By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
A veteran coach with 250 career wins will be returning to Northern Kentucky boys basketball next season when Dan Sullivan begins his second stint with the Ludlow program.
Sullivan was Ludlow’s head coach for four seasons from 2018 to 2022 and became the school’s athletic director. He resumes his coaching career with a 250-219 record over 17 varsity seasons.
His first head coaching job was at Walton-Verona, where his teams were 60-46 in four seasons from 1990 to 1994. He then became head coach at Campbell County and compiled a 126-118 record in nine seasons from 1994 to 2003.
He had two 20-win seasons at Campbell County and the 2000-01 team won the 10th Region championship to earn a berth in the state tournament.
Sullivan was hired to replace Aaron Stamm, who was boys head coach at Ludlow the last three seasons. Stamm stepped down last month to become girls head coach at Brossart.
A post on the Ludlow Independent Schools Facebook account said, “Coach Sullivan looks forward to returning to LHS to continue building on the success of the boys basketball program. He is very excited and grateful to get the opportunity to work with this talented group of young men.”
The Panthers posted a 16-15 record last season and finished first in the NKAC Division III conference standings among small schools. Three of the top five scorers on that team graduated this spring.
The last time Ludlow made it to the 9th Region boys tournament was 2006. Over the last 10 years, the Panthers have a 6-10 record in 34th District playoff games with all six of their victories coming against Villa Madonna, another Division III team.
Top runners in 5K race were high school standouts
The top three finishers in the Edgewood Fourth of July 5K on Friday were outstanding distance runners for Northern Kentucky high schools over the past few years.
The race winner was 2022 Beechwood graduate Natnael Weldemichael in 15:15.21. He was the Class 1A state champion in boys cross country and won the 1600 and 3200 runs at the state track meet in his senior year.
The next two runners across the finish line in the holiday race were 2024 Ryle graduate Tiger Bartlett (15:28.46) and 2025 Covington Catholic graduate Will Sheets (15:56.07).
In the 2022 Class 3A state cross country meet, Sheets came in first and Bartlett finished third. Both of them also won state titles in track events and broke the 15-minute mark in 5K cross country races during their high school careers.
Weldemichel is a junior on the Northern Kentucky University cross country and track teams. Bartlett is a distance runner for the University of Cincinnati and Sheets was recruited by the University of Virginia.
CovCath grad back on Kansas City Royals’ roster
Covington Catholic graduate Luke Maile is back in the big leagues as the third catcher on the Kansas City Royals’ major league roster.
Maile played four games for the Royals in May before being sent to the club’s Triple-A team in Omaha. He was batting .280 (23 of 82) with that team when he was called up by the Royals on July 4.
The 34-year-old catcher has played for six teams in 10 major league seasons, including the Cincinnati Reds in 2023 and 2024. He has a .209 career batting average with 238 hits, 114 RBI and 22 home runs.