lady Bears and will team up with Lynex Cummins, who qualified for the state meet as a seventh grader.

Cummins finished seventh in the Class 1A, Region 5 meet last season and just missed the top 50 at the Class 1A state meet, finishing 54th. Bryant also had a top 20 finish at the region meet.

The Polar Bears hope to continue their run of qualifying for the state meet as a team.

“Goals are always self improvement. Make the state meet as a team,” Staviski said.

Bracken County starts their season off Tuesday at Mason County’s quad-meet.

ST. PATRICK

Marvin Koch was the lone Saints runner to qualify for the state meet and has graduated while Lady Saints sophomore Hadley Mellenkamp returns from a state qualifying season last year.

Mellenkamp will be joined with Morgan Riddle, who just missed out on qualifying for the state meet a season ago.

“To say the least, this season is unusual. Our runners have been conditioning since July. I look for their experience to play into the season,” Saints coach Marcus Bess said.

An eighth grader and three seventh graders make up the rest of the Saints runners that will train as varsity.

”I’m watching their progress and will determine when to run them at that level,” Bess said.

St. Patrick will get its season started off on September 12 when they run at the Mason County Invitational.

AUGUSTA

The Panthers have four runners this season while the Lady Panthers have one ranging from eighth grade and up.

Conner Snapp hopes for a return to the state meet while freshman transfer Bryant Curtis and a pair of eighth graders in Grayson Miller and Eli Cline will split time between middle and high school races. Snapp placed eighth in the Class 1A, Region 5 meet and hopes to improve off his 74th place finish at the 1A state meet.

The lone Lady Panthers runner is eighth grade transfer Braylie Curtis, who qualified for the state meet as a seventh grader at Bracken County and will also split time at the middle and high school races.

“The team has been really dedicated and committed,” Panthers coach Tim Litteral said. “Other than for vacations, I don’t think we had anyone miss the voluntary workouts we started back on July 13. This group has also really been working hard in training. They really push each other and and challenge each other in workouts. Not having to coach motivation and having that internal competitiveness is always a big plus.”

With less than five on each team, the key focus will be on building up to the Class 1A, Region 5 meet on October 31.

“We’re focused on individual improvement and having individuals qualify for the state meet,” Litteral said.

The team will start their season on Tuesday when they run in a quad-meet at Mason County.

FLEMING COUNTY

Fleming County’s lone state qualifier last season Cody Kissell has graduated.

Based off last year’s region meet, Jared Beamon, Caleb Fannin and Jackson Sattler return for the Panthers while Kalynn Pease, Erin Pease, Emily Harmon, Addison Corwin Carys Earlywine and Elizabeth Womack return for the Lady Panthers.

ROBERTSON COUNTY

The Black Devils program at the current time doesn’t have any runners at the high school level and doesn’t plan to enter middle school runners in varsity meets at this time.