Steve Saunders has been the boys track and field coach at Dixie Heights High School for 39 years. He knows the place as well as anyone.
“When you’ve been around as long as I have, you learn a lot,” said the 70‑year‑old coach, who began his Dixie Heights career in 1988.
Saunders knows Dixie Heights opened in 1937 along with sister school Simon Kenton, built with an almost identical blueprint. He knows the school was dedicated by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. He knows country singer Skeeter Davis walked its halls, as did former NFL player Mark Pike, former major league pitcher Graham Taylor and professional wrestler Brian Pillman Jr., who goes by the name Lexis King in the ring.
And in nearly four decades on staff, including 25 years as a teacher, Saunders has seen plenty himself. Saunders taught former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson in his science class. He remembers current principal Roddy Stainforth as a Dixie basketball player and later as the school’s boys basketball coach.
Saunders has also witnessed every track and field record ever set at Dixie — a list posted above the concession stand at Rice Mountjoy Stadium. The last untouched marks were the 200 meters and the converted 100‑yard dash.
The 100‑yard record, 10.9 seconds, was set in 1970 by Mike Martin. Senior Vinnie Lane has now eclipsed that standard twice, doing so by breaking and then lowering the school record in the longer 100 meters. Lane first ran 10.82 seconds to win the event April 25 at the Campbell County Camel Classic, then dropped it to 10.78 five days later at the Bishop Brossart Gold Medal Meet.
“I had seen them all except for the 100 and 200. And now I’ve seen them all with Vinnie Lane breaking the 100 and Brennan Simpson the 200,” Saunders said. “Brennan broke the 200-meter record last year at the regional in 22.35. The old record was 22.40 set in 1979 by Will Hamm. Brennan also has a school record in the 400 meters and the 1,600 relay. I wouldn’t mind seeing more. We’ve got a chance.”
That chance comes Monday at 5 p.m. at the Class 3A Region 5 boys and girls track and field championships at Scott High School. It’s the first of three regional meets this week. The Class 2A Region 4 meet is Friday at Covington Catholic. The Class 1A Region 4 meet is Saturday at Bishop Brossart.
“Ready to see what everybody can do,” said Saunders, who has tasted regional success.
Last spring, Dixie Heights swept both the boys and girls titles at the 3A regional. It marked the boys’ first regional crown since 2011 and only their second since 1957. Cooper finished second. The Dixie girls won their first regional championship since 2022, edging Campbell County.
This year, the boys return as defending champions in the 400 meters, 800 meters, 3,200‑meter relay and shot put. They lost the shot putter to graduation, but Simpson is entering in the 400 meters, and the 800-meter and 1,600-meter relays. Nicholas Kopp returns in the 800 meters and 3,200-meter relay.
Lane seeks his first regional championship in the 100 meters while participating in two sprint relays. Now that Lane has set the Dixie mark in the 100 yards, the Colonels’ oldest boys track and field record has been updated. “Now the oldest record on the board is the discus set in 1996 by Jeff Wurtz, who is boys coach at Cooper,” Saunders said.
Another Dixie athlete to watch is senior Drew Carskadon in the 800 meters, 1,600-meter relay and 3,200-meter relay. The Colonels’ 1,600‑meter relay team owns the state’s fastest time this season. The mark is 3:23.89, set April 28 at the Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference Division I championships.
“We graduated so many guys that it’s going to be difficult to repeat,” Saunders said. “But we are definitely top five and maybe top three. We have some of the top boys in the state with Lane, Simpson, Kopp and the 1,600 relay.”
The Dixie girls defend titles in the 300 hurdles and discus for coach Lauren Myfelt. The hurdler who won that event graduated. Junior Ari Carter returns after throwing 121 feet, 8 inches to win last year’s regional discus title. Carter, a former 3A state discus champion, will also try to improve on her third‑place finish in the shot put.
Other Dixie girls to keep an eye on are Tatjana Andracenko, Alayna Hocker and London Williams. Andracenko was runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles at last year’s regional and is No. 1 in the region in that event this year. She also triple-jumps and runs in the 400-meter relay. Hocker competes in the 400 meters and the 400-meter and 1,600-meter relays. Williams is No. 2 in the region in the 100 meters. She also runs the 200 meters.
Like Dixie, Bishop Brossart enters as both defending boys and girls champion in Class A Region 4. Beechwood is the returning boys runner‑up; St. Henry holds that spot on the girls’ side. The Class A, Region 4 meet is Friday at Bishop Brossart’s Mustang Athletic Complex, starting at 5 p.m.
Covington Catholic is the defending boys champion in Class 2A Region 4. Lloyd finished third last year. Lexington Catholic won the girls title, with Holmes and Lloyd tying for the top area finish in sixth. The Class 2A, Region 4 meet is Saturday at Covington Catholic, starting at 10 a.m.