To be the winning team, fan votes play a heavy role, along with consideration from our sports team here at LINK.
Nominations are reader-submitted or recommended by our sports team. Our Team of the Week program honors all local sports at all levels, whether it’s youth or adult-oriented recreation, high school or college, professional or amateur.
Note: This will be our last Team of the Week until August.
This week’s nominated teams are listed below with some information provided by the submitter or LINK nky staff. The poll where you can vote follows at the end of the article.
Voting is open until Sunday at 11:59 p.m.
BEECHWOOD GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD
The Beechwood girls scored 100 points in the Class A KHSAA state track-and-field meet on their way to the second title in program history.
A number of the runners that helped the Beechwood girls win their first state championship in cross country in the fall helped the Tigers take the top spot on Thursday.
The Beechwood girls dominated in the relays, distance and sprinting events, combining for 96 points in those events. Beechwood placed first or second in all four relay events.
The Tigers put the punctuation mark on the meet winning the 4×400 meter relay in 4:11.10. Juniors Maddy Brauch, Maryah Counts, freshman Lily Parke and junior Catie Hazzard ran the legs. Beechwood also won the 4×200 relay in 1:45.81. Brauch and Counts ran legs in that one along with sophomore Lana Holt and junior Katie Kocan.
The Tigers had two place in a number of the distance and sprinting events. Parke and Charli Gerrein took runner-up and fifth in 5:18.28 and 5:27.14, respectively, in the 1,600. Parke also finished third in the 800 in 2:22.17. Beechwood captured 14 points in the 3,200. Freshman Nora Wilke finished second in 12:02.11. Sophomore Isabel Ginter followed her taking third in 12:04.57.
The Tigers took the second and third spots in the 400. Brauch took second in 1:00.31 and Counts finished third by just .41 seconds behind Brauch. Kocan took third in the 100 in 12.53 seconds and the 200 in 22.99 seconds. Counts added two points taking seventh in 26.92 in the 200. Beechwood’s other four points came in the field events. Tigers senior Sarah Sizemore took fifth in the high jump going up 4-feet-10 inches.
Defending state champion Bishop Brossart took second with 68 points and St. Henry finished tied for ninth with 28.
WALTON-VERONA BOYS TRACK AND FIELD
The Walton-Verona boys took a tightly contested KHSAA Class A state track-and-field meet, scoring 64 points for the first state championship in school history. They edged out Louisville Collegiate by eight points with seven schools within 24 points of the top spot including Bishop Brossart in third (53.5), St. Henry in fourth (48) and Beechwood in seventh (40).
The Bearcats scored most of their points in the the relays with 26. Junior Jackson Smith won two sprinting events capturing the 100-meter dash in 11.07 seconds and the 200 in 22.18.
Senior Grady Shay won the 110 hurdles in 15.32 seconds and captured fourth in the 300 hurdles in 42.2 seconds.
Shay and Smith also helped the Bearcats win the 4×200 relay in 1:31.49. Freshman Hunter League and eighth grader Tyson Smith had the other two legs. The same four helped Walton-Verona to a runner-up finish in the 4×100 relay in 43.76 seconds.
The Bearcats opened the day taking second in the 4×800 relay in 8:23.26. Eighth grader Wyatt Shearer, juniors Logan Pronk, Seth Cockrell and senior Carson Milner ran legs in that race.
Milner and Shay are both seniors for the Bearcats. Milner scored Walton-Verona’s other three points taking sixth in the 1,600 in 4:33.17.
COVINGTON CATHOLIC TENNIS
After finishing runner-up three times, Covington Catholic finally broke through the door. The Colonels won both its first boys state team title and the first doubles championship.
The doubles team of Kalei Christiansen and Alex Yeager won the state championship with an improbable comeback. After dropping the first set to Greenwood’s Dylan Dethridge and Gary Zheng 6-2 and falling in a 5-1 hole in the second set a game away from defeat, the duo rallied to take the second set 7-5 and win the third set tiebreak 10-7.
Helping the team’s cause was Brady Hussey making it to a second straight state semifinal. Hussey battled through an ankle injury and didn’t really get onto the court until the latter part of the season. Playing for his third straight day, Hussey admitted the ankle wasn’t up to his liking and dropped the semifinal match to Whitefield Academy’s Landon Ecarma, 6-1, 6-2.
MUDCATS U10 BASEBALL
The Omega Mudcats U-10 baseball team were on a 15-game winning streak at the time of submission with a record of 29-8. They are champions of two tournaments: 2023 Mother’s Day Madness Tournament for a Cause and 2023 TFC All American Classic – Champions Memorial Day Weekend- American Hero Series and tournament runners-up in the MVP – Swing into Spring Tournament.
The boys are coached by men that build character and respect along with skill. The head coach is Christopher Powell. Assistant coaches – Nick Pass, Matt Meyer, Raph Tincher, John Gesenhues and Brian Dinkelacker.
The Mudcats are now preparing for the Southwest Ohio Tournament (SWOL) on June 16-18.
Click on the team below on who you feel deserves the LINK nky Team of the Week!