Tiger boys', girls' depth leads to region championship

Bardstown’s boys returned to the top of the heap in Tuesday’s Class 1A Region 3 team competitions, while Bardstown’s girls needed a strong performance in the final event of the day to edge runner-up Fort Knox by just five points.

“The girls stepped up when they needed to,” Bardstown coach Jeremy Dale said. “They knew they had to bring their ‘A’ game.”

Bardstown’s second-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay gave the Tigers enough points to fend off Fort Knox, 147-142. Bethlehem’s girls placed sixth overall. In all, the Tiger girls won region titles in four events and had 10 automatic qualifiers for next week’s Class 1A State Championships at the University of Louisville.

In boys’ competition, Bardstown outpaced runner-up Fort Knox 142-114 to win comfortably. Bethlehem’s boys placed eighth.

Bardstown junior Victoria Yocum was a dominating presence at the meet, sweeping the girls’ sprint events and coming up with a big run in the 4x400 to help the Tigers place second in that event.

“She thrives in that competitive environment,” Dale said.

Samantha Bowling grabbed Bardstown’s other first, winning the pole vault.

In all, runner-up Fort Knox and third-place Holy Cross had more event wins (six) than Bardstown (four), but with six other runner-up finishes and solid scoring all over the meet, the Tigers were able to claim the crown.

“It was just an all-around strong day,” Dale said, noting that several Tiger athletes finished with marks that should qualify them for at-large state entries.

Other big efforts included the one from Caprisha Green, who broke the school record with her 98-00 discus toss, placing second in the region, and also placed third in the shot put. In addition to Green’s big day, Tiger girls had 11 runner-up or third-place finishes.

Sarah Beth Hayden posted Bethlehem’s best result, finishing third in the long jump.

The Bardstown boys had eight automatic qualifiers, led by senior Justin Hubbard, who cleared 6-04 to win the high jump, was second in the triple jump and placed third in the long jump. Ben Beam won the pole vault, clearing 12-00, and the Tigers’ 4x800 relay squad also won.

Just as in the girls’ competition, the Tiger boys had fewer first-place finishes than runner-up Fort Knox (five) and third-place Holy Cross (seven), but did enough damage anyway, picking up points all over the board.

“We talked to them as a team before the meet and said, ‘my challenge to you is to finish one spot higher than what you’re supposed to,’” Dale said. “A lot of those kids did.”

Sophomore Dallan Goldring, for example, was runner-up in the 110 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles, despite this being his first season competing in the event. He also placed third in the triple jump.

“The boys just stepped up all around,” Dale said.

Couretesy of Peter W. Zubaty and the Kentucky Standard