Trinity of Louisville Boys Win Team Title; Kaitlyn Estep Leads Cardinal Gibbons NC Girls In Kentucky

By Ricky Quintana for DyeStat

Photo courtesy Chris Caryl

DyeStat Top 100 runner Maxwell Friedrich, a senior from St. Ignatius OH, and sophomore Kaitlyn Estep of Cardinal Gibbons NC took the top spots at the Trinity/Valkyrie Invitational Saturday morning at Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky.

Trinity of Louisville, ranked No. 3 in the Southeast, and the Cardinal Gibbons girls picked up team titles in one of the largest invitationals of the weekend.

Friedrich, the 2025 Ohio Division 1 3,200 meters champion, was in a dogfight throughout the race against a talented field that included No. 11 Paul Van Laningham of Cooper KY, No. 25 Landon Kimmel of Tippecanoe OH and Top 100 runners Owen Clemons of Cleveland TN, Xavier Richardson of Lafayette KY, Carter Zieren from Reitz IN, plus Dom Ellis of St. Xavier OH.

Friedrich used a big kick to win in a new course record time of 14:37.54.

The pace was out quick as the 10 boy pack hit the mile together. 

“We went through pretty fast for the mile,” said Friedrich, who was coming off a second placed finish in 14:53.7 at the Wooster XC Invitational on Sept 6. “I think we were about 4:30 low maybe. It was a really tight pack of 10 or so guys up there. The past couple of races there hasn't been that big of a pack, so it was a pretty good atmosphere. I knew Landon Kimmel, Paul Van Lanningham, Dom and Xavier were all good athletes. I was looking out for them because I knew they could put together a really good race today.” 

Van Laningham, US#3 in the 3,000 meters last spring (8:04.89), didn’t know who Friedrich was.

“I knew the name, but I didn’t know who he was during the race,” he said. “I was on the inside and he was slightly ahead most of the race and pushing it. I didn’t really expect him to make it the whole way like he did. It was quite impressive.”

The pack hit the 3k mark in 8:46 with no signs of anyone being able to break free. It was only in the last 400 meters that the race was decided. Van Laningham kicked first, but was then swallowed up quickly by Friedrich and Ellis. In the final 100 meters, Friedrich got the lead and won by half a second.

Ellis was second in 14:38.02, Van Laningham was third with 14:38.50 and Clemons ran 14:39.64 for fourth, All of them went under Alex Bruns’ (St. Xavier OH) course record of 14:39.86 set at last year’s Trinity/Valkyrie Invitational.

In addition, Zieren and Richardson moved into eighth fastest, 14:45.45, and 10th fastest 14:47.66 in course history.

Friedrich's ascension has been steady. He ran 20 miles per week as freshman, but he has upped his mileage in his sophomore and junior years. His mileage reached 58-60 miles per week during the summer and into this cross country season. He credits that and competing in more competitive races to his improvement over the past nine months.

“Being able to run with more competition is definitely new, but I love competing in those bigger meets like the Eastern Relays, the Mason Invitational and Nike Indoor Nationals. Being able to run with guys that are as good or better, it just really pushes yourself to the limit and lets you know you can compete with them.”

Van Laningham, a recent Wisconsin commit, felt the effects of a Run-A-Thon fundraiser his team participated in a week prior. In the hour-long event, he ran 11.5 miles (5:13 per mile).

“I still feel like it’s in my legs a little bit,” he said. “The legs weren’t feeling great most of the way, but I just gritted it out. I started to fade off with 800 meters to go and then got right back in it. I tried to go at 400 meters and they just picked it up. They didn’t extend on me at all, but I couldn’t gain on them either. It was a tough situation to be in. It closed really hard and I didn’t expect all those guys to make it the way they did. I finished well, but not quite well enough.” 

Trinity’s 77 points was well clear of Lafayette’s 124 to take the team title. The Shamrocks were led by sophomore Christian Stewart, 16th, 15:16.36, senior Drew Koon,18th, 15:19.21, junior Ayden Taylor,19th 15:19.21, senior Jake Hagan, 29th, 15:31.59, and senior Whitman Goodwin, 32nd,15:35.06. There was even more depth waiting in the wings with senior Sullivan Yaden 35th in 15:45.76 and junior Ben Cebe 47th in 15:55.96.

Estep’s time of 17:31.96 won the girls title over senior Addison Moore of (Woodford County KY, who ran 17:40.49. It was Estep’s third win in a row this season. Her time was the sixth-fastest in course history.

Cardinal Gibbons claimed the team title with Estep’s teammates, senior Maggie Whitham, 13th, 18:48.32, freshman Jalyn Alexander, 21st, 19:14.75, freshman Abigail Squires, 22nd, 19:16.76, sophomore Anneka Hill, 24th, 19:16.76, and freshman Maggie Miltenberg, 43rd, 19:42.45, scoring 70 points to North Oldham KY's 140 points.