Charlestown Lady Pirate Cross Country runners Whitney Andrews and Katie Rhodes traveled back to Brown County Saturday, with their Coach Jerry Doyle, to run the Semi-State meet.  Senior Andrews and Freshman Rhodes finished 79th and 80th, and both in a time of 21:02, and against 178 other girl qualifiers.  Their finish did not advance them to the state finals, however their representation of Pirate Nation was awesome; just as it was all season long.  “It was a sad day in a sense, being Whitney’s last race, but also great to see her go out on a high note, and to see her pass the torch to Katie!  Whitney has been the best runner to come through Charlestown in many years, and has set the bar very high for future Lady Pirates, however I already see that Katie has the talent and desire to be one of the top runners in this part of the state over the next 3 years!  Along with her is Gabi Gagnon, Erin Kimbrell and Isabella Golja, all freshmen, and Junior Molly Sumner coming back next year.  I am very excited for next season already”, commented Coach Doyle.  Congratulations to the Lady Pirate Cross Country team for an outstanding season, and especially Semi-State qualifiers Senior Whitney Andrews and Freshman Katie Rhodes.  For more information on Pirate and Lady Pirate Cross Country, go to www.PiratePride.BLUE/CrossCountry

The Lady Pirate Cross Country team finished 6th as a team today at the Brown County Regional (top five teams advance). However Charlestown advanced two runners to next weeks Semi-Final meet. “They all ran their hearts out today, just came up a little short, but I couldn’t be more proud of what they have accomplished this year! They were very competitive, and grew to love each other over the season”, commented Head Coach Jerry Doyle. Moving on to semi-state is Katie Rhodes who finished 20th in a time of 20:36 and Whitney Andrews in 27th in 21:33. Whitney advances to her second consecutive semi-state. Pirate Seth Parker finished 52nd in 18:24, in a very strong boys regional field! Congratulations to all of Pirate Nation’s Cross Country runners.  The Cross Country Semi-State run will be held Saturday, October 25th, beginning at 12:30 pm in Brown County.

Charlestown Lady Pirate Cross Country team is REGIONAL BOUND! The Ladies team finished 3rd, only 8 points out of runner up at today’s Southwestern hosted Sectional meet. Charlestown was led by Katie Rhodes who finished 6th, and Whitney Andrews’ 10th place finish earning them All Sectional Honors. Lady Pirate Alshya Flaget finished 16th, Gabi Gagnon 31st, Erin Kinbrell 32nd, Molly Sumner 54th, and Isabella Golja 57th. “I am so proud of the effort today! They had a goal of beating Southwestern (who won the New Washington Invite over us) and Madison, and the girls achieved both of those goals today! We knew if we could finish in front of them, that we would make it to Regional”, commented Coach Jerry Doyle. The Pirate boys team recorded a notable and Regional qualifying performance from Seth Parker; who finished 19th. Parker returns to the Regional round for the second straight year! “I told him that he knew what he had to do, and he went out and left nothing on the course”, concluded Coach Doyle.

The Charlestown HS Cross Country team ran at New Albany’s Community Park Tuesday evening, in the annual Providence Invitational.  Frosh Katie Rhodes led the Lady Pirates and was the individual girls champion; for her second win of the year!  Senior Whitney Andrews ran 4th and Gabi Gagnon 13th to round out the Lady Pirate medal winners!  The Lady Pirates placed 3rd as a team; even without their #3 runner Alysha Flaget, who was under the weather.  “Had Alysha been available it would have definitely been a different (team) outcome, but we want her ready for sectional on Saturday” commented Coach Jerry Doyle.  The Pirate Cross Country team was led by Seth Parker, who medaled by placing 13th during the race.  “I’m looking forward to Sectional and qualifying for another Regional as a team”, concluded Coach Doyle after Tuesday’s outing.

The Charlestown Pirate and Lady Pirate Cross Country team met at Hardy Lake in Scott County, with Mid-Southern Conference counterparts, to decide and settle the final 2014 conference standings for boys and the girls in their sport.  The Lady Pirates (as a team) finished fourth behind Salem (3rd), North Harrison (2nd) and Silver Creek.  Senior Whitney Andrews was the top Charlestown runner of the day, finishing 7th while Freshman Katie Rhodes followed closely in 9th place.  Andrews and Rhodes, based on their respective finishes, qualified for All Conference Honors.  Rounding out the Lady Pirate results, Alysha Flaget finished 20th, Gabi Gagnon 22nd, and Erin Kimbrell 25th.  “It’s good to see Whitney Andrews getting back to form after her heat exhaustion/dehydration episode at Seymour, and good to have Gabi Gagnon back running well even with severe tendinitis!  All of the ladies ran well today in the cooler weather, with junior Molly Sumner running a personal best today” commented Head Coach Jerry Doyle.

The Pirate (boys) team did not fair as well during the outing, however Coach Doyle stated that he is “proud of the effort that the guys gave today in the cold temps, and with some very good runners in our conference.  I’m excited for next season when we can field a complete team, especially with 2 freshmen and 2 sophomores this year!”  Seth Parker did finish his MSC run in a time of 18:44, after breaking into the record book on Tuesday.