By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Covington Catholic senior Alex Yeager enters the 9th Region boys tennis tournament on Saturday as the No. 1 seed in singles. If he lives up to that ranking, he will add another title to an already impressive high school resume.
Yeager won region and state championships in doubles the last two years with partner Klei Christensen. They also went undefeated during last year’s inaugural state team tournament that was won by the Colonels.
Yeager switched to singles this season following the graduation of his former CovCath teammate Brady Hussey, a four-time region champion and last year’s state runner-up.
That gives the Drake University recruit an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of his father, Jason Yeager, who won region and state singles championships in 1989 and 1990 when he was a student at Dixie Heights.
After moving Yeager to singles, CovCath coach Al Hertsenberg put together a No. 1 doubles team with Christensen and Blake Hussey, who played No. 2 singles behind his older brother last season.
The new doubles team is seeded No. 1 for the 9th Region boys tournament that begins Saturday morning at CovCath. The Colonels have won the region doubles title every year since 2007.
The 9th Region girls tennis tournament is scheduled to start on May 15 at Ryle High School. Top seeds for singles and doubles have not yet been decided.
CovCath baseball coach among nation’s win leaders
Going into the 2025 season, there were 14 active high school baseball coaches in the United States who had passed the 1,000 mark in career wins and Bill Krumpelbeck at Covington Catholic was No. 7 on the list with 1,127, according to MaxPreps.com.
CovCath (19-11) won its last three games to push Kumpelbeck’s win total to 1,146, the second highest in the Kentucky record books. But he probably hasn’t moved up on the national list because the coach ahead of him had 54 more wins going into this season.
Next week, CovCath has games scheduled against Cooper, Dixie Heights and Holy Cross. The Colonels need to win one of them to reach the 20-win mark for the 37th time in the last 38 seasons under Krumpelbeck, who took charge of the CovCath program in 1977.
Mac Whitaker of Harrison County entered this season with 1,244 career wins, which was No. 4 in the nation and No. 1 in the state. His current win total is 1,268 with games against Scott on Friday and Beechwood on Saturday.
Retired basketball coach chosen for Hall of Fame
Dave Faust, the coach who holds the 9th Region boys basketball record for most career wins with 482, will be inducted into the Greater Cincinnati Basketball Hall of Fame during its annual awards banquet on Wednesday.
Four weeks ago, Faust retired from coaching and teaching at St. Henry High School where he spent the last 33 years of his career. His overall record of 482-425 as head coach of the Crusaders surpassed the previous 9th Region record of 460 wins set by Ken Shields.
St. Henry’s gym floor has “Dave Faust Court” painted on it as a tribute to the coach who guided the Crusaders to their first and only 9th Region boys basketball championship in 2003. St. Henry also won three Kentucky All “A” Classic state titles under Faust.
Faust played basketball on two 9th Region championship teams at Newport Catholic High School and continued his career at Thomas More College. He was inducted into the athletic hall of fame as each of those schools and is a member of the Northern Kentucky Athletic Directors Hall of Fame.
Two-sport standout will play basketball in college
Landon Lorms, one of the best two-sport athletes in Northern Kentucky, has made a commitment with the Thomas More University men’s basketball team, according to an online post on his X account.
Lorms finished his senior year at Ryle, as the basketball team’s all-time leading scorer with 1,546 points. In football, he set pass receiving team records in career yards (2,342), touchdowns (28) and receptions (174).
Last season, Lorms was the leading scorer in 9th Region boys basketball with a 22.8 average. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound guard also pulled down 6.2 rebounds per game and shot 48.6 percent (212 of 436) from the field for the Raiders.
He’ll be joining a Thomas More team that made it to the championship game of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference tournament and finished with a 19-11 record. The Saints will be eligible for the NCAA Division II playoffs next season.