Kaitlin Flattmann of Benton isn’t the first Bossier Parish runner to win a state cross country championship.

But she is the first  one to win a state title as a freshman, and the only North Louisiana girl to break the 18-minute barrier in the three mile run in a state meet. Only three South Louisiana girls have done it.

Flattman saved her best for last in the 2007 cross country season, winning the Class 4A girls’ title in a 4A record 17:59 — a fraction of a second under six minutes for each mile.

She won the race by more than a minute and 17 seconds, as Karensa Ellis of Alexandria Senior High was a distant second with 19:16.54.

In seven classes, the only faster time was turned in by Malia Cali of St. Thomas Aquinas, who won the Class 2A title with 17:16, a composite state meet record.

With 831 of the state’s best runners competing, the only other runner who broke 19 minutes in any class was Meggie Schmidt of Sacred Heart (New Orleans), who set a Class 3A record with 18:39.

Read more at BossierPress.com....