Athletes of the Week for the week ending April 24th
Boys’ MS Track Athlete of the Week
Brian Carlson, Lincoln County Middle School
Carlson emerged in the fall as an impactful figure in the middle school distance scene and placed 2nd at the KTCCCA State XC Championships and it appears he has continued that success this spring. Last Monday, he uncorked a very impressive distance double, winning both the 1600 and 3200 meter races in state-leading times at the Casey County MS Invitational. His 4:49 in the 1600 was well ahead of the competition in the race, as well as the state, but he lowered even that in the Warrior Classic on Friday, hitting 4:44 to place 3rd overall. The 10:40 he laid down in the 3200 meters to follow his 1600 win was just off his season best of 10:34, but was easily enough to take the state lead as it was in a MS competition.
Boys’ MS Field Athlete of the Week
Connor Messer, Raceland
We missed this one, but not by our own fault. Messer popped an 11’1” vault two weeks ago and then cleared 5’6” in the high jump to claim a double field event win at the Ironton MS Meet. Grooms had to type these ones up so we just got them in this week, but as you can see, this is quite the amazing performance for this young man as both are new state leaders. Looking back through all the results we could find, the 11’1” clearance appears to be the best middle school clearance we have recorded. We can only hope that Messer continues with his vaulting as it appears he may have an incredible amount of potential in this event and could be a factor in the state for years to come.
Girls’ MS Track Athlete of the Week
Sprint Relays, Johnson Traditional Middle School
The sprint squad from Johnson Traditional did some work this past week at the JCPS MS Meet #2 claiming wins and state leaders in both the 4x1 and 4x4 relays. Their 4x1 performance of 54.09 places them more than a full second ahead of the rest of the state and their new position as #10 all-time in our database makes them a notable favorite at this point in the year. Their 4x400 meter relay performance might have been more impressive as they have opened up an 11 second lead on the rest of the state at this point in the year and have risen to 12th fastest amongst the results in our database. Clearly, these ladies are ready to do battle with any and all comers and seem primed to take it to their competition.
Girls’ MS Field Athlete of the Week
Chelsey Ford, Woodford County Middle School
Ford, who was 2nd in the discus and 5th in the shot put at last year’s KTCCCA Middle School State Championships, entered the Western Hills MS All-Comers last Wednesday amongst a strong group of throwing talent and emerged an impressive winner. Her 89-8 throw in the discus is the new state leader in that event, and is a 14-foot improvement on her previous season best. She also unloaded a 30-3 performance in the shot put that places her within the top 10 performers in the shot put for the current year. While Ford has a long way to go to catch TT Knight Middle School’s Porscha Merriweather in the shot put, she has a comfortable lead now in the discus and will look to continue to increase that going forward.
Boys’ HS Track Athlete of the Week
Ronnie Baker, Louisville Ballard
Baker seemingly came out of nowhere to surprise many this week with a very impressive triple at the Male All-Comers. He turned in automatics times of 10.94, 22.09, and 50.15 for the 100, 200, and 400 meters respectively to sweep the three sprints. While the 100 and 200 meter performances earn Baker top five rankings among athletes in the state, his 400 meter performance takes over the state lead to this point. This only adds to the strength that Louisville Ballard has already shown in the sprint relays this year and has to give them confidence as they go forward and line up for several more battles with the crew from Male.
Note: Obviously we picked Jared Skrabacz here last week and we wanted to note his performance was the #3 all-time performance among Kentucky preps over two miles.
Boys’ HS Field Athlete of the Week
Sage Powell, Simon Kenton
Powell claimed three events in the Kenton County Championships, but it was his performances in the horizontal jumps that are of specific note here. His 44-7 performance was good enough for the win and also moved him into the position of 2nd best performer in the state in the triple. In the long jump, his 21-4 was just short of his season best (21-5.5), but was another very impressive performance to reinforce his 6th-place ranking at this point in the season.
Girls’ HS Track Athlete of the Week
Asia Powell, Mayfield
Powell was a standout in the MS ranks last year, but has placed herself right in the mix with her elders this year. Her performance this past week in the 200 meters earned her the state lead as she smoked to a 24.94h win. Her 100 meter dash was quite impressive as well, winning with a time of 12.74h and putting herself right in the mix in that event as well. In fact, Powell is now the current leader in Class A in both events and could also help to make Mayfield’s sprint relays a very relevant part of the Class A picture going forward.
Girls’ HS Field Athlete of the Week
Michaela Hunter, Rockcastle County
Hunter has been as consistent as you can get over the years, and with teammate Samantha Smith now graduating, she has taken over the spotlight in the state in the long and triple jump. In the past two weeks, she has taken the state lead in both jumps and has increased her personal best in the triple jump in the process. While she didn’t quite reach her 37-10.75 PR this last week, she did reach 36-4.5 in winning the Danville All-Comers last Tuesday. At the Warrior Classic on Friday, she almost achieved her personal best in the long jump, reaching 17-7.5 to win the long jump. While Hunter is not a lock to win either event at the Class AA state championships this spring, she is definitely the frontrunner in both events at this point in the year.
Athletes of the Week for the week ending April 24th
Boys’ MS Track Athlete of the Week