By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Conner High School students changed the theme for Friday’s homecoming parade and football game to pay tribute to a beloved teacher and coach who passed away earlier this month.
Conner faculty members display a Garnett Strong banner
Shawn Garnett lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on Sept. 6. During his teaching career at Conner, he was head coach of the boys tennis and golf teams and an assistant boys basketball coach.
The theme for Homecoming will be “Garnett Strong,” which was printed on t-shirts Conner students purchased over the last several months to support their teacher and raise funds for his medical expenses.
“It really shows the love and the care that the student body had for him,” said Conner athletic director Jim Hicks. “They understand the fight he went through and the fact that he touched so many lives here. The kids wanted to make this a special day for him and his family.”
Shawn Garnett
Garnett’s two sons, Tommy and Casey, will be grand marshals for the homecoming parade that will precede Friday’s football game against Newport Central Catholic. Conner students are encouraged to wear their “Garnett Strong” t-shirts to the game to honor the dedicated teacher, who didn’t take a leave of absence until his chemotherapy treatments began.
Garnett graduated from Boone County High School in 1987. He was a two-year starter on the boys basketball team and averaged 17 points per game during his senior season. He started his coaching career at Boone County before coming to Conner.
The schools are long-time rivals, but proceeds from a girls basketball game between Conner and Boone County last season were donated to the Garnett fundraising efforts.
Hicks said the girls basketball coaches are now working together to create two annual scholarships named after Garnett that will be awarded to a student-athlete from each school.
“Just being a part of the community and being involved in all those different sports, he touched a lot of lives,” Hicks said of Garnett. “Being as nice a guy as he was, a lot of coaches loved him as well as his own student-athletes.”
St. Henry wins All “A” Classic state volleyball championship
St. Henry’s volleyball team won the Kentucky All “A” Classic state tournament for the second straight year and the fifth time in the last seven years last weekend at Eastern Kentucky University.
St. Henry’s state all-tournament selections were (left to right) Taylor Preston, Bridget Bessler, Abby Schaefer, Zoe Epplen and Maria Tobergte.
The Crusaders won three pool play matches and three championship bracket matches in two games. They knocked off Walton-Verona, 25-20, 25-10, in the semifinals and defeated Louisville Presentation, 25-15, 25-9, in the final.
St. Henry senior Maria Tobergte was named the state tournament’s most valuable player. The Crusaders’ other all-tournament selections were Bridgett Bessler, Zoe Epplen, Taylor Preston and Abby Schaeffer.
Bryanna Godsey and Morgan Woeste were the Walton-Verona players named to the state all-tournament team. The Bearcats won four of five matches over the weekend to raise their season record to 16-6.
St. Henry has a 19-5 record with six matches remaining on the regular season schedule. This Friday, the Crusaders will take on Notre Dame in the annual “Playing For A Purpose” fundraiser for breast cancer patients.
The varsity match is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Thomas More College. The teams faced each other in the last year’s 9th Region championship match and St. Henry defeated Notre Dame, 3-2.
NewCath, Walton-Verona will compete for state soccer titles
Soccer teams from Newport Central Catholic and Walton-Verona will play opening round matches in the Kentucky All “A” Classic state tournaments on Saturday at Capital View Park in Frankfort.
In the eight-team girls bracket, Walton-Verona will play Prestonsburg at 9 a.m. and NewCath will meet Hazard at 11 a.m. This is the first time that Walton-Verona has made it to the small-school state tournament while NewCath has won five state titles with the last one coming in 2015.
The NewCath boys have a first-round match with Murray scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday. The last time NewCath played in the boys state tournament was 2015 and that team made it to the semifinals.
The state championship games will be played on Sunday with the girls at 11 a.m. and the boys at 1 p.m. Scores will be posted on the allaclassic.org website during the two-day tournament.
Swimmer wins two medals at international open water meet
Mariah Denigan, a 15-year-old member of the Northern Kentucky Clippers competitive swim team, won silver and bronze medals at the FINA World Junior Open Water Championships held in Israel.
Denigan, a home school student who lives in Walton, was on the United States girls 14-16 age group team that placed second in the 4×1250 relay with a time of 57:31.8. She also placed third in the girls 14-15 age group 5,000-meter race with a time of 1:01.06.
Open water swimming takes place in bodies of water like lakes, rivers and ocean bays. There are no starting blocks or designated lanes in the races.
Earlier this year, Denigan won the 5,000-meter event at the USA Swimming Junior Open Water Nationals and placed third in the USA Swimming Open Water Nationals.
