Walton-Verona junior Luke Lawson crosses the finish line first in the 300-meter hurdles event at the Class A boys’ state track meet. Lawson won the 110 hurdles event earlier in the day. (Photo by Carla Martin)
By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
With one of its top athletes sidelined due to an injury, St. Henry finished second in the Class A girls’ track and field state championship meet on Saturday at the University of Kentucky.
St. Henry senior Kim Spritzky strained a hamstring muscle earlier this week and was not able to compete in the pole vault, long jump or 100 hurdles at the state meet. She was the top-seeded state qualifier in both the pole vault and 100 hurdles. If she had won both of those events, it would have impacted the final team scores.
St. Henry runners Hannah Jones, left, and Ellie Laudenslayer exchange the baton and maintain the lead in one of two relay races the Crusaders won at the state meet. (Photo by Jackson Sports Photography)
Murray won the Class A championship trophy with 93 points and St. Henry placed second with 73.5. Victories in two additional events would have added 20 points to the Crusaders’ team total.
Spritzky, a University of Dayton recruit, cleared 12 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault event at the Region 4 meet last week. She was hoping to break the previous girls’ state record of 12-6 at the state meet before her injury. The winning mark in Saturday’s state meet was 9-6.
St. Henry took first place in the 4 x 200 and 4 x 400 relays and scored points in most of the other events to stay in contention for the team title. But Murray won two events and placed second in six others to win the team title for the second consecutive year.
Walton-Verona opened the girls’ state meet with a victory in the 4 x 800 relay. The local state champions in individual events were Newport Central Catholic eighth-grader Abby Jones in the 1600 run and Beechwood senior Haley Holbrook in the 3200 run.
In the Class A boys’ state meet, Northern Kentucky had two double-winners in individual events. Bellevue junior Seth Evers placed first in the 100 and 200 dashes and Walton-Verona junior Luke Lawson took gold medals in the 110 and 300 hurdles.
St. Henry won the 4 x 400 relay and local state champions in field events included Holy Cross senior Derrick Barnes in the shot put and St. Henry sophomore Logan Blaut in the pole vault.
Fort Knox claimed the Class A boys’ state championship trophy with a 65.5 team total. St. Henry placed fourth with 47 points followed by Brossart with 42.
In the Class 3A state meet, second-place finishes by Campbell County senior Rebecca Cline in the girls’ 100 hurdles and Ryle senior Alexandra Patterson in the girls’ 800 run were the best results among local qualifiers in the boys’ and girls’ competition.
Here is a complete listing of the local state champions in Class A events:
GIRLS EVENTS
4 x 800 relay — Walton-Verona (Ashley Akins, Elissa Craig, Mccall Ponzer, Caileigh Waters) 9:59.00.
4 x 200 relay — St. Henry (Catherine Henry, Hannah Jones, Ellie Lauderslayer, Sophia Laudenslayer) 1:48.07.
1600 run — Abby Jones (NewCath) 5:16.32.
3200 run — Haley Holbrook (Beechwood) 12:38.91.
4 x 400 relay — St. Henry (Natalie Pope, Hannah Jones, Ellie Lauderslayer, Sophia Laudenslayer) 4:13.69.
BOYS EVENTS
110 hurdles — Luke Lawson (Walton-Verona) 14.82.
100 dash — Seth Evers (Bellevue) 11.28.
300 hurdles — Luke Lawson (Walton-Verona) 40.09.
200 dash — Seth Evers (Bellevue) 22.85.
4 x 400 relay — St. Henry (Collin Strasburger, Josh Gray, Hayden Norris, David Poat) 3:30.31.
Shot put — Derrick Barnes (Holy Cross) 51-6 1/4.
Pole vault — Logan Blaut (St. Henry) 12-0.
