By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
They received their diplomas at the Ryle High School graduation ceremony on Thursday, but Elizabeth Hamilton and HaliMae Laurino had a special project to finish before their senior year officially ended. They returned to the state tennis tournament in Lexington on Friday and won four doubles matches over two days to become their school’s first state champions in tennis.
The second-seeded Ryle duo defeated fifth-seeded Reagan Mangan and Willow Renton of North Oldham, 6-4, 6-3, in the championship match on Saturday afternoon.
Mangan and Renton, who are both junior high school students, knocked off top-seeded Anna Littlefield and Nejla Zukic of Louisville Manual in the semifinals on Saturday morning. But they weren’t able to pull off another upset in the championship final against Hamilton and Laurino, who finished the season with a perfect 22-0 record.
Hamilton and Laurino began playing together last year and made it to the state semifinals. They returned this year and won six matches in straight sets to become just the fourth girls doubles partners from Northern Kentucky to win a state title. The last ones to do it were Molly Molony and Jackie Vilines of Notre Dame in 2001.
In the high school baseball playoffs on Saturday, Beechwood edged Montgomery County, 4-3, in a sectional game and advances to the eight-team state tournament.
The Tigers got the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. Senior shortstop John Odom singled, stole second base and then scored on a single by senior center fielder Logan Castleman.
In the opening round of the state tournament, Beechwood (38-1) will play Breckinridge County (28-5) at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington.
At the Class 3A state high school track meet on Saturday, Notre Dame junior Brianna Seibert won the girls discus event with a throw of 123 feet, 6 inches. The meet’s second-place finishers included Simon Kenton senior Devin Webster in boys discus and Ryle in the boys 4×100 relay.
Two distance runners were the top local finishers in the Class 2A state meet that concluded on Saturday. Highlands sophomore Maggie Schroeder placed second in the girls 3200 run and Scott junior Will Sandlin placed second in the boys 1600 run.