By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The Covington Catholic boys track team scored 12 or more points in nine individual events during the Class 2A, Region 4 meet at Bourbon County and carried off the championship trophy for the second consecutive year.
The Colonels had two of the top six finishers in each of the nine events to account for 118 of their 177 total points. Bourbon County placed second with 113 points, followed by Lloyd with 70.
The event winners for CovCath were junior Joe Mayer in the 1600 run, junior Jackson Schmid in the 400 run, senior Will Sheets in the 800 and 3200 runs, junior Quentin Jones in the shot put and discus and sophomore Paul Kolinski in the pole vault.
The Colonels did not win any of the four relay races, but they netted 36 points with two second-place and two third-place finishes in those events. Senior Jack Fleck was on three of the four relay teams.
Lloyd won five events at the region meet with senior sprinter Josiah Lockridge leading the way for the Juggernauts.
Lockridge, who signed with Northern Kentucky University earlier this week, finished first in the 100 and 200 dashes and was the anchor runner on winning 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams. Another member of Lloyd’s 4×200 relay team was junior AJ Curry, who won the high jump.
In the Class 2A girls region meet, the top scorer from Northern Kentucky was Holmes sophomore Daryhia Cole, who placed second in the shot put and fourth in the discus.
The Bulldogs also placed third in the 4×100 relay with a foursome that included one eighth-grader and three seventh-graders.
Complete results for the Class 2A, Region 4 meet are on the khsaa.org website.
Baseball, softball teams prepare for region games
One of the opening round games in the 9th Region baseball tournament on Monday will be a rematch between the two teams that faced off in last year’s championship final.
Defending champion Ryle will take on Dixie Heights at 1 p.m. Monday at Thomas More Stadium in Florence, where the Raiders pulled out a 2-1 win in last year’s title game.
The winning pitcher in that game graduated, but the Raiders have another ace on the mound. Dylan McIntyre is a senior right-hander with a 7-0 record, 0.70 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 50 innings.
Highlands and Covington Catholic will meet in the first region game at 10 a.m. Monday. CovCath defeated Highlands, 12-9, in last year’s playoffs, but the Bluebirds have a 2-0 record against the Colonels this season.
In the two earlier games, CovCath did not have senior shortstop Jackson Reardon in the lineup due to injury. Since returning to action, he is batting .538 (7 of 13) with three home runs and six RBI in four games.
The other first-round games on Monday are Beechwood vs. St. Henry at 4 p.m. and Conner vs. Newport Central Catholic at 7 p.m.
The 9th Region softball tournament will begin on Sunday with four games at different sites. The matchups are Newport Central Catholic at Ryle, Holy Cross at Dixie Heights, Lloyd at defending champion Highlands and Conner at Notre Dame.
Brossart girls basketball coach leaving program
Brossart is looking for a new girls head basketball coach after the resignation of Steve Brown, who was in charge of the program for the last three seasons.
Brown said he was stepping down to take a coaching job on the college level, but the team was not revealed. He’s making the career move after his Brossart teams compiled a 66-29 record over the last three seasons.
The Mustangs posted a 26-8 record last season. They won the 10th Region All “A” Classic and made it to the semifinals of the small-school state tournament. In the post-season playoffs, Brossart won the 37th District and made it to the region final.
Earlier this month, Ben Nevels stepped down as Holmes head football coach after 12 seasons. The Bulldogs were winless the last two seasons and decided not to compete in post-season playoffs the next two years to rebuild the program.
Holmes assistant coach Jon Hopkins was named interim head coach for the 2025 season.