By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Campbell County senior Kaylee Hitt will be one of the seasoned veterans competing in the state high school bowling tournament that begins Thursday at Executive Strike and Spare in Louisville.
This is the fourth time in five years that Hitt has qualified for the girls singles tournament. Two years ago, she made it to the championship final and lost by just two pins. Last year, she placed 20th in the field of 32 bowlers.
Hitt won her third Region 5 singles title last week to earn a return a trip to the state tournament. After posting the highest pin total in the qualifying rounds to earn the top seed, she defeated Alison McDonald of Brossart in the finals of the stepladder bracket.
In the Region 5 boys singles final, top-seed John Ivey of Simon Kenton defeated Gunner Gabbard of Highlands. Simon Kenton also won the boys regional team title and Campbell County was the girls champion.
The Region 6 boys and girls singles champions were Ian Ward of Covington Catholic and Ranelle Ulanday of Cooper. Both of their teams also claimed regional first-place trophies.
The team champion and runner-up in each region qualify for the state tournament along with the top four finishers in regionals singles competition.
There’s also a unified team bracket, where one bowler with intellectual or physical disabilities and a partner without disabilities compete in a doubles format. Teams from Highlands and Beechwood won region titles to qualify for the state tournament in that division.
The state tournament at Executive Strike and Spare in Louisville begins Thursday with unified team competition at 8:30 a.m. followed by boys and girls singles competition at 11:30 a.m. After two qualifying rounds in singles, the top four bowlers based on total pin counts will compete in a stepladder bracket to determine the boys and girls state champions.
Last year’s state champions were seniors Jonathan Cummins of Simon Kenton and Mirena Combs of Newport. It was the first time that two Northern Kentucky bowlers swept the state titles.
In the state team competition on Friday, qualifying rounds will determine seeds for a 16-team single-elimination bracket in both boys and girls. Teams will then compete in matches leading up to the championship finals. Girls teams will begin at 8:15 a.m. with the boys teams starting at 2 p.m.
Here is a complete rundown of the Region 5 and Region 6 state qualifiers:
BOYS TEAMS
Region 5 – Simon Kenton, Pendleton County
Region 6 – Covington Catholic and Ryle
GIRLS TEAMS
Region 5 – Campbell County, Simon Kenton.
Region 6 – Cooper and Conner.
BOYS SINGLES
Region 5 – John Ivey (Simon Kenton), Gunner Gabbard (Highlands), Koby Brewer (Pendleton County), Jordan Cole (Highlands).
Region 6 – Ian Ward (CovCath), Rieley Ulanday (Cooper), Zach Owen (St. Henry), Jared Gallagher (CovCath).
GIRLS SINGLES
Region 5 – Kaylee Hitt (Campbell County), Alison McDonald (Brossart), Jadyn Taylor (Campbell County), Rachel Holaday (Dayton).
Region 6 – Ranelle Ulanday (Cooper), Ashley Bruce (Beechwood), Jade Combs (Cooper), Breana Brandt (Cooper).
UNIFIED TEAMS
Region 5 – Highlands (Luke Laskey, Perry Daniel), Pendleton County (Sam Bryant, Leroy Bryan).
Region 6 – Beechwood (Hailey Noah, Jensen Linder), Dixie Heights (Caitlin Reed, Rylee Phelps).