By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Nineteen of the 23 Northern Kentucky high school track and field athletes who won gold medals at last year’s Class 1A, 2A and 3A state championship meets are returning this season.
The list includes 17 boys and girls who won Class 1A state titles in individual or relay events. The returning state champions in the other two classes are Cooper freshman Simone Bissong in the Class 3A girls 200-meter dash and Highlands senior Jack Welch in the Class 2A boys 400-meter dash.
Claire Curtsinger is one of Brossart’s returning state champions.
Brossart placed first in the Class 1A girls state meet with victories in three relay races accounting for 30 of its 87 total points. All of the runners on those relay foursomes were underclassmen, but one of them, Olivia Holbrook, transferred to Campbell County.
The Mustangs’ returning relay runners are seniors Claire Curtsinger, Emma Bezold, Rylee Schultz, Sophie Neufelder and Lia Callahan and juniors Amy Klocke, Hannah Kramer, Lauren Gooderson and Chloe Hein.
Many of those girls also scored points in individual events to help Brossart win its seventh Class 1A girls state championship trophy last spring.
The local girls out to defend Class 1A state titles in individual events are Walton-Verona senior Maggie Buerger in discus, Lloyd senior Maddie Neary in high jump and St. Henry senior Lauren Kent in pole vault.
Returning state champions in Class 1A boys include Beechwood senior Nathan Howard in 110 hurdles, Lloyd senior Jake Davison in pole vault and Brossart seniors Tyler Twehues and Ryan Branch in relay events.
Davidson set a Class 1A record in the pole vault by clearing 15 feet, 6 inches at last year’s state meet. He was six inches shy of the overall state record of 16 feet set in 2003.
Walton-Verona basketball player makes college commitment
Brant Smithers, the leading scorer on the Walton-Verona boys basketball team the last three seasons, has made a commitment with West Virginia Tech, a program that competed in the 2022 NAIA national playoffs.
Brant Smithers
Smithers averaged 21.3 points and 3.8 rebounds for Walton-Verona last season and was named 8th Region Player of the Year by the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches as the top senior in that region.
That award includes an invitation to the Kentucky All Stars tryouts in April and makes him a candidate for Mr. Kentucky Basketball.
During Smithers’ senior season, Walton-Verona won the 8th Region All “A” Classic and finished with a 19-11 record. He scored a career-high 38 points in one of the team’s victories.
In his first two seasons as a varsity starter, Smithers averaged 19.6 and 19.8 points per game. He scored a total of 1,848 points in his varsity career.
Two local college basketball players enter NCAA transfer portal
Two former Northern Kentucky high school basketball players have announced they will enter the NCAA transfer portal and join new college teams next season.
Ryle graduate Maddie Scherr is leaving the University of Oregon women’s team after two seasons. The 2020 Miss Kentucky Basketball winner was a starting sophomore guard for the Ducks this season. She led the team in assists (102) and steals (46) while averaging 4.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Cooper graduate Sean McNeil is leaving the West Virginia University men’s team that he joined three years ago as a junior college transfer. He scored 900 points as a Mountaineer, averaging 10.1 points in 89 games, and made 155 3-point goals. He is a graduate student with one year of eligibility remaining.
