Northern Kentucky sports news happens so fast it’s hard to keep up. Right when you think you’re up to date, you’re not. Quick, who are the area’s leading soccer goal scorers? Who are the assist leaders? Are you up to date on multi-sport standouts? See what I mean? But don’t worry. We got your back. We also have your news in the fastest 1,000 words in sports.
Ruwe Lighting It Up For Calvary Christian
No matter the pitch, Calvary Christian’s Josh Ruwe delivers. Whether that be on the soccer pitch, or while pitching and hitting baseballs on the diamond, the multi-sport athlete knows how to impact the score.
“Josh Ruwe is a great athlete,” Cougars coach Michael McCarthy said. “He plays high school and select baseball and very committed to the sport. As for soccer, I reap the benefits of an athlete who can play multiple sports.”
Ruwe is tied for the state lead with 28 goals scored in just 14 high school soccer games. The 6-foot-2 senior is in a three-way tie atop the boys leaderboard but has played in fewer games. East Carter’s Grant Menix has 28 goals in 15 games. Glasgow’s Jared Malagon has 28 in 16 games. Ruwe, a midfielder/forward, is the northern Kentucky leader in goals scored by a wide margin. Boone County’s Salem Mayala is next with 16.
Ruwe has scored a goal in five straight games with a high of three in a 5-0 win over Frankfort Christian in that span. He tallied a season-high four goals in an 8-0 win over Covington Latin. Ruwe has scored in 11 of 14 matches for the Cougars, who raced to a 9-3-2 start to the season. They are riding a four-game winning streak.
Calvary Christian competes in the 10th Region’s 37th District with locals Bishop Brossart, Campbell County and Scott. The Cougars lead the region in scoring with 52 goals. They are averaging 3.7 per game, ranking 30th in the state.
“While Josh has great foot skills and a sheer desire to score, he is assisted by our midfielder Jack Reagor,” McCarthy said. “Jack looks to distribute to his forwards and Josh has the ability to finish anywhere near the goal. Really, we have a team approach and Josh would be the first to diminish his role as the only significant teammate.”
Reagor and Gavin Van Winkle have scored eight and seven goals, respectively. Ten players have scored for the Cougars. Reagor has fed a lot of them, totaling a team-high 11 assists, ranking 21st statewide and first in northern Kentucky.
In addition to his soccer prowess, Ruwe is also an excellent baseball player at Calvary Christian, where he’s a .400-hitting outfielder and a quality pitcher. He ranked second on the team last season with a .411 batting average and 27 stolen bases. He also led the team with 10 starts, 50 innings pitched and 72 strikeouts while recording three wins and a save. His 3.22 ERA was second-best on the team among regulars. His brother, Cal Ruwe, is a teammate on both squads. Cal, also a senior, hit .302 for the baseball team last season. He’s a midfielder on the soccer team.
Walton-Verona’s Christy Among Girls Scoring Leaders
Walton-Verona multi-sport standout Cam Christy knows how to score, too. She ranks sixth in the state with 29 soccer goals. She’s averaging 2.2 goals per game with a high of five against Carroll County. The senior scored four goals against Owen County. She tallied three goals in another match against Owen County. Christy also scored three goals against Shelby County, Calvary Christian, Henry County and a team from Tennessee. In the 6-0 win over Pendleton County on Monday, she set the program scoring record with 253 points in her high school career, which accounts for goals and assists.
Walton-Verona has scored 61 goals, ranking 12th in the state, and allowed just 15 while posting a record of 11-2-1. The Bearcats are 6-1 against 8th Region opponents. Another big key for Walton-Verona is assist leader Ava Fuller. She ranks 16th in the state and is the northern Kentucky leader with 11 assists. Bearcats goalkeeper Brynn Willis is tied for the statewide lead with nine shutouts in 13 matches after blanking Pendleton County on Monday.
Walton-Verona, the returning 32nd District runner-up, finished 17-5-2 last season. Christy scored 32 goals and added 14 assists. She recorded 22 goals and 16 assists as a sophomore. She had 20 goals and 11 assists as a freshman. To put that kind of scoring into perspective, the Bearcats totaled 27 goals as a team in all of 2020, the season before Christy arrived. The top three scorers that season — Emma Landrum, Grace Brewer and Audrey Carrico — combined for 15 goals.
Christy’s goal total this season is a complete outlier in the area. The KHSAA lists no other northern Kentucky girl among the state’s top 50 goal scorers. The list cuts off at 15 goals at press time. Christy has nearly twice that many. She has scored 103 goals in her four-year Bearcats career.
On the hardwood, Christy needs 384 points to join Walton-Verona’s 1,000-point club in girls basketball. She has scored 616 career points in three varsity seasons. Christy averaged 14.2 points per game last season for the Bearcats, ranking third on the team. That nearly doubled her average of 7.4 as a sophomore.
Saints Score First Football Victory
The Thomas More University football team is 1-1 following Saturday’s 50-0 shellacking of Kentucky Christian at Republic Bank Field. The Saints bounced back from their season-opening loss to Davenport with an offensive explosion and a show of force on defense. They rolled up 453 total yards of offense while limiting Kentucky Christian to 113. The Saints passed for 274 yards and rushed for 179. Kentucky Christian had minus-16 yards rushing and 129 passing.
Thomas More grabbed a 14-0 first-quarter lead with a pair of Rae’Von Vaden touchdown passes, one for 16 yards to wide receiver Preston Agee, a Covington Catholic grad, and another for 22 yards to tight end Mike Kirch. Former Scott placekicker Luke Iden converted the extra points. It was 24-0 at halftime on Vaden’s 10-yard TD pass to Jaden Hall and Iden’s 29-yard field goal, the first of three on the day.
The Saints added 26 second-half points to complete the rout. The highlights: Avery Bodner’s block, scoop and score in the end zone on a Kentucky Christian punt deep in its own territory, and Hall’s 30-yard run for a score. Both big plays came in the third quarter.
Individual leaders for the Saints include Vaden with 217 passing yards and three TDs and Hall who rushed for 128 yards, added 32 yards receiving and scored twice. Linebacker Japhia Kennedy posted a team-best eight tackles, 1.5 for loss of yardage. Iden’s three field goals and five extra-point kicks combined to set a program record for points in a single game by a kicker with 14.
The Saints are back in action Saturday at Ohio Dominican with a 1 p.m. kickoff.
Sheets, Bennett Victorious At Diocese Of Covington
Covington Catholic’s Will Sheets and Villa Madonna’s Ryan Bennett won 5,000-meter races at the annual Diocese of Covington Championships at Rivershore Sports Park in Hebron. Sheets turned in a silver standard elite performance according to kymilesplit.com with a finishing time of 15 minutes, 26.58 seconds in the boys event.
Sheets was the only boy breaking the 16-minute barrier at the cross-country event. Just four other runners came in under 17 minutes. Villa Madonna’s Ethan Martin finished runner-up in 16:41.09. Villa Madonna also boasted third-place finisher Mark Antrobus who posted a time of 16:43.51. All three are seniors. A total of 51 runners from four teams competed in the event. Covington Catholic emerged the winner with 28 points. The Colonels placed six runners in the top 10. Villa Madonna finished second with 40 points, followed by St. Henry (80) and Bishop Brossart (102).
Villa Madonna swept the top three spots and put four runners in the top seven at the girls’ event. Bennett, an eighth grader, was the lone girl to break 21 minutes with a time of 20:47.31. Junior teammate Lena Schroeder had a runner-up clocking of 21:07.34, followed closely by fellow junior Alyssa Martin’s 21:10.79. The event drew 45 girls. The final standings: 1. Villa Madonna 26, 2. St. Henry 43, 3. Notre Dame Academy 73, 4. Bishop Brossart 85. Both Villa Madonna and St. Henry put four runners in the top 10.
Ramage Doing Damage
Cooper senior golfer Reagan Ramage warmed up for the Kentucky Golf Coaches Association All-State tournament by finishing tied for first at the Women’s Bowling Green Invitational at Bowling Green Country Club. Ramage, the lone Cooper golfer at the event, shot an even-par 72, tying Rowan County junior Athena Singh. Both golfers shot even-par 36 on the front and back nines, finishing three shots ahead of third-place Keira Yun from team winner Louisville Sacred Heart.
Ramage, who has verbally committed to Western Kentucky University, finished top-ranked among KHSAA girls golf all-state point leaders with 680. The four-time defending 7th Region champion accrued 860 total points in nine events, with the 680 total taken from her top seven finishes. She had a sizeable cushion over second-place Emma Lindemoen (620) of Louisville Sacred Heart.
Ramage, a top-five finisher at the last two KHSAA state tournaments, has at minimum six first-place finishes this season, including at least one each month since the prep schedule began. She won the Jaguars’ home tournament, the Cooper Classic, with a score of 7-under par 64 at Lassing Pointe on July 31 and continued winning in August and September.