By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Students lined the hallway at Beechwood High School to greet Hailey Noah and Jensen Linder with applause and cheers when they returned from the state bowling tournament in Louisville on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Noah and Linder won the school’s first state bowling championship in the Unified Team division, where one bowler with an intellectual disability and a teammate compete together in an alternate frame format.
There were 14 teams in the Unified Team bracket on Thursday and the Beechwood duo won four matches to take the title. In the final frame of the championship match, Noah rolled three strikes from her wheelchair to clinch a 159-122 victory over the doubles team from Barren County.
Based on scores from the qualifying round, Beechwood was seeded No. 5 and Barren County was seeded No. 6 going into the single-elimination bracket.
Noah and Linder edged No. 4 seed Pendleton County, 128-123, in the quarterfinals and upset top-seeded Madison Central, 164-152, in the semifinals.
The boys and girls singles championships also took place on Thursday, but no local bowlers placed among the top four pin totals after the qualifying rounds to reach the stepladder bracket finals.
Ranelle Ulanday of Ryle placed fifth in girls singles and Jordan Cole of Highlands placed 10th in boys singles to lead the local contingent of state qualifiers.
The state bowling tournament will conclude Friday with team competition. Qualifying rounds will determine seeds for a 16-team single-elimination bracket in both boys and girls. Teams will then compete in single-elimination matches leading up to the championship finals.
The boys state qualifiers include Covington Catholic, Simon Kenton and Ryle. Local teams in the girls bracket will be Campbell County, Cooper, Simon Kenton and Conner.
CovCath football player picks up another prestigious award
Michael Mayer being named Mr. Kentucky Football by the Associated Press on Wednesday added another honor to the Covington Catholic senior’s impressive high school football resume.
Mayer, who signed a letter of intent with the University of Notre Dame in December, was also named Mr. Kentucky Football by the state coaches association and he received the Gatorade Kentucky Player of the Year Award. He also played in the Army All-America Game.
As a two-way starter on CovCath’s undefeated state championship football team, Mayer made 99 tackles as a linebacker and caught 50 passes for 970 yards and 15 touchdowns as a tight end. He led the team in all of those categories as well as scoring with 110 total points.
In the Associated Press all-state voting, Mayer was a first-team selection at both linebacker and wide receiver. He was recruited to play tight end by Notre Dame.
Highlands linebacker Brycen Huddleston was also a first-team selection on the all-state team. He’s an Eastern Michigan recruit who made more than 95 tackles during his senior season.
Walton-Verona senior defensive back Travis Brauer was named second-team all-state. The honorable mention list of vote-getters included quarterback Caleb Jacob and offensive lineman Lucas Jones of CovCath, defensive back Kaleal Davis of Newport, defensive lineman Vuk Sajlovic of Simon Kenton and running back Quincy Perrin of Scott.
NewCath will induct eight former athletes into hall of fame
Newport Central Catholic will induct eight former athletes into its hall of fame during ceremonies scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15 in the gymnasium.
The female inductees are Shannon Klei from the Class of 2007 and Kaela Freppon from the Class of 2009. They’ll be joined by six male inductees – Mike Lalley (1977), Rocky Pangallo (1980), Rob Sandfoss (1994), Grant Brannen (1998), Mark Krebs Jr. (2005) and Zack Kiernan (2007).
This year’s Team of Distinction will be the 2008 All “A” Classic state champion volleyball team. Vicki Fleissner will receive the Jim Connor Award. Ed Noe and Jack Snodgrass will receive the Fr. Hegenauer Community Service Award.
Cost of the event is $25 with all proceeds going to NewCath athletic programs. For more information, call the school office at (859) 292-0001.