Western Hills Open
Teams Attending: Anderson County, Bryan Station, Burgin, Carroll County, Danville, Frankfort, Franklin County, Green County, Harrison County, Holmes, Montgomery County, Nicholas County, Owen County, Paris, Pendleton County, Rowan County, Sayre, Scott County, Trimble County, Western Hills, Woodford County
This meet started out just looking like a nice season-opener for a handful of teams, but as the team list started to grow it became apparent that the meet might be much more than a bump in the road. Bryan Station standouts Chaz Mitchell and Nealy Williams will likely be kicking off their campaigns with hopes of getting back to the podium at the state championships again this season. Joining in the same quest will be several others of interest, including Robert Sandlin of Franklin County, Raegan Deaton of Green County, Danielle Hoop of Owen County, Ann Eason of Sayre, Quan Weaver of Frankfort, Anna Bostrom of Woodford County, Alisha Adair and Daniel Thurston of Western Hills, Candice Taylor and Diamond Pace of Danville, and Kelsey McCain of Pendleton County.
There is talent enough throughout the meet to make it more than worth watching on a Friday evening early in the season and there should be plenty of marks to top the early season rankings heading into the Saturday meets.
Lenny Lyles Invitational
Teams Attending: Butler, Central, duPont Manual, Fairdale, Henry County, Jeffersontown, Jeffersonville High School, John Hardin, Louisville Ballard, Male, North Hardin, Paducah Tilghman, Pleasure Ridge Park, Sacred Heart Academy, Shawnee, Southern, St. Xavier, Waggener, Western
One of the very first high-quality invitationals will be this Saturday at Louisville Central High School. There will be plenty of things to watch for starting with the sprints on both sides as Male and Central should highlight the boys’ events, while the combination of Ballard, Jeffersonville (IN), Shawnee, and Pleasure Ridge Park should make for some tight races on the girls’ side. The distance races will pack plenty of punch as well with Emma Brink of Sacred Heart lined up for the 800 meters and the freshman Hale twins from duPont Manual vying for wins in the 1600 and 3200 meters, respectively. Over to the boys side, there is Andrew Stewart of North Hardin pulling his usual four race load, while Butler and St. X will both send bodies at Stewart and St. X will hope to make this the return to the track for Jackson Carnes in the 3200 meters.
The depth and quality is there for a great day of competition and the weather will be warming up nicely by mid-day so expect some quick times as we start the season in a big way this weekend.
Henderson County Colonel Classic
Teams Attending: Apollo, Christian County, Cumberland County, Daviess County, Fort Campbell, Frederick Fraize, Greenwood, Henderson County, Hopkinsville, Logan County, Marshall County, Muhlenberg County High School, Owensboro, Paducah Tilghman, St. Mary, Union County, Warren Central, Warren East
This meet has quickly turned into a deep competition with several strong teams bringing their talent to make it interesting in the sprints (Paducah Tighlman, Owensboro, and Fort Campbell), distance (Apollo, Daviess County, Greenwood, and St. Mary), and, also, in the field events. Look for the pole vault to be a very interesting event, as it always is in this area of the state, and watch for flying implements as Apollo’s Harris Bivin and Paducah Tighlman’s Joe Jones will take to the circle to kick-off his season. Big names to look for include Ryan Eaton of Greenwood, Justin House of Apollo, Evan Ehrenheim of Daviess County, James Maglasang of St. Mary, Owensboro’s Marcus Winstead, Dradell Johnson, Zach Main, Aquado Douglas, Zac Garrard, and Shanice Carbon, Christian County’s Sean Hurd, and Paducah Tighlman’s Caric Denson and Aleja Grant.
The distance races will be a chance for some very impressive times as the 1600 and 3200 meters on the boys’ side look very strong, but looking through the lists, watch for fast relays and for Owensboro’s individual sprinters to post some very impressive times for this early in the season.
Oldham County Kickoff Classic
Teams Attending: Christian Academy (Louisville), Eastern, Fern Creek, North Oldham, Oldham County, Presentation, South Oldham, Trinity (Louisville)
The make-up of this meet will be a bit different as it is without a 4x800 meter relay, 200 meters, and the 4x200 meter relay, and it has both a Frosh-Soph and Varsity section of each event. That being said, there will be a great opportunity for plenty of young talent to showcase their talents here this weekend. The group assembled is very much distance-oriented, but with new OC coach Matt Girardin and his crew matching up for the first time with the sprint studs at Fern Creek, there will likely be some fireworks there as well. Big names possibly competing include Jake Wildenmann of Trinity, Luke Weishaar and Claire Grogan of Oldham County, Eastern’s Bernadette Catron, Tori Mayfield, and Kaitlynn Ramsey, South Oldham’s Jessie Murner, Erika Houston, and Grace Whitworth, Presentation’s Casey Richardson, and Fern Creek’s Diamond Wilson.
Good weather and a great opportunity for younger athletes to compete should help make this meet a success in it’s first year in existence. I do expect that there will be some strong performances to build off of going forward.