Running in a wave separate from some of the top runners in the state, Madisonville’s Jackson Watts still managed to post the fastest time and win the Class 3A State Cross Country Meet Saturday. He is the second Maroon runner in three years to win a state title, joining Christian Parker in 2018.
Running mostly by himself after the first mile of the wave, Watts covered the rolling 3.1-mile course at the Bourbon County Park in a time of 15:41. He finished four-tenths of a second faster than second-place Brady Masters of Madison Central, who ran in the first wave.
Drew Burden was the second Maroon runner to cross the finish line, coming in 65th in 17:49. Tyler Bruner was 92nd in 18:07, and Maddox Knight was 101st in 18:10.
Lucas Offutt was 113th, Ryland Bergman was 116th, and Alex Pendley was 245th.
As a team, Madisonville finished in 11th place with 333 points.
