By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Cooper opened the Class 3A, Region 5 boys track and field meet with a victory in the 4×800 relay and then piled on points in sprint events to win the team title by a large margin on Tuesday at Scott High School.
The Jaguars ended up with 147 total points, followed by Ryle with 94.5. The top two teams in the girls region standings were Notre Dame with 115 points and Dixie Heights with 101.
Cooper’s boys also won the 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400 relays. The team’s individual event winners were seniors Cole Henry in the 100 dash and Elijah Harrison in the 200 and 400 dashes. Both of them were also members of two winning relay teams.
The second-place finishers in the 200 and 400 dashes were Cooper senior sprinters Landon LaCroix and Isiah Yancy, who also won gold medals in two relay events.
Ryle had a pair of seniors who were double-winners. Tiger Bartlett finished first in the 1600 and 3200 runs. Evan Smith won the 800 run and triple jump.
The double-winners in boys field events were Highlands senior Tenzing Lindeman (shot put, discus) and Simon Kenton junior Brayden Polly (high jump, long jump).
Notre Dame’s girls won two events and placed second in six others to account for 68 of their 115 points. The gold medal winners were sophomore Kate Blettner in the 400 dash and the 4×400 relay team that included Blettner.
The Pandas’ leading scorer in individual events was junior Kate Resing, who placed second in the 100 hurdles and long jump and third in the triple jump for a total of 22 points. She was also on the 4×200 relay team that finished second.
The list of double-winners in girls individual events included Campbell County junior Olivia Holbrook (1600, 3200), Conner senior Isabella Vonlehman (100, 200) and Simon Kenton sophomore Alexis Howard (triple jump, long jump).
Complete results from the Class 3A, Region 5 meet are posted on the milesplit.com website. The Class 3A state championship meet is scheduled for Saturday, June 1 at the University of Kentucky.
CovCath wins 9th Region team title in boys tennis with new lineup
Covington Catholic’s tennis team took the first step toward a second consecutive boys state title by winning the Region 9 championship final against Highlands on Tuesday at CovCath.
The Colonels clinched the region title with victories in the first three matches by juniors Alex Yeager and Kalei Christensen in singles and freshmen Jacob Kramer and Will Tribble in doubles.
Yeager and Christensen are the defending state champions in doubles, but they played singles in the team tournament.
CovCath is one of 16 region champions that will compete in the inaugural single-elimination boys state team tournament June 3-4 at the University of Kentucky. Last year, CovCath won its first state team title by accumulating the most points for victories in the singles and doubles state tournaments.
The 9th Region girls team champion will be decided Wednesday when Notre Dame faces Ryle in three singles and two doubles matches scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m. at Notre Dame. The winner will advance to the inaugural girls state team tournament June 3-4 at Berea College.
On Wednesday, there could be a rematch of last week’s 9th Region doubles finals when Niveditha Selvaraju and Avery Love of Ryle defeated Clare Shay and Sam Spellman of Notre Dame in a third-set tiebreaker.
Dixie Heights grad pitches shutout in national championship game
Dixie Heights graduate Logan Wilson was the winning pitcher for UC Clermont in the championship game of the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association small college national baseball tournament last Friday in Dubois, Penn.
Wilson went the distance in a 4-0 victory over tournament host Penn State Dubois. The sophomore right-hander allowed only four hits with eight strikeouts against the top-seeded four-time USCAA champions. He also had a run-scoring double during the game.
The UC Clermont starting lineup also included Beechwood graduate Jackson Roseburrough at third base. He drove in the first run for the Cougars, who finished their championship season with a 34-17 record.
Wilson had an 8-1 pitching record with 95 strikeouts in 78 innings and a 3.00 ERA this season. He batted .415 (61 of 147) with eight home runs and a team-high 58 RBI.
The UC Clermont roster also included Brayden Runion of Dixie Heights, Landon Johnson of Beechwood and Justin Huff of Boone County.