Louisiana
Making the trip from Louisiana will be Parkway High school's Gabriel Falting. Gabriel is a top twenty returner for Louisiana and was runner up at the Luisiana D1 Region 1 championships for the three-mile cross country distance. He also runs sub 10 in the 3200 and has a 4:23 in the 1600 so is not shy about pushing himself during races. The 5K isn't a distance he's run a lot but his best for the distance comes in at 16:14. The Parkway team seems to also have a good strong group running in the 17's (Gary Smith, Jesus Cordova, Ben Ruliffson) that could help propel this team to a good placing here.
Gabriel Falting at The Opener in 2022.
Out of Lafayette, Louisiana is Jackson Jarrett who has run some impressive times across his track and cross-country career. This David Thibodaux STEM Academy Junior has run a sub 2 min 800, mid 10's in the 3200 and mid 16 for the 5K distance and could be a contender here on Saturday. Being from Lafayette, he's not going to have any problem if we get a little humidity in the air either.
Kentucky
Kentucky is also getting into the mix - pretty handily too - with Jared Fairbanks of Central Hardin. Jared is starting his season out strong with a 15:55 he ran just the other week at the Central Kentucky Run for the Gold meet. This Junior is a prolific racer, and it does seem like he is in for a breakout year this season. Let's keep an eye on him Saturday.
Probably one of the top Kentucky athletes running Saturday would have to be John Hardin High School's Brendan Nagle. Just a couple weeks ago, Brendan dropped about 25 seconds off his best from last season to start his season with a 15:23. He followed that up with a sub 16 last week but it appeared he was running alone as he was almost a minute ahead of the runner up, so wasn't being pushed like he will be at the Twilight Saturday. Having top 10 finishes at his state meet (and a 4th place best) shows he can perform when it counts. This certainly is a race that counts, and he's got to be considered one of the favorites in this already bulging lead pack.
Brendan Nagle finishing 4th in the 2A Division at state last year.
Larue County high school will be bringing some impressive girls to the meet. Leading that group will be Isabella Day who comes here with a PR of 19:00 in her resume. She does seem to be stronger as the distance gets longer. Her 800 best isn't too bad but she can blister the 1600 (5:15) and 3200 (11:14) and this course is just ripe for runners that get stronger as the race goes on. A couple of Isabella's teammates should also add to their strength as a team - Ella Tucker (19:50) and Mia Dennis. Mia has an 8:54 for the 2K steeplechase and although this course doesn't have the barriers to hurdle, running the steeple is a good sign of a strong runner. And by the way, Mia is the oldest as a Junior, so this is a young team for sure.