Class AA
The Paducah Tilghman teams continued their dominance of Class AA with a team title for the boys and girls. If you are counting at home, that is seven in a row for the girls and six for the boys.
The Paducah Tilghman girls won eight events and finished second in another three events. The team did not have a significant weak area this year. Distance events are usually the team's shortcoming, but they had Carrissa Wilson take second in the 3200m. Freshman DeAudra Horne won the 200m and the 400m dash. Senior Pam Bell broke the Class AA Shot Put record with a throw of 42-10.50. The girls scored 159 points to beat Highlands with 86.50 points.
The Class AA girls Shot Put field was quite impressive with class record breaker Pam Bell, former class record holder Chinwe Okoro (Russell), and Lindi Berry (Webster County) all in one competition. Each of the three threw over 40 feet by the time they were done.
Other outstanding performances came from Sondra Nieporte (Lloyd Memorial) who finished her high school career with victories in the 1600m and 3200m. Seventh grader Valerie Whitlock (Larue County) passed Kelsa Mueller (Highlands) at the line to win the 800m.
On the boys' side, Paducah Tilghman won the state boys title, but the individual that shined was senior Ron Duncan (Fleming County.) He won the distance trifecta 800m, 1600m, and 3200m. He dueled Nathan Liversedge in the 1600m and won with a 4:22.86. Liversedge told me he had a race plan to surge on the third lap. Nathan surged right when he wanted to but Duncan chased him down on the final lap to win by three seconds. Duncan once again dueled Liversedge in the 800m, who also had teammate Forest Stratford to go against Duncan. It was a good race with Duncan winning with a 1:59.49. The 3200m was a gutsy performance by Duncan, visibly drained from the other races. Duncan, along with Willie Polio (Owensboro Catholic) and Jared Wynne (Paducah Tilghman), broke from the rest of the field. Duncan held on to win the 3200m with a 10:01.54. This was quite a performance for his final state meet.
Justin Collins (Western) won two individual events and was a member of the winning 400m relay team. It was a balanced effort for the Tilghman boys as the only individual event winners were Harrold Ligon in the Discus (146-00) and Brian Hall in the Shot Put (50-05.50). The Tornados won the 800m and 1600m relays. The remainder of their 99 points came from the team scoring well in most of the events.
Congratulations to all the athletes participating at the State Meet.