Ashland’s boys and Fairview’s girls cross country teams enjoyed high state rankings, won regional championships and finished well at the State Meet.

That success is also reflected on The Independent’s 2009 All-Area Cross Country teams.

Ashland junior Jon Renneker is Runner of the Year on the boys’ squad. Coaching honors went to Phillip Caudill of the Tomcats, who have four runners on the first team.

On the girls side, freshman Brooklyn Bowen and coach Becca Stacey of Fairview received the top awards. The Lady Eagles filled six of 10 spots on the team.

“I can’t talk about each of the girls enough,’’ said Stacey, whose squad ran to third place at the Class A State Meet in Lexington. “A lot of them got out in the summer and trained. All of their work really showed. I think in all the meets we went to, counting state, only three teams beat us the whole season.’’

Even better for Ashland and Fairview, the future remains bright. The Tomcats did not have a senior in their top seven runners, while Fairview’s girls are loaded with youth.

“I think there’s more to be expected as long as the kids are still committed like they were this year,’’ Caudill said. “This group probably had the best chemistry of any team I’ve coached.’’

Renneker paced Ashland to a best-ever finish of fifth place in Boys Class 2A state competition at the Kentucky Horse Park.

Individually, Renneker capped an outstanding season by finishing third with a time of 16 minutes, 58.02 seconds. He earned first team All-State honors.

“Jon was one of the better 2A runners all year,’’ Caudill said. “His goal was to be in the top five at state, and he did that. He consistently ran in the 16s this season.’’

Teammates Brennan Kizziar, Timmy Callihan and Taylor Bradley joined Renneker on the All-Area first team.

Kizziar, a sophomore, was named second team All-State after finishing 15th in the 2A championships.

“I always knew Brennan had the ability to run that well,’’ Caudill said. “He got better and better.’’

Callihan finished 21st in the State Meet and was recognized as honorable mention All-State.

Overall, Ashland accomplished one goal after another along the way.

“Every year, the team sets out to win the conference, win Area 7 and win the regional,’’ Caudill said. “We also wanted to be top five in the state.’’

The Tomcats did all that and more, including a victory in the Meet of Champions, an annual preview for the State Meet.

“It’s our first time to do that and it moved us up,’’ Caudill said.

In all, seven of the Boys All-Area first team members received All-State honors this season. Second-team All-Stater Tanner Alexander of Russell had several bouts with illness, but bounced back to finish ninth in the 2A State Meet. Bath County’s Dalton Caudill and Elliott County’s Daniel Fraley and Cody Nickell were honorable mention in Class A.

Fairview’s Tyler Brown and Elliott County’s Aaron Stevens also earned spots on the All-Area first team.

Fairview’s girls enjoyed their best State Meet finish. Stacey said team members are looking forward to doing even better in 2010.

“They have got their eyes on it next year,’’ Stacey said. “Brooklyn led the team and put in another good season.’’

Bowen finished 18th in state competition despite running with sore knees.

Also representing Fairview on the Girls All-Area team are seventh-grader Haley Layne, eighth-graders Maddy Rymer and Morgan McIntyre, sophomore Audrey Sizemore and sixth-grader Lyndsey Burke.

“A lot of the younger girls like Haley, Maddy and Morgan really came on,’’ Stacey said. “Morgan would probably be my most improved.’’

Bowen was named to the Class A All-State second team. Layne and Rymer received honorable mention notice.

The Girls All-Area team also includes Russell runners Jennifer Sloan and Jennifer Miller, along with East Carter’s Macy Dyer and Elliott County’s Jhonda Ison.

Sloan, an eighth-grader, was regional runner-up in 2A and went on to earn All-State honorable mention honors.



ALL-AREA HONORABLE MENTION

BOYS

Jacob Adams (Ashland), Austin Craft (Ashland), Nick Lewis (Elliott County), Rakesh Iyer (Ashland), Brandon Yates (Russell).

GIRLS

Kasie Bradley (Fairview), Katie Coldiron (Greenup County), Madison Dyer (East Carter), Kayleigh O’Connor (Rowan County), Charline Tarring (Lawrence County).