Last season, OrthoCincy Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine and LINK nky expanded the Team of the Week program to include three Team of the Season winners and one overall winner for Team of the Year.
LINK nky is once again excited to partner with OrthoCincy Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine and announce the highly popular Team of the Week and Team of the Season awards are back for 2025-26 sports seasons!
Nominations and Voting
Each week, a call for Team of the Week nominations will be announced via LINK nky’s online and printed editions with links shared on all of LINK nky social media platforms. The inclusive nomination and selection process will highlight the team’s achievements from the prior week with a supported photo of the team to represent them.
Voting instructions along with each nominated team’s accomplishment(s) will be published online every Monday and posted in that week’s print edition. A link will be shared via social media as well. The voting process is open to the public through Friday at noon each week, and the newest TOTW will be announced with a featured article on Friday and featured in the following week’s print edition. Â
Participants can vote multiple times a day and can vote every day leading up to the close of voting. All are encouraged to share voting links to help promote the team of their choice.
Team of the Season and Team of the Year
Again this year, the program will include Team of the Season (TOTS) and Team of the Year (TOTY) awards. Sports seasons are considered fall, winter and spring for the purpose of this awards program. At the conclusion of each sports season, an overall TOTS winner will be chosen from all previous TOTW winners for that season. Their school will also receive a $500 scholarship to be presented to the athlete of their choice at the end of the school year.
Finally, the program culminates by selecting one TOTY from the three TOTS award winners. Online and print articles will again be published, a large commemorative plaque will be presented and the school will receive an additional $500 scholarship to be presented to the athlete of their choice at the end of the school year.
The call for nominations, voting and winning announcement for each will follow the same format as the TOTW.
OrthoCincy Orthopeadics and Sports Medicine and LINK nky are again proud to partner and celebrate the remarkable achievements of our local high school athletes and teams!Â
Here are the nominees…(voting poll at the bottom of the page)
NEWPORT CENTRAL CATHOLIC BOYS GOLF
The Thoroughbreds finished runner-up at the Region 8 boys golf tournament on Sept. 22 at Henry County Country Club, earning a berth to the state tournament for the first time since 2011.
Juniors Evan Himmelsbach, Alex Bacon, Alex Tracy and Ben Fassler combined for a 34-over-par 322, two shots behind Henry County’s 320. Fassler and Himmelsbach each carded a 4-over-par 76 and finished third and fourth individually. Alex Tracy carded an 81, Alex Bacon with a 89 and Gabe Waggoner rounding out the scoring with a 99.
NewCath will play in the first round of the state tournament on Wednesday at Pendleton Hills Golf Course.
RYLE BOYS GOLF
The Raiders claimed their second Region 7 title in three years last week at Boone Links Golf Course in Florence.
The Raiders posted a five-over 293 to win the Region 7 title by 10 strokes. Paxton McKelvey led the charge, firing a two-under 70 to claim medalist honors. Close behind was teammate Thomas Leone, who battled back from a slow start to card a one-under 71 and finish runner-up. Ryle’s depth carried the rest: Hayden Li tied for fourth with a 75, Chandler James added a 77 to tie for 10th, and Jake Roscoe rounded out the day with an 83 in a tie for 28th (only four scores count towards team scoring).
The Raiders take to Pendleton Hills on Wednesday for the first round of the state tournament.
RYLE GIRLS GOLF
Ryle’s girls went back-to-back in the Region 7 golf tournament last week at the Kenton County Pioneer Course.
With all five players finishing inside the top 15, Ryle fired a season-best 313 to lap the 10-team field, finishing 34 strokes ahead of runner-up Notre Dame.
At the top of the leaderboard, it was finally Anika Okuda’s turn. After two years of finishing runner-up to five-time champ from Cooper Reagan Ramage, the senior claimed the medalist spot with a 73. Behind Okuda Ryle’s depth was just as impressive. Elizabeth Dickson and Morgan Poe both came in with 78s to tie for fourth place, Lacey Wilson added an 84 for ninth, and Piper Aschermann closed the team scoring with an 89 for 14th.Â
The Lady Raiders advanced to the state tournament where they took to Pendleton Hills on Monday.
ST. HENRY FOOTBALL
Victory! For the first time in varsity program history, the Crusaders are in the win column. It took them five games to do so, defeating Gallatin County 21-12 on Friday night in Florence.
St. Henry (1-4) got two rushing touchdowns from Caden Kunstek and the other score coming from Cy Parento hitting David Penick for a score. Andrew Stewart led the defense with two interceptions. Kunstek finished with 243 rushing yards and two touchdowns. William Miller added 14 tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks and a fumble recovery while Imar Viveros also picked off a pass.
The Crusaders host Owen County next week in another district battle.
HOLMES FOOTBALL
Holmes ended a 26-game losing streak on Friday in front of a nice Homecoming crowd on Madison Avenue, defeating Jackson County 36-16 to claim their first victory since Oct. 21, 2022.
Xarion Foster led the Bulldogs rushing attack with 82 yards on 11 carries, while Devon Dunaway added 65 yards on just two attempts and Michael Chames finished with 56. Holmes rushed for 270 yards and five touchdowns in the victory.
Holmes (1-4) will look to make it two straight next week when they host Shelby County.Â
HIGHLANDS GIRLS SOCCER
Highlands is on a three-game winning streak and went 2-0 last week with wins over Beechwood (2-1) and Holy Cross (3-1).
They’ve improved their record to 6-8-1 on the year with three regular season games left before the postseason starts. Season leaders include Hope Darnell and Ariana Harms in goals with four and three, respectively. Kaylee Mills has three assists and Bailee Class has 67 saves in net with a 1.5 goals against average.
LUDLOW GIRLS SOCCER
The Ludlow girls soccer team is on a four-game winning streak to improve their record to 7-6-2 on the year. They’ve outscored the opponent 20-3 during the four-game stretch.
Season leaders include Addy Garrett with 20 goals, Gracie Jones with 12. Garrett also leads the team with six assists, Addison Rice with three. Kiley Huff has been the main goalkeeper with 169 saves and a 2.3 goals against average.
DAYTON VOLLEYBALL
Dayton went 4-0 over the weekend and won the River City Classic with victories over Bellevue, Holmes, Williamstown and Ludlow.
Stats were unavailable on the KHSAA website, but Brooklyn Moreno and Hailey Leger were named to the All-Tournament team while Ella Boyers was named tournament MVP.
The four wins improved their record to 13-9 on the season.
VOTE BELOW!