For the first time in school history, the Logan County High School cross country teams both participated in the KHSAA state championship meet last weekend at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.

The LCHS boys finished 17th out of 28 teams in the Class 2A meet, while the Lady Cougars finished 23rd.

“I am still ecstatic about an incredible season by both teams,” LCHS coach Greg Howard said. “Last year our boys made school history by becoming the first boy’s team ever and then follow that with a repeat performance. Even though they graduated three seniors from last year’s team they improved their times by a lot and still finished 17th. Last year’s squad placed 16th. I am tickled they were still able to handle the pressure and to run so well.”

The Logan boys had a combined team score of 423. South Oldham won the state title with a 81 and was followed by Covington Catholic (90) and North Oldham (95.)

The Cougars were just 12 points behind 16th place Union County.

The Cougars were paced by freshman Sye Head, who came in 53rd with a time of 18:24. Colton Spencer was 74th with a time of 18:45. Noah Thomas was 125th with a time of 19:23. Troy Fulcher came in 129th with a time of 19:33. Dustin Skipworth was 135th in 19:44 and Justin Holloway was 170th in 20:31.

Robert Sandlin of Franklin won the state title. His time was 16:22.

On the girls’ side, the Lady Cougars finished with a team score of 548. South Oldham swept both event, scoring 41 in the girls’ event. North Oldham was a distant second with 106 points and the Christian Academy of Louisville was third at 107.

“Not enough words can describe our girls team, other than wow!” Howard said. “At the beginning of the year our chances were slim and with a few members dropping out, our chances looked even less. Our girls continued to push and show up every day and give their very best. As the season progressed all of us knew we could have a chance to set history once again, a girls team going to state. As regional’s neared and their confidence grew, our chances seemed brighter and brighter. I will never forget regional’s when I announced the teams that qualified for the state meet. The looks on our girl’s faces was something out of a movie as they cried and stood dumb-founded for what seemed like an eternity.”

Senior Macie Dye led the Lady Cougars with a 55th-place finish. She had a time of 22:23. Claire Hopkins finished 141st with a time of 25:22. Amber Thorlton was 145th in 25:30. Samantha Collins was 164th with a time of 26:12. Kelsy Hinton was 177th in 25:56.

Jenna Rogers of the Christian Academy of Louisville won the individual title with a time of 19:28 and was the only girl to finish the 5K race in under 20 minutes.

“Our programs are experiencing a great deal of success and I ecstatic about the kids and their success,” Howard said. “Not only are the kids the greatest, so are their parents. To get where we are today took a lot of work by the kids, the administration, coaches (Mike Thomas, Greg Head, Tracy Cole), parents and all the high school and middle school people that nurture our young people. A special thanks to four outstanding individuals that cam through when things looked doubtful of putting on the Class 2A, Region I Championships here at LCHS. Those people are Greg Head, Tracy Cole, Mike Thomas, and Marty White. Without their dedication and desire this year would have been just another year. Thanks for the wonderful memories and continued success.”

The Lady Cougars finished third out of five teams in the Region 1 meet to qualify for the state.

In that competition, Logan County finished with a team score of 78. Union County won the meet with a 31 and Webster County was second at 51.

At the region meet, the Logan County boys’ team also finished third, despite running at less than 100 percent.