It almost seemed like Cooper’s boys wanted to eke out a win.
The Jaguars got their wish in Thursday’s Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference Division I track meet at Boone County – a 96-92 triumph over Covington Catholic.
“We just love the pressure, basically,” senior Preston Winiger said. “We just love being so close to other teams … We just want to beat them really bad. We love the competitiveness of it.”
Cooper won their second consecutive all-relay NKAC title the same way the Jaguars won last year – a win in the 4×400 meter relay. Thursday, the quartet of Eli Scroggie, Landon LaCroix, Winiger and Elijah Harrison beat Ryle by a little more than five seconds and CovCath by nearly seven.
“We are historically good at the 4×4,” Cooper coach Eric Van Laningham said. “We won regionals in it the first year we were a school, 2009. It was magic, and we’ve won regionals eight times in 15 years.”
CovCath coach Jeremy Mosher said Thursday was an opportunity to go against Class 3A schools. (CovCath moved to 2A this year.)
“We had a lot of great performances across the board,” Mosher said. “Cooper’s a great program, Eric does a great job with their guys, and it elevated everything our guys did.”
Two more reasons Cooper won: the Jaguars scored 68 points in running relays to CovCath’s 62 and 21 in the jumps to the Colonels’ 18. CovCath won the throwing events, 12-7.
Cooper and CovCath were tied at 86-all going into the 4×400 because Isaiah Johnson and JoJo Pouncy gave the Jaguars seven points in the high jump, while the Colonels’ Mason Edwards and Oliver Link added four.
Scroggie opened a small lead over CovCath’s Jake Heitker after 400 meters – an advantage LaCroix maintained over the Colonels’ Luke Meagher going to the third leg. Winiger stretched the lead to 20 meters, and Harrison added about five meters to the final margin.
Ryle placed third with 71 points, Dixie Heights was fourth with 53.5, and Simon Kenton was fifth with 43.
“I think we’re definitely where we want to be right now,” Raiders coach Adam Smith said.
Ryle’s Evan M. Smith was. He won the triple jump – his favorite event – with a 42-6.25 leap and took second in the long jump with a 19-6.
“When I first started doing (triple jump), I had more fun with it,” Smith said. “I liked the concept of the triple; instead of the single jump, I like the bounce, bounce, bounce.”
Simon Kenton’s Brayden Polly was where the Pioneers wanted him, too. He won the long jump with a 20-1.75 and took second in the triple jump with a 42.25.
Pandas prevail
A friend wrote “1st Place Winner” on Notre Dame senior Julia Meyers’ left arm. The rest of the Pandas were equally victorious – a 109-90 girls win over Dixie Heights.
“I’m relieved,” Notre Dame coach Matt Hollenkamp said. “Just great respect for the teams we compete against in our conference. Great coaches, great athletes; they never make it comfortable on us.”
Notre Dame earned 62 points in the relays, 29 points in jumping events and 18 in throws. Meyers won the shot put with a 33-10 toss and placed third in the discus at 99-8.
Hollenkamp also talked about his team’s resilience. His best example was the 4×200 relay, where the Pandas dropped the baton but still finished third.
“Some teams would’ve just quit there,” Hollenkamp said.
As much as anything, Hollenkamp said togetherness is why the Pandas won.
“Many of our girls who didn’t even compete showed up to support the team … that’s what pulls us through,” Hollenkamp said.
Campbell County finished third with 74 points, Ryle was fourth with 58.5, and Simon Kenton was fifth with 37.5.
Simon Kenton’s Alexis Howard was queen of horizontal jumping – she won the long jump with a 16-10.5 and the triple jump in 34-10.
Ryle’s hopes for a girls team title possibly ended last Friday when senior Viktoria Emelianova, the defending Class 3A state shot put champion, broke her foot at a middle school meet. Raiders coach Shawn Proffitt said Emelianova was “just walking.”
“(She) stepped on something, fell over, broke her foot,” Proffitt said. “She’s out eight to 12 weeks. She had surgery the other day, and it went really well.”
Emelianova is expected to throw discus and shot at Dartmouth, but Proffitt thinks there will be other events.
“And hammer,” Proffitt said. “With how good she is, she’ll probably throw javelin at some point, too.”
For complete results, visit ky.milesplit.com (bit.ly/3UKQhQV).