Lloyd dominates home track meet

Now in his fourth season as Lloyd track and field coach, Greg Enxel has a good thing going on in Erlanger.

With the addition of former Lloyd great Joey Landrum as boys' distance coach together with strong leadership from senior Dylan Withers, and with a group of emerging underclassmen, the Juggernauts are living up to their name, and the girls are right there with them.

They were forces to be reckoned with Saturday at their home meet. The Juggernauts won the boys' competition at the Lloyd Invitational for the first time since 2008. The girls nearly made it a sweep, finishing second to powerful Notre Dame Academy.

"The boys won. Wow," said Lloyd girls' standout Sarah Duncan, who saw it happen for the first time in her six years with the team. "That's great."

Duncan, who had a pair of firsts in the 3,200-meter race and as part of the winning 1,600 relay team, was hoping for a girls win, too. So was Lloyd thrower Katie Plageman, who won the shot put and discus. But that didn't put a damper on the joy for the boys, who've been building up to this moment since Enxel joined them.

"It's awesome," said Withers, who had three firsts and a second-place finish while accruing 38 of Lloyd's 136 points. They beat runner-up Scott (99.5) by 36.5. "The big moment was when I won my last race on my home track at our home meet on senior day. And we almost got a sweep with the girls. So, absolutely, it's a good day for Lloyd."

It was a very good day for Villa Madonna junior Eric Baugh, who went 4-for-4 and scored 40 points by winning the 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters.

Withers nearly duplicated the feat by taking the pole vault and running anchor legs on the victorious 400 and 800 relay teams. He finished second to Scott's Matt Johnson in the 100 dash. Johnson also won the 200.

With additional firsts by Lloyd high-jumper Jaquan Evans and Michael Slusher in the shot put, runner-up finishes by Zach Riddle in the high jump and triple jump, and a pair of third-place efforts from Mike Fifer in the triple jump and 100 meters, the Juggernauts were able to score points in every phase.

Durham in the long jump, Amadou Yero in the 300 hurdles and Ryan Goeke in the shot put, also had third-place finishes for Lloyd. Durham, Yero and Charles Vance joined Withers on the winning 800 relay unit. Durham, Withers, Fifer and Vance won the 400 relay.

Coach Enxel has had the seniors all four years, but it's youngsters such as Durham that get him excited. "It's been great to watch those seniors get better," the coach said. "And we've got outstanding young talent. The seniors are helping the kids get better and more mature, and getting them excited about the future."

Notre Dame received individual wins from Savannah Hemmer in the 100 and 400 meters, Carly Wolnitzek in the 800, Emma Jacobs in the 100 and 300 hurdles, and Audrey Field in the high jump. The winning 400 relay team included Hemmer, Savannah Woods, Lauren Lawler and Gina Erardi.