You could call Covington Catholic’s track team’s final year in Class 2A track and field a runaway.
The Colonels overwhelmed the field in Friday’s state meet at the University of Kentucky – they won their third straight team title over Lexington Catholic, 105.50-51.
“We have a very strong team bond,” pole vaulter Paul Klosinski said.
Four Colonels gathered individual wins: Klosinski (who won his second straight), Rhett Blettner in the 400-meter dash, Jacob Keller in the 110 hurdles, and Braden Franxman, who beat teammate Joe Mayer in the 3,200. CovCath also won the 4×800 and 4×400 relays.
CovCath returns to Class 3A next year. Colonels coach Jeremy Mosher talked about tone-setting for future teams at Thursday’s team dinner.
“We want to make sure the guys come out and don’t assume, ‘oh well, we’re in 3A and we can’t hang’,” Mosher said. “I think the guys took that to heart, and they were outstanding.”
PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Charles Bolton
A successful switch
For CovCath seniors Jackson Germann, Luke O’Hara, Mayer and Jack Salyers, Friday’s 4×800 was the last chance at a win.
“We’ve been trying this, like, every year since sophomore year,” Salyers said.
O’Hara usually runs the opening 800, followed by Germann, Mayer and Salyers; Friday, however, Germann and O’Hara switched places – Germann ran the opening leg against LexCath’s Asher Feddock.
“I just needed to not let (Feddock) get much on me,” Germann said.
The plan worked. Germann trailed Feddock by just 0.07 when he handed the baton to O’Hara – who immediately gave the Colonels a two-second advantage that became the nearly nine-second win.
“We’ve been running relays together all season,” O’Hara said.
Franxman, seeded third going into Friday’s 3,200, set a 2A record – his 9 minutes, 17.61 seconds was a little more than five seconds quicker than top-seeded Mayer’s 9:22.92.
“Not really,” Franxman said if he was surprised. “I’ve been looking for this all season.”
Franxman and Mayer were the top two with 400 meters to go. Franxman pulled away – his 1:03.60 gave him the five-second win.
“He starts to open up the gap, and I’m still digging,” Mayer said.
Franxman, meanwhile, thought about Mayer trailing by just two-tenths of a second.
“I’ve gotta go,” Franxman said. “Run for my life.”
Sickness and suspense
Keller’s 15.29 barely edged Mercer County’s Ian Alcorn by 0.06 – a time 0.38 quicker than Keller’s 15.67 at the Region 4 meet.
“I was sick last week for two days,” Keller said. “I was lightheaded and knew something was wrong.”
Keller saw Alcorn, in Lane 4 and Hopkinsville’s Keyshun Teal, who finished third. Teal led at the fourth hurdle, but Keller caught up by the 10th and final hurdle.
“I was in Lane 2, and I think at the finish line, I guess I outleaned them” Keller said.
Klosinski and Bourbon County’s Mark Perraut both cleared 14 feet, 6 inches, but Klosinski won because he had no misses from 12-6 to 14-6.
A suspenseful moment: Perraut’s missed clearing 15 feet when he knocked the bar down with his elbow.
“I was, like, ‘Here he goes’,” Klosinski said. “He’s a really good jumper, really good jumper. Good guy, too.”
Mercer County finished third with 50 points, Taylor County was fourth with 48, and Russell placed fifth with 47. Calloway County easily won the girls team title, defeating Lexington Catholic, 108-81.
The Class 3A state meet begins at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Here’s where other CovCath athletes finished in the top eight:
• Second place: 4×200 (Blettner, Charlie Ink, Jack Fender and Garrett Gallagher), 1:29.55.
• Third: 4×100 (Will Danneman, Fender, Gallagher, Ryan Tenhundfeld), 43.44.
• Fourth: Keller, 300 hurdles, 41.74.
• Fifth: Dominic Terzo, 300 hurdles, 42.07
• Sixth: Drew Kurtzner, 1,600, 4:32.02; Gallagher, 200, 22.89; Matthew Woolf, shot put, 49-6.
• Seventh: Quentin Jones, discus, 134-5; Salyers, 800, 2:01.06.
• Eighth: Landon Dailey, pole vault, 11-0; Joel Barczak, 800, 2:02.58.
For complete results, visit here. (https://khsaa.org/track/2026/class2adetailed.htm)