By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Seth Evers worked countless hours in practice to compete in two sprint races that were over in a matter of seconds at the Class A state track and field meet last Saturday in Lexington.
After the Bellevue junior won both the 100-meter dash in 11.28 seconds and the 200-meter dash in 22.61 seconds, he knew everything he went through was worth it when he stepped to the top of the awards stand.
Evers became the first Northern Kentucky athlete to win both sprint events in the same state meet since Augie Marks of Lloyd did it in 1993.
“The practices were hard every day,” he said. “Our coaches are pretty tough with the workouts, just a lot of sprinting over and over and working on all the little stuff.”
His victory in the 100-meter dash was a little surprising because three other runners had faster qualify times than him. Evers worked on getting off to a good start out of the blocks the week before the state meet, and it paid off.
“He had the best start I’ve ever seen, it looked like he was shot out of cannon,” said Bellevue track and field coach Dan Chase. “He’d been working on his starts and one thing I can say about Seth is he’s always trying to enhance his talents.”
Evers had the top state qualifying time in the 200-meter dash, but he only won that race by a fraction of a second. He was starting to pull away late in the race when he lost his footing and it slowed his pace. Bryce Donnelly of Brossart came on strong down the stretch, but Evers edged him at the finish line.
“I didn’t even know I won at first until I saw it on the (results) board, and then I was dead tired,” Evers said of completing the sweep in dash events.
After placing fifth in the 100 and sixth in the 200 at last year’s Class A state meet, Evers was willing to work harder than ever to have a shot at winning both events this year.
“I told him you’re going to have to like pain because the only way you’re going to get faster is by making it painful (in workouts),” coach Chase said. “I asked him of he was alright with that. He said yes and he never complained one time.”
Evers also plays football for Bellevue. He’s a two-year starter at corner back and wide receiver for the Tigers. He’ll be focusing on that sport for the next six or seven months before getting back on the track to defend his dual state titles.
“Seth runs hard and even when his legs say stop his heart says keep going,” coach Chase said. “He’s one of those kids who just has that competitive instinct.”
Softball coaches select top players in three divisions
Cooper freshman shortstop Kayari Suganuma, a .563 hitter who led the state in stolen bases with 52, was voted Division I Player of the Year by the Northern Kentucky Softball Coaches Association.
Newport Central Catholic senior pitcher Haley Meyers and Holy Cross senior shortstop Aleha Tucker tied in the coaches voting for Division II Player of the Year. Dayton sophomore shortstop Grace Workman received the Division III award.
The coaches also selected three senior players — Haley Canup of Campbell County, Jayna Crawford of Ludlow and Anna Telesz of Simon Kenton — to receive $500 scholarships that can be used towards their college education.
The scholarship winners were selected from 15 applications submitted that included each player’s achievements on the field and in the classroom, community service and coaches comments.
Here are the first-team selections in each division. Players who were named first-team all-conference without being voted to the top 10 in their division by the coaches are included at the end of Division II and Division III.
Division I
Player of the Year – Kayari Suganuma (Ryle)
Maclai Branson (Ryle), Kaylee McGinn (Dixie Heights), McKinlee Miller (Campbell County), Kennedy Baugh (Notre Dame), Olivia Jackson (Boone County), Macy Krohman (Simon Kenton), Karys Black (Boone County), Cori Ladanyi (Notre Dame), Ashley Leicht (Campbell County).
Division II
Players of the Year – Haley Meyers (Newport Central Catholic), Aleah Tucker (Holy Cross).
Rachel Gabbard (Highlands), Jessie Roark (St. Henry), Megan Seiter (Brossart), Kacy Zimmerman (NewCath), Rachel Crawford (Lloyd), Brooke Dill (Highlands), Ashley Pollard (St. Henry), Courtney Turner (Holy Cross), Aubri Anderson (Walton-Verona).
All-Conference selections – Katlynn Cooper (Holmes), Jenna Fryer (NewCath).
Division III
Player of the Year – Grace Workman (Dayton).
Jade Pinkston (Williamstown), Megan Downard (Dayton), Regan Atwood (Bellevue), Delaney Kemper (Willamstown), Brooke Meier (Villa Madonna), Anna Wagner (Villa Madonna), Arianna Dotson (Bellevue), Ashley Zalla (Covington Latin), Cierra Magee (Williamstown), Jayna Crawford (Ludlow).
All-Conference selections – Emma Donelan (Dayton), Kilee Donelan (Dayton), Bella Slone (Ludlow).
Lloyd, Ludlow hire new head basketball coaches
Two local high schools filled basketball coaching vacancies with Lloyd putting Sam Volpenhein in charge of its boys’ program and Ludlow hiring Micah Montecalvo as girls’ head coach.
Volpenhein has been on the Lloyd coaching staff for several years. Last season, he was a varsity assistant on the team that won the 34th District championship and finished with a 22-11 record under former head coach Mike Key, who resigned to become the school’s principal.
The top three scorers on the Lloyd team last season will graduate this month. The returning starters are junior guards Jamal Neal and Isiah Vogt.
Montecalvo will be making his head coaching debut at Ludlow after spending the last five seasons as a girls’ varsity assistant at Grant County. He’s taking over a Ludlow team that posted a 17-14 record last season under former head coach Eric King. The two leading scorers on that team were both seniors.
Conner baseball pitcher breaks two team records
Conner senior pitcher Nick Craddock has broken two team records this season and the right-hander has a chance to improve his statistics during the 9th Region tournament next week.
In Monday’s district playoff game against Boone County, Craddock picked up his 21st career win to set one team record. He also had nine strikeouts in that game to lift his season total to 104, which is also a team record.
Conner clinched a berth in next week’s 9th Region tournament with the win over Boone County. That means Craddock will get at least one more start on the mound, and maybe more if the Cougars make it to the state tournament.
In the statewide baseball statistics posted on the khsaa.org website, Craddock ranks among the leaders in innings pitched (70), earned run average (1.00), won-loss record (8-2) and strikeouts (104).