By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Abby Jones became the first Newport Central Catholic girls’ cross country runner to win a regional championship meet last Saturday, and she’s not enrolled in high school yet.
The eighth-grader at St. Joseph School in Cold Spring won the Class A girls’ regional meet in 20:09, the second fastest time in any of the three girls’ regional races held Saturday on the 5,000 meter course at Sherman Elementary School in Grant County.
Four of the top 15 finishers in the Class A girls’ race were eighth-graders. Other teams also had young runners who did well. Conner placed third in the Class 3A girls’ regional meet with four seventh-graders among its top five finishers. In Class 2A, the top finisher for the Highlands girls’ team that placed first and the Highlands boys’ team that placed second were eighth-graders.
This is the first year that Jones has run cross country for NewCath. But she established herself as a top distance runner last spring by placing second in the 1600 and 3200 runs at the Class A girls’ state track meet as a seventh-grader.
Now she’s considered a top contender for the Class A girls’ state cross country meet to be held this Saturday at Kentucky Horse Park.
“I feel she has an excellent chance to win the state meet,” said NewCath coach Greg Enxel. “There is a group of three girls who are all capable of winning the race Saturday with Abby being one of them. The other two are the same ones who beat her in the 1600 and 3200 at the state track meet last spring, so it will be good to see them all go at it at the horse park.”
The girls who beat Jones in the state track meet were Selena Mattingly of Williamsburg in the 1600 and Kendall Hayes of Lexington Christian in the 3200. They both won regional cross county meets last Saturday, but Jones posted a faster qualifying time than anyone in the girls’ Class A state meet.
Coach Enxel said Jones competed against Mattingly and Hayes in one cross country meet during the regular season and their finish times were all within a span of 14 seconds. He said the state meet “has all the potential of coming down to a sprint at the finish.”
Two soccer players chosen for High School All-America Games
Soccer players Abby Zoeller of Simon Kenton and Adam Snow of Cooper have been invited to play in the High School All-America Games on Saturday, Dec. 3, at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, N.C.
Both of them will play on West teams in matches against East teams with the boys starting at 2 p.m. and the girls taking the field at 4 p.m.
According to the selection criteria on the High School All-America Games website, each year they select seniors from across the country who are team leaders, all-state selections and likely to receive college scholarship offers.
Zoeller, a Xavier University recruit, is the leading scorer on the Simon Kenton team that has reached the semifinal round of the girls’ state tournament for the first time. She now has 35 goals and 21 assists for the Pioneers, who have a 21-3-1 record.
Snow made a commitment with Evansville University in Indiana during his senior season at Cooper that ended with a loss in the first round of the 9th Region tournament. He had 23 goals and seven assists going into that final game.
Scott outside hitter voted 10th Region Player of the Year
Scott junior Kelly Franxman was named the 10th Region Player of the Year in volleyball and showed why she deserved the honor by leading the Eagles to their third consecutive regional title last week.
The outside hitter had 17 kills and 13 defensive digs in Scott’s 3-0 win over Campbell County in the 10th Region championship final. The win gives the Eagles’ a 31-8 record going into the state tournament that begins Friday at Valley High School in Louisville.
Franxman, a Xavier University recruit, has been a starter on the Scott varsity volleyball team for four years. She was recently diagnosed with appendicitis, but coach Andrea Sullivan said they’re trying to treat it with antibiotics and there’s a “50-50 chance” she’ll be able to play Friday.
Scott’s opponent in the opening round of the state tournament will be 4th Region champion Greenwood at 5 p.m. Friday. That match will be followed by Notre Dame vs. Louisville Mercy at 6:30 p.m.
Other first-team selections on the 10th Region coaches’ all-star team were junior setter Jordan Tapp and senior middle blocker Kimberly Davis of Scott along with middle hitter Grace Isaacs and outside hitter Kyndal Curry of Campbell County.