Charlestown HS Pirate and Lady Pirate Cross Country ran in the Crawford County Invitational Saturday, where half of the team run personal records on one of the toughest courses on the schedule all year!

Charlestown runners setting personal records at Crawford County included Kelsey Lakes, Alexis Gurr, Piper Clark, Matt Fellows, Darian Zeis, Harrison Adams and Drashaun Morrow.  Lady Pirate Katie Rhodes finished 5th as a medalist at Crawford Invitational in the Sophomore girls race; and Pirate Andrew Shaw finished 15th as a medalist in the senior boys race.  “This was a great day, seeing so much improvement, as everyone else ran hard also!  I am so proud of both teams for working hard and having a desire to improve!”, commented Head Coach Jerry Doyle.

Charlestown Cross Country participated in the annual Scottsburg Invitational Tuesday evening.  On a very hot and humid evening at Hardy Lake, Lady Pirate Cross Country Runner Katie Rhodes placed 4th overall for the ladies, while fellow runner Andrew Shaw ran a good race to place 15th for the men.

Charlestown Cross Country will be back in action next Tuesday at the Christian Academy Invitational where the Lady Pirates are two-time defending champions!

Former Charlestown Pirate Cross Country standout Whitney Andrews participated in her first collegiate meet Tuesday, running in a Hokum Karem at Anderson University in Indianapolis.  Whitney and her teammate Margo placed 2nd overall in the meet against Franklin.  “Proud of her for representing Charlestown XC at the collegiate level”, commented Charlestown Cross Country Coach Jerry Doyle.

Charlestown Pirate and Lady Pirate Cross Country ran the Hokum Karem event at Silver Creek Tuesday evening.  The Lady Pirate team of Katie Rhodes and Gabi Gagnon finished 7th in a time of 41:14 with 6:52 mile splits; and the team of Kelsey Lakes and Erin Kimbrell finished 22nd in 46:45 with 7:47 mile splits.  The top 25 teams received medals.  The Pirate team of Andrew Shaw and Seth Parker finished 10th in a time of 33:59 with 5:39 mile splits.  The Pirates also received medals for their performance!  “It was a beautiful evening for running!  We are off until next Thursday at North Harrison, so we have a whole week that we can work hard and keep improving! I’m proud of everyone tonight!  Great job PIRATE XC”, commented Head Coach Jerry Doyle.

The Charlestown High School Cross Country traveled to New Albany Saturday morning and competed in the annual Bulldog Classic.  The Lady Pirates were led once again by Sophomore Katie Rhodes, who finished 5th overall; as a team the girls finished fourth out of an eight team field, on a beautiful day!  The Pirates were led by Andrew Shaw and finished eighth as a team.  “I’ve seen, over the first two meets, improvement each time, with Sophomore Matt Fellows and Freshman Harrison Adams setting personal records Saturday”, commented Head Coach Jerry Doyle.  Cross Country will will be at the Silver Creek course on Tuesday for one of our favorite meets with the two person team concept Hokum Karem.  “The first runner runs a mile then tags their partner who runs a mile.  Each person does this 3 times for a total of 6 miles per team”, explained Coach Doyle.  For more information about Pirate and Lady Pirate Cross Country, go to www.PiratePride.BLUE/CrossCountry.

Charlestown Cross Country competed in Seymour’s ten team meet Thursday evening.  The girls were led by medal winner Sophomore Katie Rhodes in 10th place in a time of 22:03.  The Lady Pirates finished 6th as a team.  “There were a lot of nerves for our first meet, but I’m so proud of everyone’s performances”, commented Head Coach Jerry Doyle.

The boys were led by Senior Andrew Shaw, just one spot out of medal contention, in 16th place.  The Pirates finished 7th as a team.  “I am so happy that they (the boys team) can compete as a team this year!  We’re already looking forward to this Saturdays meet at the Bulldog Classic at Prosser in New Albany!

Three members of the Charlestown HS Cross Country team competed this past weekend in the AAU National Championship in Lawrence, Kansas.  Whitney Andrews (senior), Katie Rhodes (freshman), and Alysha Flaget (senior) placed 14th, 16th, and 18th respectively overall in the 15-18 age group.  Andrews and Flaget placed 6th and 7th in the 17-18 group and Rhodes placed 10th in the 15-16 group – with all three receiving medals.  In addition, their team of six (which included 3 other area girls) placed 3rd overall as a team – receiving team place medals as well. Congratulations girls! Great job representing Pirate Nation!