By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
High school cross country season begins this week and the Bishop Brossart girls team that won its first Class A state championship last season has all five runners returning to defend their title.
The Mustangs are scheduled to compete in the Trimble County Backwoods Invitational on Saturday. The entry form that coach Dave Schuh turns in will likely include seniors Rebecca Schroer and Ashley Beck, junior Maria Klocke, freshman Claire Curtsinger and eighth-grader Amy Klocke. They were the team’s five scoring runners in last year’s state meet.
One week before the state meet, Brossart won the local Class A regional meet. The Mustangs ended St. Henry’s 17-year reign as regional team champion in that race.
Highlands claimed the Class 2A girls state title for the fifth time in the last six years last season with freshman Maggie Schroeder leading the way. She placed second overall with a time of 19:17 that was faster than any local runner in any class at the girls state meet.
The Bluebirds’ other top returning runners are juniors Maria Broering and Alissa Campbell. Their team will open the new season Friday at the Moeller Primetime Invitational in Ohio.
Brossart and Highlands are both scheduled to compete in the Grant County Invitational on Saturday. Sept. 1 at Sherman Elementary School, the site for this year’s Class A and Class 3A regional meets.
College football writers name award after Shaun Alexander
A new college football award named after Boone County graduate Shaun Alexander will be presented to the nation’s top freshman player by the Football Writers Association of America.
After setting Kentucky high school rushing records at Boone County, Alexander went to the University of Alabama and set a team record during his redshirt freshman season with 291 rushing yards and four touchdowns in one game.
He finished his college career with more than 3,500 yards and 41 TDs and went on to play in the NFL. In 2005, he led the league in rushing and was named the NFL Most Valuable Player.
The Shaun Alexander Freshman Player of the Year Award will be presented to the player on the writers association Freshman All-America Team who possesses many of the same attributes that Alexander displayed during his illustrious college and professional careers.
Mike Griffith, chairman of the Freshman All-America Team selection committee, said naming the award after Alexander “is a fitting tribute for what he has represented on and off the field throughout his career and the type of impact and character freshmen players should look to emulate.”
Dayton hires new head coach for girls basketball team
Jeff Trunick, an assistant on the Dayton girls basketball coaching staff the last two years, has been named head coach of the Greendevils.
Trunick is replacing Steve Hunt, who resigned as Dayton’s head coach with a 32-28 record over the last two seasons. The new coach is taking over a team that must replace Megan Downard, who was named Division III Player of the Year by local coaches last season.
“I’m very lucky that when I was hired as an assistant coach Hunt laid out a roadmap for the girls basketball program at Dayton,” Trunick said. “I’m blessed in being able to just try following that path.”
Dayton is one of six 9th Region girls basketball teams that will have a new head coach going into the 2018-19 season. Notre Dame, Newport Central Catholic, Holy Cross and Lloyd also hired new coaches and Holmes is interviewing finalists for its position this week.