"That's incredible," Beckerson said. "I don't think Burgin's done that for a long time."
Maybe never. Older records aren't available, but Burgin had never won an invitational meet of any kind since starting its current program in the 1990s, much less one of this magnitude.
The Bulldogs beat 15 other teams, all from larger schools and most from larger classes.
"This is the biggest race we've ever won," said Chris Beckerson, Burgin's coach and the father of three of the team's runners. "It's something to celebrate, something to be proud of. It's a good reward for years of hard work."
Burgin had finished fourth in a meet earlier this season at Wilmore, and Chris Beckerson said his goal for Saturday's race was to improve on that.
"I thought we'd come in top three today, but I'll take second, I'll take first," he said. "That's a success for this program, any way it comes."
It was perhaps only last year that the Bulldogs transfromed from simply a group of boys who ran into a competitive team.
They finished fifth out of seven teams in this meet a year ago, but by season's end they improved to finish fourth in their region and eighth in the Class A in only their second appearance at the state meet.
And Burgin continues to improve. Its first six runners finished in the top 30 in a field of 142, led by Bill Beckerson, a senior who was sixth overall with a time of 18 minutes, 53 seconds on the 3.1-mile course.
"I'm really happy with my race," he said.
He's also happy with the direction the team - and the program, which now includes 16 boys and girls - is headed.
"We're finally getting back into our stride, starting to get back to where we were last year," he said. "We're going to try our best to win region this year and get top five in state."
Chris Beckerson said he is pleased with the team's progress so far, but he also sees room for improvement.
"It seems like every race I've got a couple of runners that don't do as well as they did in the last one. We just need to work on getting in shape so we can maintain the same pace over 5 (kilometers)," he said.
Junior Jon Beckerson finished two seconds away from the top 10 in 11th place.
Two eighth-graders, two freshmen and a sophomore were also among the Bulldogs' top seven runners.
Lincoln runner also has great finish
Before Burgin's big moment, Alex Bunch had one of her own in the girls race.
The Lincoln County eighth-grader won with ease, finishing 24 seconds ahead of West Jessamine's Adrianne Shearer with a time of 21:06.
"I had a pretty good distance on her around the 2-mile, and after that I picked up the lead a little more," Bunch said. "I was kind of surprised when I took it out."
Bunch, who won for the fourth time in four races this season, said she knew her time wouldn't be anything to write home about as she ran a challenging course near the middle of a hot, humid day.
"I wasn't expecting a PR (personal record) today," she said. "It was very hot. I was expecting a slower time than I normally would run because of the heat."
Her teammate, Emily Frith, was fourth in 21:56 and was the only other area girl in the top 10.
Boyle County was fifth for the highest finish among local girls teams.
In the boys race, Lincoln's Eric Sanders was second with a time of 18:28.
"I'm pretty satisfied with second place," Sanders said. "I was looking for placement (rather than time)."
Nolan Weddle of Casey County was fourth in 18:42, and Blake Hendricks of Boyle County was eighth in 19:09.
Boyle was third in the team standings.
E.G. Plummer Invitational Saturday At Admiral Stadium
BOYS
(3.1 miles; 142 runners)
Team scores - 1. Burgin (B) 68; 2. West Jessamine (WJ) 69; 3. Boyle County (BC) 119; 4. North Laurel 141; 5. Somerset (S) 173; 6. Mason County 192; 7. Williamsburg 202; 8. Lafayette 214; 9. Danville (D) 217; 10. Lincoln County (LC) 262; 11. Tates Creek 263; 12. LaRue County 267; 13. South Laurel 301; 14. Montgomery County 313; 15. Gallatin County 408; 16. Mercer County (MC) 415.
Individual leaders - 1. Jarred Brewster (WJ) 17:48; 2. Eric Sanders (LC) 18:28; 3. Brent Joplin (S) 18:38; 4. Nolan Weddle (Casey County) 18:42; 5. Brian Troyer (WJ) 18:47.
