Beechwood’s girls track and field program is a well known power in the state.
The boys program has entered the chat.
On Thursday at the KHSAA Class A state track and field meet at the University of Kentucky’s Track and Field Complex, the Beechwood boys and girls won the team titles. It’s the first in program history for the boys, the third since 2019 for the girls as they earn back-to-back titles.
“We love being in the conversation,” Tigers coach Dave Meyers said. “Told the kids ignore the noise, go to work, do what you do. They did. We finished at the top of the podium in so many events and that shows me they were all in.”
The boys team finished with 81 points, 13 points clear of runner-up Collegiate out of Louisville. The girls tallied 91 points, 10 points ahead of second place Bishop Brossart.
Meyers is a numbers guy, he teaches Algebra. So while he’s usually at a meet tallying up scores in his head on who placed what and how many points, he relaxed on Thursday and let his team do the work.
“Typically at a track meet I keep it throughout,” Meyers said. “I didn’t glance at the score until after the two-mile. It just felt good.”
There was building optimism entering and throughout the season the boys team would have its breakthrough year. They showed strength in nearly every facet of a track and field meet from sprints, to distance, to throws.
Having the fastest man in the state in Class A certainly helped. Luke Erdman was coming off a sophomore season in which he finished runner-up in both the 100 and 200. Come Thursday, Erdman left no doubt, cruising to victories in both events. He ran the 100 in a personal best time of 10.77, knocking over two-tenths of a second off his prior school record time.
“I just try to look at progress,” Erdman said. “I knew I had it in me. I knew I just had to find it, it was a perfect day, not too hot and I had all the correct motivation and all the people behind me to support me.”
Erdman then won the 200 in 22.02 seconds to snag the double, before the 200, he helped the Tigers 4×100 team of Erdman, Brody Aylor, Nathan Pabst and James Cusick claim gold in a time of 43.28.
“That’s where this is a true team sport,” Erdman said. “We’re a young group of four guys, two juniors, a sophomore and a freshman. We have our eyes on the state record which is 42.9 and we had a 43.2. We’re looking to get that next year. Last year we didn’t even run a 4×100.”
That was 30 points right there for the Tigers. They filled the rest with a plethora of podium finishes, eight more of them to be exact. Multiple podium finishers included Xavier Campbell with a third place finish in the discus (144-05) and fourth in the shot put (50-4.75). Samson Weldemichael (4:27.21) and Robert Wilke (4:30.04) went fourth and fifth in the 1,600, Wilke also placing second in the 3,200 (9:52.44) to snag 12 points in the distance events, Christoper Roberdeaux placed second in the 800 (1:57.57) for most of the damage on the day for the Tigers.
“Wilke’s second in the two-mile really sealed the deal and I found out Xavier Campbell was third in the discus and that was icing on the cake,” Meyers said. “I knew I could just sit back and enjoy the mile relay.”
The girls team littered the results sheet with first place finishes. Lily Parke claimed two individual events with the top spot in the 1,600 (5:05) and 800 (2:18.80). She was also part of the first place 4×800 team of Charli Gerrein, Annie Harris, Catie Hazzard and Pare in a time of 9:49.02. Maryah Counts also came back to Fort Mitchell with multiple first place finishes. Counts won the 400 (57.48) with teammate Caroline Nordman right behind her in second (58.15). Counts’ day didn’t stop there as they blew by the competition in the 4×400, Counts the last leg of Maddy Brauch, Ruby Fries, Lana Holt and Counts in a time of 4:05.97, beating the field by more than six seconds. She also bagged a runner-up in the 200 meters (25.62) and fifth in the 100 (12.81).
The big separation for the Lady Tigers was in the relay events. They scored 30 of a possible 40 points with the wins in the 4×800 and 4×400, second in the 4×200 and seventh in the 4×100. Runner-up Brossart grabbed 25 points in those events.
“We lost our top sprinter from last year, Katie Kocan, lost her halfway through the season and we would have felt better with a few more points from her,” Meyers said. “But we added so many new athletes to the team, we were relying on freshman and newcomers that didn’t know block starts six months ago. It was just such a cool season to come together like that.”
Here are some other storylines from Thursday’s Class A meet:
Brossart boys set 4×800 Class A record
The Bishop Brossart 4×800 relay team of Nick Heck, Griffin Hill, Brennan Callahan and Ryan Clines finished in a time of 8:07.50, setting a new Class A record. They were seven seconds clear of second place Bethlehem.
Three NKY teams finish in top five of boys and girls
The strength of small school track and field in the state remains in Northern Kentucky. Three NKY schools finished in the top five in boys and girls, in the boys it went Beechwood No. 1, Bishop Brossart No. 3 and St. Henry fifth. In the girls it was Beechwood No. 1, Brossart No. 2 and St. Henry in fifth.
The last time two NKY schools pulled off the double was St. Henry in 2012.
Counts, Nordman 1-2 in the 400
Getting top two in an event is huge for a team title. It gives a team 18 points in the team standings. Maryah Counts and Caroline Nordman were able to do that in the 400 meters, Counts winning in a time of 57.48, Nordman second in 58.15.
“I knew when we finished first and second at region, I knew we were going to get first and second here,” Counts said. “I just decided to do what I know best and that was kick it at the 200 rather than the first one. It worked out.”
Counts added a runner-up in the 200 meters (25.62) and fifth in the 100 (12.81). She was on the podium four times with the 4×400 relay team of Maddy Brauch, Counts, Ruby Fries and Lana Holt taking home first place in a time of 4:05.97.
Ruth strong in the distance events
Bishop Brossart’s Nathan Ruth won the 800 meters (1:56.88) and finished second in the 1,600 (4:14.53).
Parke takes home three first place medals
Beechwood’s Lily Parke not only helped her team win the 4×800 to start the day, but also took home first place in the 1,600 (5:05) and 800 (2:18.80).
“I felt like any of these races could have went any way,” Parke said. “In the mile I hung on and then made a move on the third lap and stuck to it. I was not expecting the 800 and hoping to get the team some points and made a surge there at the end.”
Walters, Guard stand out in throwing events
Bishop Brossart’s Ava Walters and St. Henry’s Anna Guard won the throwing events, Walters in the shot put with a throw of 34-6.25 and Guard in the discus with a distance of 132-07, setting a new Class A record.
“I was really surprised today,” Guard said. “All season in the discus I kind of had the same distances. There was a few little things that I had been working on and it all just came together today.”
Guard, who is also a standout volleyball player at St. Henry, added fifth in the shot put with a throw of 33-4.5.
Walters also finished fourth in the discus with a distance of 110-05.
“Our region was really hard and knew that I had to come in with the same mindset at state,” Walters said. “Just connected the dots today and they all just went together.”
Brockman wins pole vault title
St. Henry’s Josh Brockman was a state champion in the pole vault, clearing a height of 12-feet, six inches on his first attempt to edge out Green County’s Austin Squires, who needed three tries to clear 12-6.
Unified events
Northern Kentucky claimed two titles in the unified events, Dayton’s mixed 2×200 relay team of Kelcie Martin and Sammy McFarland won first place in a time of 1:11.75 and Bellevue’s Parker Kern won the wheelchair boys discus with a throw of 5-11.