By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Four seniors on the Cooper girls golf team ended their high school careers Wednesday with a third-place finish in the state championship tournament at Bowling Green Country Club.
This is the fourth consecutive year that Cooper has been among the leading contenders for the state title. The Jaguars placed third last year and fifth in 2021 and 2020 under coach Joe Deters.
Cooper senior Kendall Brissey hits a tee shot during final round of state tournament. (Photo by Ted Jackson)
On Wednesday, Louisville Sacred Heart claimed its 12th state title with a two-round total of 216. Madison Central took the runner-up trophy with a 642 that was one stroke better than Cooper’s 643.
Medalists honors were also decided by one stroke. Marshall County sophomore Trinity Beth shot a 3-under 69 in the final round to finish with a 141 total. Sacred Heart freshman Keira Yun was second with a 142.
Cooper junior Reagan Ramage tied for fourth place with a two-round total of 72-76-148. She placed fifth in last year’s season finale to earn first-team all-state honors and will likely finish among the top players in the state point standings again this season.
The Jaguars’ senior contingent was led by Eva Maley, who tied for 12th place with an 81-76-157, and Kendall Brissey, who placed 15th with a 78-81-159. Two-round totals for their senior teammates were Ava Finke (85-94-179) and Sydney Koenig (111-109-220).
Ramage, Maley and Brissey have been Cooper’s top three scorers in four consecutive state tournaments. Maley received second-team all-state honors last year.
The individual qualifiers for the state tournament included four local golfers. Their two-round scores were Anika Okuda of Ryle (84-81-165), Dida Jiradamkerng of Notre Dame (84-86-170), Emma Laker of Brossart (83-90-173) and Allison Collins of Campbell County (96-101-197).
Complete results from the girls state golf tournament are on the khsaa.org website.
Ryle senior quarterback closing in on 6,000 career passing yards
Ryle senior quarterback Logan Verax needs 132 passing yards to reach the 6,000 mark in his varsity career going into his team’s Class 6A district seeding game at Campbell County on Friday.
Verax’s current total of 5,868 passing yards eclipsed the previous team record of 5,421 set by Tanner Morgan in two seasons at Ryle after transferring from Hazard. Morgan’s overall career total is listed at 10,303 yards.
Logan Verax
There are only eight quarterbacks who have passed for more than 6,000 yards during careers on Northern Kentucky teams.
Topping the list is Cameron Hergott of Beechwood with 8,537 yards followed by former Highlands quarterbacks Gino Guidugli (7,516 yards), Patrick Towles (7,431) and Jared Lorenzen (6,821). The other four are Chase Crone of Simon Kenton (6,597), Randy Lee of Lloyd (6,391), Michael Kremer of Campbell County (6,231) and Sam Diehl of Newport Central Catholic (6,018).
This season, Verax has completed 107 of 149 for 1,154 yards for the 2-4 Raiders. He’s averaging 192.3 passing yards per game so there’s a good chance he’ll join the 6,000-yard club Friday’against the 2-4 Camels.
Verax is also Ryle’s rushing leader with 242 yards and leading scorer with six touchdowns. The team’s second leading scorer is wide receiver Dylan Lee, who has caught five of the team’s nine touchdown passes.
Ryle at Campbell County is one of 13 district seeding games being played by local teams on Thursday and Friday. One of them is Bellevue at Dayton in Class 1A, the 150th game between the neighboring river city schools. It’s one of the state’s longest football rivalries that began in 1926.
Fields are set for 9th Region boys and girls soccer tournaments
The fields are set for next week’s 9th Region boys and girls soccer tournaments, but the draws to determine first-round pairings must wait until four district finals are played on Thursday.
The eight-team bracket for the 9th Region boys tournament will include defending champion Ryle, Cooper, St. Henry, Dixie Heights, Covington Catholic, Holy Cross, Newport Central Catholic and Highlands.
Ryle and NewCath have already won district titles. The two boys district finals on Thursday will be Dixie Heights at St. Henry and Holy Cross at CovCath. The region draw is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday at tournament host Boone County.
Qualifiers for the 9th Region girls tournament are defending champion Highlands, NewCath, Notre Dame, Beechwood, Dixie Heights, St. Henry, Cooper and Conner. The two girls district finals on Thursday will be Dixie Heights at St. Henry and Beechwood at Notre Dame.
The 9th Region girls soccer tournament will be played at Notre Dame with the draw scheduled for Friday. Region champions in boys and girls soccer advance to state tournaments that are set to begin on Oct. 16.
Simon Kenton boys and girls soccer teams and the Walton-Verona girls team have earned 8th Region tournament berths. Campbell County and Brossart will compete in the 10th Region boys and girls soccer tournaments.
