A week after winning their region, the Our Lady of Mercy High School boys cross country team defended their state championship by winning the Class A state title for the second year in a row on Saturday, Nov. 10. Senior Thomas Raville led the team with an overall second-place finish. He was followed by teammates Jared Cooper, who was fourth, and Richard Schrade, who finished sixth.

“Our training has been geared toward finishing strong at the end of the season. I think outsiders had a lot of questions for our team going into the final couple of weeks. But our teams always seem to save the best for last. In this sport, that’s all that matters,” said head coach Mark Tolcher.

The boys team gained momentum after winning the Fayette County championship and the region championship prior to the state meet. Raville was the individual champion in each of those two meets.

“He’s had an absolutely amazing year. He’s been totally committed since day one,” said Tolcher.

The Lady Bobcats cross country team took home the third-place trophy during the state championship meet, finishing just 18 points off of first place. The Lady Bobcats were led by junior Sarah Hohenberger and sophomore Megan Malasarte.

Tolcher said, “This summer they set as a team goal a third-place finish at state. They were very excited to succeed. They deserve it!”