By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Notre Dame placed second in the girls swimming and diving state championship meet Saturday with sophomore Clare Herfel as the team’s outstanding performer once again.
Herfel won the 500-yard freestyle event for the second consecutive year with a time of 4:51.44. She also placed third in the 200 freestyle and was a member of Notre Dame’s 400 freestyle relay team that placed second in the final event at the University of Kentucky’s Lancaster Aquatics Center.
Louisville Sacred Heart continued its reign as girls team champion with a 440.5 point total. Notre Dame was runner-up with 236 points and Highlands placed fourth with 133.
The third-place finishers in the state meet included Notre Dame senior Danaka Tucker in the 500 freestyle and Highlands in the 200 freestyle relay. In the 1-meter diving finals, Notre Dame junior Savannah Bien placed fourth.
Highlands did have the highest combined boys and girls team score in the state meet with 272.50 points. The next two point totals were 268 by Louisville Eastern and 265 by Ryle.
Conner wins Region 5 boys wrestling tournament
Conner won the Region 5 boys wrestling team tournament for the first time and had 11 state qualifiers in Saturday’s competition at Conner.
The Cougars had seven wrestlers reach the weight class finals with Clayton Badida (126), Cordion Abernathy (132) and Nathan Seth (150) winning title matches. Simon Kenton also had three weight class champions — Cody Blevins (106), Benjamin Woosley (165) and Jayden Rutherford (215) — and placed second in the team standings.
There were no pins in the 14 championship matches, but three of them were decided by one point. Those winners were Antonio Rodriquez (190) of Covington Catholic, Rutherford (215) and Christian Brown (285) of Cooper.
The top four finishers in each weight class advance to the state tournament Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena. Conner led the way with 11 state qualifiers, followed by Simon Kenton 9, Ryle 8, Dixie Heights 6 and Covington Catholic 5.
REGION 5 WEIGHT CLASS FINALS
106 — Cody Blevins (Simon Kenton) def. Parker Wilkens (Highlands), 15-7
113 — Bryant Brinkman (Ryle) def. Zaq Abdi (Conner), 21-5
120 — Aiden Brinkman (Ryle) def. Keaton Dicken (Conner), 10-7
126 — Clayton Badida (Conner) def. Braydan Blevins (Simon Kenton), 8-4
132 — Cordion Abernathy (Conner) def. Ethan Plasecki (Dixie Heights), 18-2
138 — Justin Kidd (Dixie Heights) def. Jordan Rutherford (Simon Kenton), 5-4
144 — Deacon Heisler (Campbell County) def. Luke Peace (Conner), 4-1
150 — Nathan Seth (Conner) def. Parker Smith (Simon Kenton), 7-5
157 — Kayson White (Highlands) def. Callen Schmidt (Ryle), 19-3
165 — Benjamin Woosley (Simon Kenton) def. Noah Crisp (Ryle), 1-0
175 — Keegan Bishop (CovCath) def. Keigan Reinsenbeck (Ryle), 7-2
190 — Antonio Rodriquez (CovCath) def. Henry Morales (Dixie Heights), 2-1
215 — Jaydan Rutherford (Simon Kenton) def. Landon Wuellner (Conner), 3-0
285 — Christian Brown (Cooper) def. Brayden Allendar (Campbell County), 1-0.
REGION 5 TEAM SCORES
Conner 251, Simon Kenton 192.5, Ryle 191.5, Covington Catholic 132.5, Dixie Heights 110, Cooper 106.5, Highlands 93.5, Campbell County 73, Scott 52.5, Walton-Verona 43, Boone County 42.5, Holmes 29, Holy Cross 15.