St. Henry continues state track dominance

LEXINGTON - The girls on the St. Henry track and field team enjoy being frontrunners. The way they figure it, if they can take the lead, stay in front, and get in the opposition's heads, the better their chances for victory.

That was the case Saturday at the Class A state meet at the University of Kentucky, where the Crusaders went in front after one event and stayed there for a wire-to-wire lead en route to their third championship in a row.

St. Henry won seven events and totaled 121.5 points for its eighth small-school title in 11 years, all under head coach Tony Harden. It was the Crusaders' ninth overall, the first coming in 1996. They won five straight from 2004-08.

A Northern Kentucky team has won the girls' Class A state crown every year but one since 1994, a winning stretch started by Dayton in 1995 and interrupted only in 2003 by Fort Knox.

"In Class A, you have to have depth if you want to win state because you have to be able to score 90 to 100 points," Harden said. "We had more wins this year than we had last year. We had four last year, but a good chunk of our girls had (personal-bests) today, so that really helped."

Newport Central Catholic generated four winners, totaling 97 points, and finished runner-up for the third year in a row, a stretch that follows three consecutive state crowns from 2009-11. Bishop Brossart (33 points) was fourth, well back of third-place Murray (61). Brossart won state from 1997-2002. St. Henry, NewCath and Bishop Brossart finished 1-2-3 last year.

"I love the competition. I love every year," said St. Henry double-winner Madison Culbertson, who pushed her state total to five firsts by dashing to victory in the 100- and 200-meter races.

In addition to earning a third team crown, Culbertson repeated in the 100 with a faster time, bettering last year's clocking of 12.54 seconds with a winning mark of 12.35. She ran legs on a pair of winning relay teams last year.

In early spring, she was iffy for state after having her spine dislodged in a car accident. She trained in pain and requires further procedures, but there was no stopping her Saturday. She won the 200 in 25.81 seconds and was third in the 400 in 59.27 while earning a total of 26 points.

Another St. Henry double-winner was Tina Felix, who took the 100 and 300 hurdles. Taylor Connett won the 800 meters. Celia Eltzroth won the triple jump. The team of Renee Svec, Lauren Cahill, Connett, and Abbey Epplen won the meet-opening 3,200 relay.

Winners for NewCath were Chandler Cain in the 400 meters, Abbie Lukens in the shot put, and the 800 and 1,600 relay teams. Cain ran a leg on the 800 relay and finished second in both the 100 and 200 meters. Local entries won 11 of 18 events.

Beechwood placed ninth with 20 points. Walton-Verona (17.5) was 11th. Ludlow (8) was the best of the rest in 25th

In the boys' meet, Bishop Brossart was the highest-placing local team in third place with 54 points, one point away from second. Fort Knox (70) won the team championship. Murray (55) was runner-up.

The Mustangs had one winner, the 3,200 relay team. Walton-Verona, with a win by the 1,600 relay team, placed seventh. Newport (29) was eighth and St. Henry (25) finished 10th. Villa Madonna (20) placed 12th with a pair of wins by Eric Baugh in the 800 and 1,600. He beat Brossart runner-up Michael Caldwell in both races.

Boys' team standings (top 10 and locals): 1. Fort Knox 70, 2. Murray 55, 3. Bishop Brossart 54, 4. Green County 53, 5. Danville 41, 6. Raceland 38, 7. Walton Verona 31, 8. Newport 29, 9. Louisville Collegiate 28, 10. St. Henry District 25, 12. Villa Madonna 20, 13. Newport Central Catholic 17, 16. Lloyd 11, 24. Covington Holy Cross 7, 26. Beechwood 6, 49. Dayton 1.

Event winners and local scorers: 3,200 relay-Bishop Brossart 8:17.17, 2. Newport Central Catholic 8:26.11, 3. Walton-Verona 8:27.76, 4. St. Henry 8:28.97; 110 hurdles-Connor Messer (Raceland) 15.32, 3. Jashawn Stanley (Newport) 15.78, 6. Devon Everett (Beechwood) 16.67, 7. Joe Gillcrist (St. Henry) 16.74, 8. Drew Berkemeyer (Bishop Brossart) 16.75; 100 meters-Khari Saunders (Fort Knox) 10.89; 800 relay-Murray 1:31.17, 2. Walton Verona 1:31.66, 8. Newport Central Catholic 1:35.48; 1,600-Eric Baugh (Villa Madonna) 4:22.82. 2. Michael Caldwell (Bishop Brossart) 4:28.02, 4. Tim Woeste (Covington Holy Cross), 4:35.91. 8. Josh Hannon (St. Henry) 4:41.53; 400 relay-Murray 43.68; 3. Newport 45.22; 400-Khari Saunders (Fort Knox) 49.57, 8. Scott Smith (Walton Verona); 300 hurdles-Anrique Ellery (Danville) 40.51, 2. Jacob Brett (Newport) 41.12, 4. Drew Berkemeyer (Bishop Brossart) 41.52, 5. Nick Huseman (NewCath) 41.62; 800-Eric Baugh (Villa Madonna) 1:58.12, 2. Michael Caldwell (Bishop Brossart) 1:59.86, 4. Robert Brockman (St. Henry) 2:01.75, 6. Grant Birindelli (Beechwood) 2:02.78, 7. Tim Woeste (Covington Holy Cross) 2:03.91, 8. Ryan Meyer (Dayton) 2:05.48; 200-Kasaun James (Fort Knox) 22.20, 3,200-Jonathan Taylor (Portland Christian) 9:36.70; 3. Hunter Trenary (Owen County) 9:45.62; 8. Nick Schuler (Bishop Brossart) 10:21.74; 1,600 relay-Walton Verona 3:28.51, 5. Bishop Brossart 3:36.67, 6. St. Henry District 3:37.81; shot put-Andrew Hedgespeth (Green County) 47-11.75; 3. Michael Slusher (Lloyd) 46-4.25. 8. Kevin Cawley (St. Henry) 45-5; discus-John Kolb (Brown) 148-6, 3. Dominick Joseph (Newport) 139-9, 7. Kevin Cawley (St. Henry) 126-6, 8. Andre Anderson (Newport) 124-11; long jump-Evan Jaggers (Green County) 21-6, 4. Drew Berkemeyer (Bishop Brossart) 20-5.75, 6. Clark Crook (Walton Verona) 19-9.25, 7. Scott Smith (Walton Verona) 19-9; triple jump-Evan Jaggers (Green County) 43-0.50, 3. Drew Berkemeyer (Bishop Brossart) 41-9.75, 4. Paul Wallenhorst (St. Henry) 41-2.75, 5. Gabe Roberts (Bishop Brossart) 40-10, 7. Jashawn Stanley (Newport) 40-6.75, 8. Scott Smith (Walton Verona) 39-8.50; high jump-Connor Messer (Raceland) 6-4; 6. Zack Riddle (Lloyd) 6-0; pole vault-Connor Messer (Raceland) 14-0, 5. Nick Hardt (NewCath) 11-0, 6. Dylan Withers (Lloyd ) 11-0, 7. Frank Cetrulo (Bishop Brossart) 11-0, 8. Nick Staub (St. Henry) 11-0.

Girls' team standings (top 10 and locals): 1. St. Henry District 121.5, 2. Newport Central Catholic 97, 3. Murray 61, 4. Bishop Brossart 33, 5. Model 31, 6. Louisville Holy Cross 26, 7. Somerset 24, 8. Williamsburg 22, 9. Beechwood 20, 10. Presentation 19, 11. Walton Verona 17.5, 25. Ludlow 8, 28. Dayton 6, 31. Covington Holy Cross 5, 34. Newport 3, 36. Lloyd 2.

Event winners and local scorers: 3,200 relay-St. Henry 9:53.50, 2 Bishop Brossart 10:09.97, 3, Newport Central Catholic 10:11.91, 4. Holy Cross 10:21.48, 6. Walton Verona 10:24.35, 8. Ludlow 10:30.63; 100 hurdles-Tina Felix (St. Henry) 15.68, 2. Celia Eltzroth (St. Henry) 15.71, 3. Nicole Goderwis (Bishop Brossart) 16.34; 100 meters-Madison Culbertson (St. Henry) 12.35, 2. Chandler Cain (NewCath) 12.39, 6. Caroline Schilling (Beechwood) 13.23; 800 relay-Newport Central Catholic 1:46.10, 3. St. Henry 1:49.89, 4. Beechwood 1:50.56; 1,600-Karly Gawarecki (Louisville Holy Cross) 5:18.86, 5. Taylor Connett (St. Henry) 5:30.70, 6. Sam Hentz (St. Henry) 5:35.54; 400 relay-Murray 51.55, 3. Beechwood 52.06, 4. Walton Verona 52.16; 400-Chandler Cain (NewCath) 57.32, 2. Nicole Goderwis (Bishop Brossart) 57.91, 3. Madison Culbertson (St. Henry) 59.27, 6. Shaunye Stanley (Newport) 1:00.74, 8. Olivia Schalk (NewCath) 1:02.56; 300 hurdles-Tina Felix (St. Henry) 46.63, 3. Ansley Davenport (NewCath) 48.23, 6. Alli Otten (NewCath) 49.10; 800-Taylor Connett (St. Henry) 2:19.61, 3. Megan Downard (Dayton) 2:26.12, 4. Madison Bertram (Bishop Brossart) 2:29.37, 5. Stephanie Lewis (NewCath) 2:29.48; 200-Madison Culbertson (St. Henry) 25.81, 2 Chandler Cain (NewCath) 25.83; 6. Caroline Schilling (Beechwood) 26.84; 3,200-Caroline Gosser (Presentation) 11:02.60, 7. Renee Svec (St. Henry) 12:15.03; 1,600 relay-Newport Central Catholic 4:10.71, 2. Walton Verona 4:16.45, 3. Bishop Brossart 4:16.73, 4. St. Henry 4:16.88; shot put-Abbie Lukens (NewCath) 38-2, 5. Brooke Kuetemeyer (NewCath) 34-9, 7. Katie Plageman (Lloyd) 32-4.75; discus-Raquell Verri (Mayfield) 116-10, 2. Brooke Kuetemeyer (NewCath) 115-8; 3. Abbie Lukens (NewCath) 113-9, 8. Kylie Howell (Ludlow) 89-3; long jump-Liz Marcinek (Burgin) 16-11, 4. Kathy Munzer (St. Henry) 16-2.25, 6. Celia Eltzroth (St. Henry) 15-7, 7. Sophie Colosimo (Beechwood) 15-6; triple jump-Celia Eltzroth (St. Henry) 36-2.75, 6. Olivia Schadler (NewCath) 33-9.75, 7. Kathy Munzer (St. Henry) 33-6.25, 8. Sophie Colosimo (Beechwood) 32-11.25; pole vault-Morgan McIntyre (Fairview) 12-0, 8. Kim Spritzky (St. Henry) 8-0.