Six local squads are among the Northern Kentucky teams headed to state Saturday, Oct. 31, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, and families planning the trip need to know: there will be no paper tickets at the gate.

All tickets must be purchased online through GoFan, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association's (KHSAA) official digital vendor, according to a KHSAA release published Oct. 28. Prices are lower if bought before midnight the night before the event and rise $3 after that deadline. Parking is free for all teams and fans. Kentucky Children's Hospital is sponsoring free admission for children 10 and under, though families must still claim those tickets through khsaatickets.org.

Dixie Heights qualified both its boys and girls teams in Class 3A. Notre Dame's girls team also punched a Class 3A ticket. Beechwood earned spots in both the boys and girls Class 1A fields, and St. Henry's boys qualified in Class 2A, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer's regional meet recap.

Race schedule

Class 3A opens the day. The NKY Tribune published the following schedule:

  • Class 3A — Girls 10 a.m. / Boys 10:45 a.m.
  • Class 2A — Girls 12:30 p.m. / Boys 1:15 p.m.
  • Class 1A — Girls 3 p.m. / Boys 3:45 p.m.

The KHSAA confirmed that Class 3A will start the meet. Starting box assignments and course maps are posted on the KHSAA cross country page.

Runners to watch

Beechwood's girls won the Class 1A Region 4 championship with 53 points at Idlewild Park in Burlington on Oct. 24, edging Villa Madonna (59) and Bishop Brossart (61), LINK nky reported. The Beechwood boys finished as the 1A runner-up with 44 points.

St. Henry junior Logan Vaniglia won the Class 2A boys individual title in 16 minutes, 10.17 seconds. The Enquirer reported Vaniglia called it a more competitive field than when he was the 2025 Class 1A runner-up.

"I feel pretty confident. My principal (Grant Brannen) greets me every morning and I always say, 'I'm gonna be number one at this. Watch it,'" Vaniglia said, according to the Enquirer.

Notre Dame's girls finished second at the Class 3A Region 5 meet with 60 points, behind Ryle's 23, according to LINK nky.

Hotel crunch and travel tips

Families heading to Lexington face a tight hotel market. The KHSAA said member schools are struggling to find rooms because the Breeders' Cup World Championships run Oct. 30-31 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington.

As of Oct. 28, the KHSAA flagged one property with limited availability: the Hampton Inn at 2251 Elkhorn Dr. in Lexington, with 10 to 12 double queen rooms at $219 plus tax.

Qualifying athletes can walk the Kentucky Horse Park course Friday, Oct. 30, from 3 to 5:30 p.m. A coach or school representative must accompany runners. Alpha Event Medicine will be on site during the practice window.

The first gun fires at 10 a.m. Saturday.