St. Henry girls claim third straight region title

It was another big day at the Class A Region 4 track and field championships for St. Henry's girls as they captured their third straight regional title. On the boys side, it was Bishop Brossart that regained its place atop Northern Kentucky small schools with its first title since 2011.

After losing to St. Henry by two points last year, Brossart's boys bounced back and won the team championship, beating out second place Walton-Verona, 135-99. The Lady Crusaders battled all day with NewCath, but ended up edging out the Thoroughbreds, 174-142.

"It's obviously a good feeling," St. Henry coach Anthony Harden said. "NewCath is going to be tough. We got the better of them today, but they beat us at conference. State is a different format, so it will be interesting to see what happens next week. Nobody remembers us if we don't win state, so it's going to be another great battle."

Tina Felix and Kim Spritsky got it started for St. Henry on Tuesday night when they took the top two spots in the girls' pole vault. Felix won the event with a jump of 8-0, while Spritsky jumped 7-6. Felix also won the girls' 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.78, and the girls' 300 with a time of 47.43.

"Tina is only a sophomore, so we're really proud of what she did," Harden said. "When you score 174 points it's a team effort, but if anyone on the team had a standout performance tonight, it was her."

St. Henry's girls kept the momentum rolling with a big win in the 4x800 relay. The team of Renee Svec, Lauren Cahill, Taylor Connett, Abbey Epplen finished with a time of 10:13.40 to beat out Bishop Brossart (10:21.11), with NewCath (10:28.95) coming in third. Svec also won the 3200 with a time of 11:56.68.

Junior Samantha Hentz and senior Taylor Connett both qualified for state by finishing first and second respectively in the girls' 1600. Hentz finished with a time of 5:40.98, while Connett finished in 5:41.21. The pair dominated again in the 800, as Connett finished first with a time of 2:24.66, and Hentz second with a time of 2:27.93.

In one of the most intriguing races of the night, two familiar rivals – St. Henry's Madison Culbertson and NewCath's Chandler Cain - squared off in the girls' 100 meters. Cain won state in the event two years ago, but Culbertson overtook her in 2013. On Friday, Cain (12.57) edged out Culbertson (12.61) by the narrowest of margins. The rivals finished neck-and-neck again in the 200, with Cain pulling away for the win with a time of 25.77 and Culbertson finishing in 26.41. They will face-off again at state next week.

In the girls' 400-meter, Bishop Brossart junior Nicole Goderwis edged out both Cain and Culbertson with a time of 57.82.

Walton-Verona senior Jon Jones earned the title of Northern Kentucky's fastest small school male with a time of 11.81 in the boys' 100 meters, and then blew away the competition in the boys' 400 by posting a time of 51.72.

"I felt great during the 100," Jones said. "There was a strong headwind so the time wasn't what it should have been, but I felt good and had some good competition to push me."

Brossart senior Drew Berkemeyer had a huge day to help the Mustangs bring home the team title. He set the school record in the 300 hurdles (41.19) won the triple jump (42-02) and the long jump (20-05.25), and placed third in the 110 hurdles.

"It was awesome," Brossart coach Chris Davis said of Berkemeyer's performance. "That will go down as one of the top Brossart performances. Individually he scored 36 points. We couldn't have been there without him. He steps up when the pressure is on."

The Brossart 4x800 team of juniors Chris Loos and Ronny Smith, sophomore Adam Hartig, and freshman Cody Chism beat out Walton-Verona with a time of 8:36.68, a win that proved to be huge when the final points were tallied.

A pop-up thunderstorm with high winds and a driving rain wasn't enough to slow down Villa senior Eric Baugh, who defended his crown in the boys' 1600 with a time of 4:35.33. Baugh led from start to finish, only increasing his lead over second-place finisher Michael Caldwell from Brossart (4:41.71) as the race went.

The top two placers from each event qualified for the May 24 KHSAA Class A Track and Field Championships at the University of Kentucky Outdoor Track Complex in Lexington.

Final Girls Team Standings: St. Henry 174, NewCath 142, Brossart 76, Walton-Verona 39, Beechwood 38, Lloyd 28, Ludlow 21, Holy Cross 13, Dayton 12, Newport 9, Villa 3, Bellevue 2.

Final Boys Team Standings

Brossart 135, Walton-Verona 99, St. Henry 78, Lloyd 56, Newport 55, NewCath 40, Villa 38, Beechwood 24, Dayton 17, Ludlow 6, Holy Cross 6, Bellevue 4.

Girls' event top finishers:

800 Relay-St. Henry 10:13.40, Brossart 10:21.11; 100 Hurdles- Tina Felix (St. Henry) 15.78, Nicole Goderweis (Brossart) 15.87; 100-Chandler Cain (NewCath) 12.57, Madison Culbertson (St. Henry) 12.61; 200 Relay-NewCath 1:48.89, Beechwood 1:51.74; 1600-Samantha Hentz (St. Henry) 5:40.98, Taylor Connett (St. Henry) 5:41.21; 100 Relay-Brossart 53.12, Walton-Verona 53.28; 400-Nicole Goderwis (Brossart) 57.82, Chandler Cain (NewCath) 58.89; 300 Hurdles-Tina Felix (St. Henry) 47.43, Suzi Brown (Brossart) 49.71; 800-Taylor Connett (St. Henry) 2:24.66, Samantha Hentz (St. Henry) 2:27.93; 200-Chandler Cain (NewCath) 25.77, Madison Culbertson (St. Henry) 26.41; 3200-Renee Svec (St. Henry) 11:56.68, Kendall Schuler (Brossart) 11:57.99; Shot Put-Abbie Lukens (NewCath) 41-06.5, Brooke Kuetemeyer (NewCath) 34-03.5; Discus-Abbie Lukens (NewCath) 111-11, Brooke Kuetemeyer (NewCath) 106-07; Long Jump-Olivia Schadler (NewCath) 16-0, Sophie Colosimo 15-10; Triple Jump-Celia Eltzroth (St. Henry) 35-09.5, Olivia Schadler (NewCath) 34-00.5; High Jump- Paige Noble (St. Henry) 5-0, Amber Victor (Ludlow) 4-10; Pole Vault-Tina Felix (St. Henry) 8-0, Kim Spritsky (St. Henry) 7-6.

Boys' event top finishers:

800 Relay-Brossart 8:35.68, Walton-Verona 8:43.38; 110 Hurdles- Jashawn Stanley (Newport) 15.95, Devin Everett (Beechwood) 16.17; 100-Jon Jones (Walton-Verona) 11.81, Matt Grimme (Dayton) 12.00; 200 Relay-Walton-Verona 1:32.46, Brossart 1:36.39; 1600-Eric Baugh (Villa) 4:35.33, Michael Caldwell (Brossart) 4:41.71; 100 Relay-Walton-Verona 45.10, Newport 45.91; 400-Jon Jones (Walton-Verona) 51.72, Scott Smith (Walton-Verona) 52.24; 300 Hurdles-Drew Berkemeyer (Brossart) 41.19; Nick Huseman (NewCath) 42.11; 800-Eric Baugh (Villa) 1:57.78, Michael Caldwell (Brossart) 1:59.73; 200-Colin Crook (Walton-Verona) 23.94, Matt Grimme (Dayton) 24.00; Shot Put-Michael Slusher (Lloyd) 46-11.5, Kevin Cawley (St. Henry) 45-02.50 Discus-Dominick Joseph (Newport) 128-09, Michael Slusher (Lloyd) 128-03; Long Jump-Drew Berkemeyer (Brossart) 20-05.25, Clark Crook (Walton-Verona) 20-04; Triple Jump-Drew Berkemeyer (Brossart) 42-02, Paul Wallenhorst (St. Henry) 41-00.25; High Jump-Zack Riddle (Lloyd) 5-8, Jaquan Evans (Lloyd) 5-8; Pole Vault- Dylan Withers (Lloyd) 11-0, Frank Cetrulo (Brossart) 10-6.