By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Record-setting performances by local athletes in cross country, indoor track, football and girls basketball highlighted the 2025-26 year in Northern Kentucky high school sports.
Cooper graduate Paul Van Laningham put his name in the statewide record books twice. His winning time of 15:01.12 in the Class 3A boys state cross country meet broke the state record he posted the previous season. At the Class 3A indoor state track meet, he set a new statewide record in the boys 3,200-meter run (9:09.48).
Other local athletes who set statewide records in indoor track events were Brossart graduate Ava Walters in girls shot put (42-10.25) and Simon Kenton graduate Alexis Howard in girls long jump (18-7.25).
Another member of Cooper’s graduating class was Cam O’Hara, the starting quarterback on the Jaguars’ football team. He ended his four-year varsity career with Northern Kentucky records in passing yards (11,227) and passing touchdowns (146).
The only local teams that won KHSAA state championship trophies were Beechwood in Class 1A boys indoor and outdoor track and Covington Catholic in Class 2A boys indoor and outdoor track.
The All “A” Classic state champions included Beechwood in girls volleyball and Brossart in girls soccer. Holy Cross became the first girls basketball team to win four All “A” Classic state titles in that sport.
There were 13 state runner-up trophies bestowed upon local teams during the fall, winter and spring seasons. Six of them were in the unclassified KHSAA-sanctioned sports of boys soccer, girls soccer, girls volleyball, girls swimming, boys bowling and boys tennis. Louisville teams won state titles in each of those sports.
Here’s a look back at some of the local teams and athletes who made headlines during the recently completed 2025-26 school year.
FALL SPORTS
In All “A” Classic state tournaments during the fall, Beechwood won its first-ever title in volleyball and Brossart was girls soccer champion for the second straight year. A few weeks later, the post-season state volleyball tournament field included region champions Notre Dame and Scott.
Once again, Notre Dame and Louisville Assumption met in the state championship match. In the fourth set, Notre Dame was one point away from a victory, but Assumption tied the score and came out on top. In the fifth-set tiebreaker, Assumption won, 17-15, to take the state title for the third straight year.
Ryle swept the Region 7 boys and girls golf tournaments with team leaders Paxton McKelvey and Anika Okuda taking medalist honors. The Raiders placed sixth among nine teams in the boys state tournament finals.
At the state cross country meet, Cooper senior Paul Van Laningham became the first Northern Kentucky runner to win back-to-back Class 3A boys state titles with a record-setting finish.
The other repeat winner that day was Beechwood senior Lily Parke in Class 1A girls. CovCath senior Joe Mayer finished first in the Class 2A boys race.
Highlands girls and CovCath boys made it to the KHSAA state soccer finals, but their seasons ended with losses to top-ranked opponents. Louisville St. Xavier defeated CovCath, 2-0, and Louisville Sacred Heart blanked Highlands, 3-0.
In state championship matches, CovCath now had a 1-5 record and Highlands is 2-4.
Fall sports ended with football playoffs in six classes, but no local teams made it to the state finals. Beechwood, Lloyd and Ryle all lost in the semifinals to close out the local season. Ryle senior Jacob Savage received the Paul Horning Award that’s given to Kentucky’s top high school player each year.
WINTER SPORTS
Simon Kenton’s perfect record against in-state opponents in girls basketball ended in the state tournament semifinals with a 60-44 loss to top-ranked George Rogers Clark. It was the first time the Pioneers made it to the girls final four and they finished with a best-ever 33-3 record.
That put the wraps on an entertaining season in Northern Kentucky girls basketball that started with Holy Cross winning an unprecedented fourth All “A” Classic state title amid a snow storm that delayed the tournament. In the post-season playoffs, Notre Dame edged Holy Cross, 40-39, in overtime to win its first 9th Region championship since 2013.
In boys basketball, CovCath won three 9th Region tournament games by double-digit margins to take the title for the first time since 2022.
The Colonels lost a first-round showdown with co-favorite Louisville St. Xavier in the state tournament, but senior guard Athens McGillis surpassed the 2,000 mark in total points.
Walton-Verona wrestler Emma Moore claimed her third straight state title with a win in the 107-pound weight class final at the girls state tournament. The other Northern Kentucky weight class champions were Cooper freshman Aaliyah Svec (138) and Highlands junior Emma Hood (152).
Local wrestlers had a 4-1 record in boys state championship matches. The lone winner was Conner senior Clayton Badida with a 2-1 decision in the 126-pound final. His grandfather, Wayne, started the Conner wrestling program in the 1970s.
Louisville Trinity defeated CovCath in the championship match of the boys state bowling tournament for the second straight year, but it took five games to decide the title this time.
At the indoor track state championship meet, statewide record-setters Alexis Howard, Paul Van Laningham and Ava Walters shared the spotlight with local athletes who set seven records in their respective classes.
One of them was Beechwood junior Tyler Fryman, an all-state football and baseball player who posted Class 1A boys records in the 200 and 400 dashes and was on the Tigers’ record-setting 4×200 relay team.
Notre Dame placed second in the girls swimming and diving state championship meet with sophomore Clare Herfel winning the 500-yard freestyle event for the second consecutive year. Highlands had the state meet’s highest combined boys and girls team score.
Louisville Trinity defeated CovCath in the championship match of the boys state bowling tournament for the second straight year, but it took five games to decide the title this time.
SPRING SPORTS
Four seniors who started playing on the Highlands varsity softball team when they were in the seventh and eighth grades led the Bluebirds to their best season ever. They were the first Northern Kentucky team to make it to the semifinals in a single-elimination state tournament and finished with a best-ever 35 wins.
One of the seniors was pitcher Kaitlyn Dixon, who set team career records in pitching victories and total strikeouts. Senior catcher Payton Brown graduated as the Bluebirds’ all-time leader in total hits, doubles, triples and home runs.
University Heights defeated Beechwood, 4-2, in the All “A” Classic baseball state championship game in late April. The Tigers shook off that early setback and went on to win the 9th Region post-season tournament and got to the quarterfinals in the state tournament.
Campbell County took the 10th Region baseball title and also went 1-1 in state tournament games. Two of the state’s .500 hitters were Beechwood junior Tyler Fryman and Campbell County senior Tyler Schumacher.
The Johnny Bench Award for the state’s best catcher went to Camden Tiemeier of Campbell County.
CovCath’s three-year reign as state champion in boys team tennis came to an end when the Colonels lost to Louisville St. Xavier, 3-0, in the state tournament final. The Colonels also had a state finalist in boys singles, but junior Blake Hussey lost, 6-4, 6-4, to a senior from Kentucky Country Day in Louisville.
There were semi-state qualifiers in singles and doubles this year. Hussey and CovCath doubles partners Will Tribble and Jacob Kramer advanced to the boys season finale. The only Northern Kentucky qualifiers in the girls state tournament were Ryle doubles partners Niveditha Selvaraju and Avery Love.
After winning three Region 6 tournament matches in straight sets by an average margin of 7.6 points, the Ryle boys volleyball team made it to state quarterfinals before losing to Louisville St. Xavier, an opponent ranked among the top 10 in the nation.
Beechwood won the Class 1A boys outdoor state track meet and the girls team placed second. The boys top performer was senior sprinter Brody Aylor, who won the 200, placed third in the 100 and was anchor runner on the winning 4×100 relay team.
The Tigers’ leading scorer in the girls outdoor state meet was junior Caroline Nordman, who finished first in the 100 and 400 and second in the 200. Her senior teammate Lily Parke capped her successful high school career with victories in the 800 and 1600 for the third consecutive year.
Parke graduated with a combined total of 14 gold medals in state track and cross country meets.
Brossart senior Ava Walters also ended her career on a high note by winning the Class 1A girls shot put and discus for the second consecutive year. She set a Class 1A outdoor state record in the discus during her grand finale.
CovCath scored in 14 of 18 events and left the Class 2A boys state track meet with the championship trophy for the third straight year. One of the event winners was junior Braden Franxman, who set a Class 2A state record in the 3,200 run. His senior teammate, Joe Mayer, came in second to give the Colonels 18 points in that one event.
Simon Kenton senior Alexis Howard won the long jump and triple jump at the Class 3A girls state meet. Her distances in both events were the best ones posted in all three classes during the season finale.
One of the gold medal winners in the Class 3A boys state meet was Cooper senior Paul Van Laningham in the 1600-meter run. He also placed second in the 3200 and 800 runs to score a total of 26 points for the Jaguars, who placed a best-ever third in the team standings.
According to statistics posted on the khsaa.org website, Ryle sprinters Bredyn Elder, Nathan Verax, Cruze Sauley and Parker Wilson became the first Northern Kentucky foursome to win the Class 3A boys 4×200 relay since it was added to the state meet events schedule in 2000.