By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter
The boys’ and girls’ golf teams at Ryle High School have a chance to make history next week. If they both win regional tournaments, it will be the first time that a Northern Kentucky high school has claimed both titles in the same season.
The Raiders swept Division I boys’ and girls’ team titles in the Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference Championships last Monday. It will be interesting to see if they can do it again in the regional tournaments that will have more teams involved.
The Region 6 girls’ tournament will be played Monday at Eagle Creek Country Club in Crittenden. The last time Ryle took the team title was 2002 while Notre Dame has won it 11 times in the last 12 years.
The Raiders established themselves as leading contenders by finishing on top in the girls’ conference championships by a six-shot margin over Notre Dame. The top scorers that day were Madison Smith of Cooper and Lauren Bracken of Notre Dame, followed by Ryle teammates Brooklynn DiPaolo, Caitlyn Richardson and Olivia DiPaolo.
The Region 7 boys’ tournament will be played Tuesday at Boone Links in Florence. Ryle has finished on top in the team standings the last three years and the Raiders appear ready do it again after winning the conference title by six strokes over Covington Catholic.
Ryle junior Ryan Clements, medalist in last year’s regional, will be tough to beat if he has a round like he did in the conference championships. He tied a course record with an 8-under 63 at Hickory Sticks. The other leading scorers that day were Tyler Chandler and Griffin Flesch from CovCath followed by Tim Alexander and Zach Catalano of Ryle.
Local teams will also compete in the Region 8 boys’ golf tournament at Laurel Oaks on Tuesday. In every regional, the two teams with the lowest final scores qualify for the state tournament. Golfers not on state qualifying teams can earn at-large berths by shooting low scores in the regional tournament.
NewCath soccer teams earn berths in state tournament
Newport Central Catholic soccer teams earned berths in the Kentucky All “A” Classic boys’ and girls’ state soccer tournaments to be played Saturday and Sunday at Capital View Park in Frankfort.
After winning a 9th Region championship, each of the NewCath teams won sectional a qualifying game to make it to the eight-team state tournament brackets.
The NewCath girls team will take a 10-1-1 record into their first-round match against Louisville Collegiate at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The winner will advance to a semifinal match at 6 p.m. Saturday with the championship match set for 11 a.m. Sunday.
The boys’ state tournament will begin Saturday afternoon with NewCath vs. Louisville Holy Cross as one of four first-round matches at 1 p.m. The winners will play in semifinal matches at 8 p.m. Saturday with the championship final set for 1 p.m. Sunday.
St. Henry volleyball team falls one win short of title
Louisville Presentation defeated St. Henry, 25-15, 25-22, in the championship final of the Kentucky All “A” Classic volleyball state tournament last Saturday in Louisville.
St. Henry won three matches in pool play and two more in the single-elimination bracket to make it to the final. But the Crusaders weren’t able to reclaim the small-school state championship that they held for three consecutive years from 2012-14.
“Runner-up was tough to swallow,” said St. Henry coach Maureen Kaiser. “But Presentation came to play and did well defensively which frustrated our hitters.”
The Crusaders named to the state all-tournament team were sophomore setter Bridget Bessler and sophomore outside hitter Maria Tobergte. In six matches, Bessler had 68 assists while Tobergte had 50 kills and 45 digs.