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Prep Sports Notebook: Dixie Heights mini-team places fourth in girls state swim meet standings


By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter

Dixie Heights placed fourth in the girls state swimming and diving meet on Friday with four swimmers doing all of the scoring for the Colonels.

Louisville Sacred Heart dominated the girls state meet at the University of Kentucky, winning eight of 12 events and topping the team standings with 503 points. Dixie Heights was fourth with 139 points.

Dixie Heights swimmers with fourth-place trophy. (Photo from Dixie Swimming)

The Colonels opened the meet with a third-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. The four swimmers in that race were seniors Kenady Beil and Selina Reil, sophomore Mackenzie Tucker and seventh-grader Dahlia Kissel.

That same foursome finished fifth in the 400 freestyle relay at the end of the meet. In between those two races, three of the Dixie Heights swimmers scored 88 points in six individual events.

Beil placed second in the 200 freestyle and Reil placed second in the 500 freestyle. In both of those events, Mackenzie Lanning of Sacred Heart came from behind to win by a fraction of a second.

Beil also placed third in the 100 butterfly and Reil placed eighth in the 100 breaststroke. Tucker had a pair of ninth-place finishes in the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly.

Three freshmen from local schools also did well in the championship heats. Lainy Kruger of Notre Dame placed second in the 100 breaststroke and third in the 200 individual medley. Emma Littrell of St. Henry placed third in the 100 freestyle.

Brossart basketball player named 10th Region Player of the Year

Bishop Brossart junior forward Marie Kiefer was voted Player of the Year by 10th Region girls basketball coaches after finishing the regular season as the top scorer and rebounder in the region.

Marie Kiefer

Kiefer enters the post-season playoffs averaging 17.6 points and 10.1 rebounds for the 23-4 Mustangs. She also ranks second in the region in field goal percentage (54.9) and blocks (108).

Campbell County senior guard Mallory Holbrook and Scott junior forward Sofia Allen were also voted first-team all-region by the coaches. Campbell County senior guard Jalyn Jackson was a second-team selection and sophomore teammate Kylie Koeninger made the third team.  

Three players from Simon Kenton and two from Walton-Verona were among the top 16 vote-getters on the All-8th Region Team.

Simon Kenton senior guard Maggi Jones was second in the voting behind Olivia Federle of Collins, who was named Player of the Year. The other local players on the all-region list were No. 5 Emma Strunk of Walton-Verona, No. 6 Morgan Stamper of Simon Kenton, No. 8 Mattie Vickers of Simon Kenton and No. 16 Haylee Neeley of Walton-Verona.

Jeff Stowers of Simon Kenton was named Coach of the Year. His team is ranked No. 2 in the state with a 26-3 record. The only local player on the All-8th Region boys team was Simon Kenton guard Kelly Niece.

Mayer joins list of CovCath players to receive That’s My Boy Award

Michael Mayer became the third Covington Catholic football player in the last four years to win the Brian Williams That’s My Boy Award at the Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the National Football Foundation banquet on Thursday at the Manor House in Mason, Ohio.

Michael Mayer

A rating system that awards points for achievements in football, academics and community service is used to determine the award-winner.

Mayer was named Mr. Kentucky Football by the Associated Press for being the leading scorer, pass receiver and tackler on CovCath’s undefeated Class 5A state championship team. He was recruited by the University of Notre Dame to play tight end.

The other finalists for this year’s That’s My Boy Award were Ian Vallandingham of Ludlow, Jared Hicks of Conner and Caulyn Asher of Dayton.

The two previous award-winners from CovCath were Jack Coldiron in 2019 and Hunter Ziegelmeyer in 2017.


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