By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
One of the winning teams in the Class 3A Region 5 track and field meet Monday relied on sprinters and the other had a premier distance runner who led them to victory in tight scoring battles at Scott High School.
Campbell County girls netted 42 points in four sprint events and ended up winning their first region championship since 2012 by a slim 104-95 margin over Dixie Heights. The Camels’ team leader was junior Mariah Burton, who won gold medals in two individual and two relay events.
Cooper took the boys team title by 11 points, 128-117, over Ryle. Senior distance runner Paul Van Laningham finished first in the 800, 1600 and 3200 runs and 4×800 relay for the Jaguars. The team also picked up 50 points in field events with three first-place finishers.
Burton won the girls 200 and 400 dashes and she was the lead runner on the winning 4×200 and 4×400 relay teams for Campbell County.
The other 4×400 relay runners were Allison McKee, Meryem Gonulates and Lila Dunlevy. The 4×200 team included Hailey Romes, Kaylie Scales and Kendall Wallace.
Simon Kenton senior Alexis Howard was the only triple-winner in solo events at the girls region meet. She placed first in the 100 dash, long jump and triple jump to account for 30 points.
Cooper opened the boys meet with a victory in the 4×800 relay. The all-senior winning foursome included Aaron Foote, Ryan Richards, Grayson Parker and Van Laningham, who went on to win three individual gold medals.
The Jaguars who won field events were junior Carson Clark in the shot put, senior Julienne Knuckles in the high jump and junior Corey Freihofer in the pole vault.
The top two finishers in the girls shot put were juniors Ava Dunn of Cooper and Ari Carter of Dixie Heights. In the discus, Carter won and Dunn placed second.
Local teams will compete in the Class 1A Region 4 meet at Brossart on Friday and the Class 2A Region 4 meet at Covington Catholic on Saturday. The top two finishers in every region event qualify for state championship meets May 21-23 at the University of Kentucky. At-large qualifiers will be added based on times and distances in region events.
Tennis player could join brothers on champions list
Covington Catholic junior Blake Hussey needs one more win to join his two older brothers on the list of Region 9 boys singles champions.
Hussey will face Villa Madonna senior Shayaan Ahmad in the region final at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at CovCath. The first two Hussey brothers to win region singles titles were Austin and Brady.
Two years ago, Blake lost to his brother Brady in the region singles final. Last year, Blake played doubles, winning region and state championships with partner Kalei Christensen.
In region semifinal matches on Tuesday, Blake defeated Ryle senior Navneeth Selvaraju, 6-1, 6-1, and Ahmad got past Highlands sophomore Dylan Fortner, 6-3, 6-4. This is the second year that Ahmad has reached the final.
In the doubles semifinals on Tuesday, top seeds Will Tribble and Jacob Kramer of CovCath defeated Lukesh Muzumdar and Daniel Beasey of Highlands, 6-1, 6-3, and Neel Reddy and Andrew Dunaway of Beechwood defeated Andrew Kramer and Drew Gray of Villa Madonna, 6-2, 6-1.
The winners will meet in the championship match on Wednesday after the singles final is finished. Last year, Tribble and Kramer lost to CovCath teammates in the doubles final. Reedy and Dunaway are a new entry in the bracket this year.
CovCath has swept Region 9 singles and doubles titles five consecutive years. Their string of doubles champions dates back to 2007.
Holmes basketball coach hopes to turn program around
Holmes has hired former player Jaynice Stovall as head coach of the girls basketball team that has not had a winning season over the last eight years.
A 2017 graduate, Stovall gained experience coaching on lower levels and being a Holmes assistant. “She brings a passion for the game, strong leadership, and a player-first approach centered on discipline, development, and building a championship culture,” according to an announcement posted online by the high school.
Stovall played point guard on three consecutive 9th Region championship teams at Holmes. Her career totals included 1,371 points, 404 rebounds, 384 assists, and 420 steals. She then played for Vincennes University, where she led the National Junior College Athletic Association in steals one season.
The Holmes girls team finished 9-13 last season after playing only two varsity games in 2024-25 due to a lack of players. The Bulldogs’ best record over the last eight years was 10-18 in 2022. They were 0-7 in district playoff games, including two forfeits.
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