Kiracofe’s Record Falls as El-Khoury Runs Under 16 Minutes
Girls 3rd, Boys 4th, countless personal best times set at St. Xavier
Just two years after Ryan Kiracofe broke Turpin’s school record in the 5k, a new runner has taken the top spot on the list of Turpin’s best. This past Saturday on a fast St. Xavier course, Nicholas El-Khoury surpassed Matt Meurer (16:13, ’98), Kyle Rewick (16:04, ’07), and Ryan Kiracofe (16:03,’06) to become Turpin’s fastest runner with a record time of 15 minutes 58 seconds. While El-Khoury’s record was no doubt the highlight of the day, the St. Xavier Invitational also was host to a great number of improvements throughout the entire Turpin cross country program.
In the boys varsity race, Dave Rodriguez and Drew DiSabatino finished together, both in 16:43. This brings Rodriguez within ten seconds of his career best, while DiSabatino ran sixteen seconds under his career best, set just last week. First-year runner John Risher smashed his career best finishing well under eighteen minutes with a time of 17:45. Alex Polivka broke eighteen minutes for the first time in his running career finishing in 17:55. Joe Murray shaved a few seconds of his career best finishing in 18:04. Both he and Zach Smith, who finished in 18:09, hope to run under eighteen minutes next week.
Two races earlier, the girls also made their mark. Kaitlin Price reached the podium finishing sixth in 19:04, her fastest time this season. Megan Plichta smashed her previous personal best finishing in 19:18, and Lauren Young also set a new best time of 19:32. Victoria Clancy, improved her seasonal and personal best finishing in 20:34, while Lauren Keene matched her best time from 2007, 20:48. As a team, the girls placed third behind Oak Hills and Colerain.
Elsewhere, in the JV race, Jack Reeder and Alex Williams finished in 18:15 and 18:16 respectively, racing thirty seconds (Reeder) and one minute (Williams) faster than their previous best time. Sam Auvil, Scott Wenderoth, Brandon Bodnar, and Alex Slagle all finished under twenty minutes for the first time.
The Spartans will be racing next Saturday in Centerville. Racing begins at 12:25 PM. Check the schedule for full details.