By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Northern Kentucky high school teams claimed eight state championships during the 2022-23 academic year and Beechwood led the way with three state titles.
For the third straight year, Beechwood’s football team won a close game in the Class 2A state final with a 14-13 victory over previously undefeated Mayfield. The Fort Mitchell school’s other two state championships came in Class 1A girls cross country and Class 1A girls track.
The local schools that won state titles in unclassified sports were Notre Dame in volleyball and Covington Catholic in boys tennis. The other three schools that celebrated state championships were St. Henry and Conner in boys cross country and Walton-Verona in boys track.
Here’s a look at the local teams, athletes and coaches who made headlines during the school year.
FALL SPORTS
The parade of state champions began in late October when local teams carried off six of the 12 championship trophies at the state cross country meet.
After Scott junior Maddie Strong won the Class 2A girls race, three teams and two runners claimed first-place trophies in the Class 1A and Class 3A meets.
The other winning runners were St. Henry senior Dixon Ryan in Class 1A boys and Covington Catholic sophomore Will Sheets became the first local runner to finish first in the Class 3A boys race since 1990.
Cross country teams that won championship trophies were Beechwood in Class 1A girls, St. Henry in Class 1A boys and Conner in Class 3A boys. It was the first state title for the Beechwood girls. The St. Henry and Conner boys teams repeated as state champions.
A few days later, Notre Dame’s volleyball team won a tense five-set match against top-ranked Louisville Assumption in the state semifinals and then defeated Lexington Dunbar in three sets to claim the program’s second state championship in three years and 10th overall.
Notre Dame senior Sydney Nolan received the state tournament’s most valuable player award. In her team’s three victories, she had 53 kills in 102 attempts with five errors for a .471 hitting percentage.
“They’re not supposed to be easy,” Beechwood football coach Noel Rash said after his team’s one-point victory over Mayfield in the Class 2A state championship game. He was speaking from experience since the Tigers won the previous two state finals by scores of 23-21 and 24-23
Late in the fourth quarter, Mayfield recovered a fumble near midfield. Six plays later, the Cardinals scored a touchdown, but the extra-point kick to tie the game glanced off the left goal post upright.
Two sophomores accounted for most of Beechwood’s 271 yards in the championship game. Chase Flaherty rushed for 115 yards and scored the touchdown that put his team ahead early in the fourth quarter. Clay Hayden completed 7 of 16 passes for 116 yards and one touchdown.
In February, Rash announced he was leaving the Beechwood football program after 23 seasons. During his 17 years as head coach, the Tigers made it to the state finals nine times and won eight state championships. The team’s overall record under Rash was 193-46 for an 80.7 winning percentage.
Cooper placed third in the girls state golf tournament and Ryle reached the semifinals in boys soccer. Cooper golfer Reagan Ramage tied for fifth on the state leaderboard with a 6-over 150 in 36 holes.
In girls soccer, Lexington Catholic defeated Highlands, 5-0, in the first round and knocked off Brossart, 3-0, in second round of the state playoffs. This was only the second time in the last six years that a local girls team did not make it to the girls state soccer finals.
WINTER SPORTS
In January, Holy Cross had a chance to become the first high school to win Kentucky All “A” Classic boys and girls state championships in the same year.
Both title games came down to the wire. The Holy Cross girls edged Bardstown Bethlehem, 65-61, but the boys came up short in a 65-62 loss to Evangel Christian, a team with four players 6-foot-10 or taller that dominated the boards.
The Indians did sweep the tournament’s most valuable player awards. Julia Hunt was the girls recipient after getting 21 points and 19 rebounds in their championship game. The boys award went to Jacob Meyer, who scored 49 points in their title game and set an All “A” Classic state tournament record with 157 points in four games.
In February, Notre Dame senior Lainy Kruger ended her impressive high school swimming career with first-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke at the state championship meet. She was a three-time state champion in the breaststroke and two-time state champion in the freestyle.
At the state wrestling finals, Simon Kenton freshman Braden Blevins and Ryle sophomore Landen Evans won the first two matches and Walton-Verona sophomore TJ Meyer lost by one point.
Three local teams that won exciting region championship games in the post-season basketball playoffs lost in the first round of the “Sweet 16” state tournaments in March.
Newport won its first 9th Region boys basketball title since 2010. In the title game, a basket by junior guard Jabari Covington in the final seconds gave the Wildcats a 44-42 win over Cooper.
Cooper won a rematch with Ryle, 48-42, in the 9th Region girls final and Simon Kenton defeated Grant County, 66-55, in the 8th Region girls title game. Simon Kenton coach Brenden Stowers took charge of the program this year after his father retired.
Two 9th Region boys basketball records were broken during the 2022-23 season. Meyer set a new career scoring record with 3,280 points and Highlands senior guard Will Herald now holds the region record in career 3-point goals with 343.
Dave Faust became the 9th Region’s most successful boys basketball coach this season with 465 career wins in 31 years at St. Henry. He surpassed the previous record of 460 wins that was held by Kenney Shields since 1989.
SPRING SPORTS
In the final match of the boys state tennis tournament, Covington Catholic sophomores Kalei Christensen and Alex Yeager made a dramatic comeback to win the doubles title in a tiebreaker set.
They became Northern Kentucky’s first state champions in boys doubles since 1949 and gave the Colonels the points they need to finish on top in the team standings for the first time in program history.
A few days before that historic victory, Walton-Verona and Beechwood won Class 1A state championships in boys and girls track. In those two state meets, local athletes won gold medals in five relay events and five individual events.
Walton-Verona’s boys won the school’s first state title in track by a slim 64-56 margin. Beechwood’s girls outscored two-time defending champion Brossart, 100-68, to take the girls state title for the second time.
The Class 1A state champions in individual events were Walton-Verona junior Jackson Smith (boys 100 and 200 dashes), Walton-Verona senior Grady Shay (boys 110 hurdles), St. Henry senior Al Bessler (boys triple jump) and Brossart senior Chloe Hein (girls long jump).
The only local state champion in Class 2A track was the Highlands boys 4×800 relay team. In the Class 3A state meet, Ryle junior Viktoriya Emalianova won the girls shot put and Covington Catholic sophomore Will Sheets claimed gold medals in the boys 3200 run and as a member of the CovCath 4×800 relay team that opened the boys meet with a win.
Sheets’ winning time of 9:16.81 in the 3200 run was the fastest recorded in any of the three classes at this year’s state meet. He added that gold medal to the one he received for winning the Class 3A boys cross country meet in October.
Beechwood’s baseball team won a couple of close games in the 9th Region tournament to take home the championship trophy for the fourth consecutive year, but the Tigers lost in the opening round of the state tournament.
It was the same story for the Highlands softball team. After winning a pair of extra-inning games in the 9th Region tournament, the Bluebirds’ season ended in the first round of the state tournament.