You can’t stop athletic news in Northern Kentucky, you can only hope to contain it. This week’s edition of the fastest 1,000 words in sports contains a quick look at coaching changes. It has fast happenings in Newport not to mention the lowdown on local triathlon news and other action.
NEWPORT LOOKING FOR A FOOTBALL COACH
Newport High School is looking for its fifth head football in nine years following the surprise resignation of Ryan Hahn. The school posted the position May 8. Hahn coached for two seasons. He recorded an 11-12 record while Newport Stadium became unavailable for home games due to upgrades.
Hahn had Newport heading in the right direction, continuing a rise beginning with coach Joe Wynn in 2018. The Wildcats followed up a 3-8 finish and went 8-4 in 2023. They won a playoff game for the first time since 2019, beating Holy Cross 54-14 with just 25 players. The Wildcats went 4-29 in three seasons previous to coach Wynn. That came inside an 11-year stretch when they went 36-87 with one winning season. They just completed a six-year stretch resulting in a 33-33 record.
The Wildcats boasted exciting players in 2023. Many should return, most in the passing game including the top receivers. They lose seven seniors. Newport expects the return of four new seniors. They include quarterback Kyle Lee who passed for 2,534 yards and 24 touchdowns and wingback Rodzion Thompson. He ran for 643 yards and seven TDs and caught 51 passes for 750 yards and seven more TDs. There could be 10 returning juniors, including Kendall Buck-Barber, team leader with seven interceptions. There could be four sophomores. They include receiver Amonte Lowe who had 37 catches, 541 yards and seven TDs, and linebacker Sean Hurry. He led the team in sacks.
The next football coach will be Newport’s 11th this century. Included are some well-known names such as Brian Weinrich, Nick Rice and John Schlarman. There’s also Mark Goetz and Roy Lucas Sr., brother of basketball hall of famer Jerry Lucas. After the legendary Lucas Sr. in 2000, Goetz and Rice coached the longest, four years each. Weinrich and Hahn came to Newport after coaching at Highlands.
BEECHWOOD LEGEND STEPPING DOWN
Barb Wentz, the longest-serving coach at Beechwood High School, is retiring after 30 seasons as girls tennis head coach. Wentz, a substitute teacher in the Beechwood School District, began her Beechwood tennis coaching career in 1995. The Tigers promptly won a region championship that year.
“We won it before Notre Dame took over,” said Wentz, a three-time local tennis coach of the year. “It was our only region championship. That was a long time ago and it’s been a lot of fun coaching at Beechwood. We did win four or five conference championships. I’ll always be a Tiger. I just think it’s time to stop coaching.”
Born and raised in Kentucky, Wentz attended Ludlow High School and went to college at University of Kentucky. She played several sports at Ludlow, including tennis, basketball, softball, bowling and powderpuff football.
NEWCATH STAR COMMITS TO NKU
Newport Central Catholic High School girls basketball player Caroline Eaglin committed to play basketball at Northern Kentucky University. Eaglin is planning to attend NKU after former Thomas More University women’s basketball coach Jeff Hans became the replacement for former Norse coach Camryn Volz. Coach Hans has experience coaching former NewCath basketball players including 2022 grad Rylee Turner at Thomas More. Hans extended an offer to Eaglin last August while at TMU. Now, she’s his first recruit at NKU.
Eaglin, a 5-foot-9 shooting guard, is highly athletic and can score at all three levels. A multi-sport standout, she’s an invitee to play on the Kentucky Junior Girls All-Star Team. Eaglin was honorable mention all-state as a sophomore and junior at NewCath. She was second-team all-9th Region and first-team all-Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference Division II in 2023-24. She led the 9th Region and finished eighth in Kentucky in scoring with 24.8 points per game as a sophomore. Eaglin led NewCath with 21.9 points and 7.2 rebounds as a junior. She finished 19th in Kentucky scoring and first in the region once again.
Eaglin has scored 1,807 points in her NewCath career. She’s on pace to pass Nicole Chiodi as the program’s all-time leader. Chiodi scored 2,124 points, then played at NKU. Turner is next with 2,003. Eaglin also played volleyball as an outside hitter and excels in track and field. In volleyball, she recorded a team-high 214 kills plus 198 digs and 83 assists as a sophomore. She didn’t play as a junior. In track and field, Eaglin posted the 12th-best girls triple-jump in NewCath history. She had a leap of 30 feet, 8.5 inches this year.
WILDCATS STANDOUT COMMITS
Newport senior basketball player DeShaun Jackson has committed to Mercyhurst University, which is transitioning to NCAA Division I. Jackson played on the two-time defending 9th Region champion and Newport’s first-ever All “A” Classic state champ last season. He was All “A” Classic state tournament MVP. Jackson was third on the Wildcats in scoring last season with 10.9 points per game and first with 6.1 rebounds. He shot 54.2% percent from the field and was a local all-conference Division II selection.
FORMER RAIDER HEADING WEST
Former Ryle basketball standout Brie Crittendon is transferring to Utah Tech University. She made 16 starts in 33 games as a redshirt sophomore at Eastern Kentucky. She averaged 5.9 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. Crittendon helped EKU to its first national postseason tournament since 2013 at the 2024 WNIT. Crittendon didn’t play in 2022-23. She got into 31 games with 23 starts as a true freshman at EKU. Crittendon won a state title at Ryle. She was Sweet 16 all-tournament in 2018 and 9th Region Tournament MVP in 2020. Crittendon was first-team all-state and 9th Region player of the year in 2021.
ONE-TIME PIONEER NOW AN ASSISTANT
JC Hawkins, a 2017 Simon Kenton grad, is an assistant basketball coach at Gannon University, an NCAA Division II program. Hawkins was a graduate assistant at Union University in Tennessee the past two seasons. He graduated from Union in 2021. Gannon head coach Easton Bazzoli was an assistant at Union before coming to Gannon last year. He’s been head coach since April. Bazzoli coached Hawkins at Union where Hawkins played from 2017-22. A 6-foot-6 forward at Union, Hawkins totaled 500 career points in college and 534 at Simon Kenton.
NKU NAMES FIRST TRIATHLON COACH
NKU announced Brooks Doughtie as its first men’s and women’s triathlon head coach. The triathlon combines swimming, cycling and running and Doughtie brings a wealth of knowledge in those areas. Doughtie has experience coaching for USA Triathlon at world championship events. He head-coached Team USA at the 2022 World Games. He was head coach for USA Triathlon’s summer college camp at the Olympic Training Center from 2017-19. Doughtie coached four USAT national champions in multi-sport events while with the national team.
Doughtie is a 2004 graduate of North Carolina State. He was a member of the men’s cycling team. Doughtie began his coaching career in 2008 mentoring triathlon and endurance athletes at his coaching business. He has certification as a USA swimming coach. Doughtie comes to NKU following two coaching seasons at Guilford College in NCAA Division III. He coached women’s swimming and triathlon. The triathlon team placed third at the NCAA East Regional this past season. Two Guilford athletes advanced to the NCAA national championships. The team placed tenth, the first top-10 finish in school history.
SPEED READS
The Kenton County School District Board of Education voted to replace the turf field at Scott High School’s stadium. The project starts May 22. The stadium closes until renovation is complete. The field should be ready for use by athletic teams by the start of the fall sports season. The original turf came in 2010. The stadium seats 1,800.
The Covington Catholic baseball team is No. 9 in this week’s Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Association Power 25. It’s the Colonels’ highest statewide ranking this season. CovCath (28-3) was No. 10 last week while cracking the top 10 for the first time. Ryle (24-9) is the area’s only other team in the Power 25 at No. 21.
Cooper junior wide receiver Isaiah Johnson and junior defensive back Isaac Brown received football offers from Thomas More. Johnson, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound athlete, was a 2023 all-area selection. He finished with 76 receptions for 1,372 yards and 21 TDs last season. Johnson has a 10.5-inch hand size allowing him to make one-handed grabs with body control. His size allows him to win consistently in single coverage while also being a reliable red zone target. Brown is a lockdown corner for the Jaguars, picking off four passes and collecting 24 tackles in 2023.
Former Highlands standout Drew Rom had Tommy John surgery on his left throwing arm. The procedure likely ended his season with the St. Louis Cardinals. Rom, 24, transferred to the 60-day injured list April 30 while dealing with tendonitis in his left arm. He shut down in March. Rom finished the spring with 7-plus innings in three appearances including one start, a 1-1 record and a 4.91 ERA.