Dunbar girls, Woodford boys and multi-sport stars rule at region track and field meet

On the volleyball court, Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Isabela Haggard lines up at setter, the player who generally plants her feet to make solid passes to the team’s high-flying hitters.

But Haggard also suits up for the Bulldogs’ track and field team. And that’s when it becomes clear that maybe she doesn’t jump much in volleyball because she might jump out of the gym.

“She’s a phenomenal athlete,” Dunbar Coach Grayson Brookshire said. “It’s very exciting to get kids in a program like that because she elevates everything. She makes us better coaches and makes the team better, closer, makes the other athletes try harder — all of the above.”

On Saturday, Haggard defended her Class 3A, Region 6 titles in the high jump, triple jump and long jump and helped Dunbar’s girls dominate the 12-team field for its second straight region championship.

Meanwhile on the boys’ side, Woodford County claimed its first region track title since 2006 with steady performances throughout and wins from senior Grant Garrison in shot put and discus and Jackson Gray in the pole vault.

The top two finishers in each event from Saturday’s region championships at Great Crossing High School automatically qualify for the state championships in two weeks at the University of Kentucky.

Like Haggard and Garrison, who is committed to play football at Georgetown College, a number of the meet’s standouts are multi-sport athletes.

‘We think you’d be pretty good’

Just a sophomore, Haggard took up track and field in eighth grade after giving up gymnastics during the pandemic.

“My whole life, I’ve done a lot of sports,” said Haggard who started for the 11th Region champion and state runner-up Dunbar volleyball team last fall. “And the track coaches were like, ‘Hey you should come out. We think you’d be pretty good.’”

“Pretty good” turned into middle school state champ in the long jump and triple jump. Then last year, as a freshman at the Class 3A state meet, she won the long jump, finished second in the triple jump and came in fourth in the high jump.

But she’s not taking anything for granted this year.

“I was coming in with a competitive mindset and working on beating myself and not anyone else,” Haggard said.

Saturday night, Haggard was set to travel to Indianapolis to rejoin her KIVA 16 Red National volleyball team at the Indy Cup. She keeps a busy schedule with three track practices and two volleyball practices per week plus their competition schedules. She doesn’t seem to mind.

“It’s fun, but it’s a lot,” she acknowledged with a smile. “It’s hard on the body, but it’s mainly a mindset. I’m missing a volleyball tournament right now, but my team killed it. …

“They went three-for-three. I went three-for-three.”

Woodford wins with youth and experience

Woodford County’s boys’ team improved on its second-place finish last year as Coach Adam Swingle has developed the Yellow Jackets into a region champ.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” said sophomore sprinter Leland Taylor, who placed second in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes and was part of a third-place 4-by-200-meter relay team. “Last year, we came so close and just didn’t make it. So, this year, being able to accomplish that is great.”

With so much of this year’s success coming via sophomores, Swingle is excited about Woodford’s future, but he said the Yellow Jackets will miss Garrison’s steady presence and leadership.

“He started out his day by winning the regional championship in the unified shot put where he takes one of our guys (Demetrius Polk) who has a cognitive disability and helps him to go out there and be regional champion in that as well,” Swingle said. “He’s just a huge guy with a huge heart, and he stepped up when he needed to.”

Basketball greatness translates for Morton

George Rogers Clark’s Jerone Morton has already proven he’s a clutch player on the basketball court, given that he has a Boys’ Sweet 16 championship ring from a year ago.

Trying track this year, he proved clutch there as well, winning the 400-meter dash by just 0.4 seconds and then anchoring the Cardinals’ 4-by-400 meter relay to a win by a mere 0.02 seconds.

“I’m trying to stay in shape for basketball,” said Morton, who is signed to play hoops for Morehead State. “It’s a new thing, but I figure it’s my senior year, so I might as well come out here and try it.”

Morton fell to the ground at the finish of his 400 win over Dunbar’s Brock Kaczmarek.

“I did want it bad,” Morton said, explaining his tumble. “He beat my (seed) time, so I knew if I stayed in front of him, I’d be fine.”

Three wins for Dunbar sprinter

Paul Laurence Dunbar sophomore Kaylib Nelson took a year off from track, but he’s glad he chose to come back.

“I just love the sport of track. I mean if I’m good at it, I might as well do it,” he said.

Nelson won the 100 and 200 in times of :10.80 and :21.73, respectively. He also anchored the winning 4-by-100 meter relay, helping the Bulldogs overtake in the last few steps to win by a margin of 0.08 seconds.

“I’ve been taking the sport more seriously and had a lot of trainers help me and getting my conditioning right,” Nelson said. “I was just ready to run.”

Multi-sport Creekers

Tates Creek junior quarterback Andrew Witherington said his love for the 300-meter hurdles comes from the metaphor it represents.

“I like the idea of something in front of me trying to stop me from finishing,” said Witherington, who won the event Saturday after finishing second last year. “I’ve got to get over an obstacle. That’s my favorite thing about it.”

Commodores thrower Trinity Gottler, a state champion wrestler and defending region champ in discus and shot put, had to overcome the morning rain in her first event.

“The discus ring was puddles of water,” she said.

In the unusual position of being tied going into her last throw, Gottler said she worked on her fundamentals and just tried to relax for her final attempt.

“If you are trying to force it, it does not go good,” said Gottler, who won the discus with a toss of 120 feet, 6 inches, more than 5 feet farther than second place.

The rain stopped for shot put, which Gottler won with a distance of 40 feet, 11.50 inches.

Tates Creek senior Maiya Clark, signed to play soccer for the University of Alabama at Birmingham, suffered a knee injury in 2021.

Clark has largely been out of high school soccer since her freshman year, although she played club soccer with Racing Louisville and, now, Lexington Sporting Club. But when she returned to full health, she really wanted to return to track.

“I fell in love with the sport,” she said. “At first it was just to get extra conditioning in for soccer and maintain my speed, but I love the competition and my teammates all like a family.”

Clark qualified for state with a second-place finish in the 200 and as part of the first-place 4-by-200-meter relay.

In a good spot at Bryan Station

Bryan Station junior Sanaa Washington defended her region titles in the 100 and 200 and is looking to improve on her performance at state.

“I didn’t do too bad, but not to my potential,” Washington said of last year. Her best finish was third in the 200 at state. “This year, I feel more ready for it.”

When asked about first-year coach Glenn Wilson, Washington said she’s felt blessed under his leadership.

A former assistant track coach at Scott County and Great Crossing and the girls’ basketball coach for the Warhawks until this past season, Wilson took over at Bryan Station after the abrupt dismissal of longtime coach Kathy Dodsworth.

“It’s been a smooth transition,” Wilson said. “We’ve had to overcome a lot of obstacles, but the kids have accepted me and done well. They’ve worked hard.”

One of those obstacles came in the form of a fallen light pole that damaged part of Bryan Station’s track and football field during a windstorm this spring. Wilson estimated it damaged about 10 meters of track.

“We’ve just been running around it,” Wilson said. “At one point, we couldn’t use our facilities at all so we were running sprints in the parking lot. We did whatever we had to do.”

Bryan Station finished in a tie for third with Tates Creek’s girls’ team. Its boys’ team finished fourth.

Class 3A, Region 6 results

Top two finishers automatically qualify for state meet. Complete results online at KHSAA.org.

GIRLS

Teams: 1. Paul Laurence Dunbar 124; 2. Woodford County 77.50; 3. Tates Creek 66; 3. Bryan Station 66; 5. Frederick Douglass 57; 6. Lafayette 55.50; 7. Henry Clay 46; 8. Scott County 24; 9. George Rogers Clark 19; 10. Montgomery County 12; 11. Great Crossing 10; 12. Anderson County 1.

Individuals: 4-by-800 relay: 1. Dunbar (Anna Gedritis, Susanne Estepp, Mattie Finley, Natalie Seng), 10:04.26; 2. Lafayette (Leah Hukle, Caroline Fritz, Campbell Tippey, Ilianna Wilson). 100 hurdles: 1. Keira Antoni, Dunbar, 14.99; 2. Taniyah Hines, Bryan Station, 15.43. 100: 1. Sanaa Washington, Bryan Station, 12.36; 2. Maiya Clark, Tates Creek, 12.73. 4-by-200 relay: 1. Tates Creek (Lisa Baitey, Maiya Clark, Egypt Brooks, Keyonna Walker), 1:45.92; 2. Henry Clay (Addison Kenny, Makenna Rose, Olivia Sparks, Ainsley Wilson), 1:47.53. 1,600: 1. Addison Moore, Woodford County, 5:13.31; 2. Sophia Cahill, Lafayette, 5:20.82. 4-by-100 relay: 1. Tates Creek (Keyonna Walker, Maiya Clark, Egypt Brooks, Lisa Abaitey), 50.45; 2. Douglass (Sydney Roberts, Gabrielle Dobson, Treasure Newton, Dorian Wells), 50.90. 400: 1. Olivia Sparks, Henry Clay, 58.51; 2. Elise Edison, Great Crossing, 59.93. 300 hurdles: 1. Keira Antoni, Dunbar, 44.66; 2. Holland Kantar, Lafayette, 46.65. 800: 1. Addison Moore, Woodford County, 2:20.41; 2. Natalie Seng, Dunbar, 2:23.02. 200: 1. Sanaa Washington, Bryan Station, 25.10; 2. Olivia Sparks, Henry Clay, 25.33. 3,200: 1. Anna Gedritis, Dunbar, 11:25.28; 2. Susanne Estepp, Dunbar, 11:51.63. 4-by-400 relay: 1. Woodford County (Sophie Paul, Avalynne Goins, Gabby Gampper, Addison Moore), 4:09.12; 2. Henry Clay (Addison Kenny, Olivia Sparks, Janna Whaley, Ainsley Wilson), 4:11.18. Shot put: 1. Trinity Gottler, Tates Creek, 40-0.5; 2. Skylar Vaught, Dunbar, 33-10. Discus: 1. Trinity Gottler, Tates Creek, 120-06; 2. Skylar Vaught, Dunbar, 115-03. Long jump: 1. Isabela Haggard, Dunbar, 17-00.50; 2. Annie Somwe, Bryan Station, 16-00.25. Triple jump: 1. Isabela Haggard, Dunbar, 35-03; 2. Gabrielle Dobson, Douglass, 34-11.50. High jump: 1. Isabella Haggard, Dunbar, 5-00*, 2. Reece Patrick, George Rogers Clark, 5-00; Pole vault: 1. Lacy Willoughby, Montgomery County, 12-02; 2. Hollyn Renfro, Henry Clay, 11-06.

BOYS

Teams: 1. Woodford County 91; 2. George Rogers Clark 83; 3. Paul Laurence Dunbar 67; 4. Bryan Station 60; 5. Tates Creek 58; 6. Scott County 50; 7. Lafayette 43; 8. Great Crossing 39; 9. Frederick Douglass 38; 10. Montgomery County 14; 11. Henry Clay 13; 12. Anderson County 2.

Individuals: 4-by-800 relay: 1. Tates Creek (Dajon Fielder, Philip Lamartiniere, Forrest Gago, Jacob Schwigardt), 8:21.06; 2. Lafayette (Reed Richardson, Jake Hanson, Xavier Richardson, James Ndayishimiye), 8:29.98. 110 hurdles: Ayden Martin, Scott County, 16.28; 2. Corbin Ison, Clark, 16.44. 100: 1. Kaylib Nelson, Dunbar, 10.80; 2. Leland Taylor, Woodford County, 10.89. 4-by-200 relay: 1. Scott County (Danny Armstrong, Timmy Emongo, Ayden Martin, Buddy Collins), 1:31.63; 2. Bryan Station (David Monsengo, Damin Green, Damond Green, Javari Burnett), 1:31.66. 1,600: 1. Philip Lamartiniere, Tates Creek, 4:23.49; 2. Ryan Hendrix, Woodford County (4:24.75). 4-by-100 relay: 1. Dunbar (Lance Hixson, Ronan Bavishi, Emmanuel Illunga, Kaylib Nelson), 43.04; 2. Great Crossing (Treyvon Campbell, Jermiah Clark, Caden Seater, Isaiah Johnson), 43.12. 400: 1. Jerone Morton, Clark, 51.20; 2. Brock Kaczmarek, Dunbar, 51.61. 300 hurdles: 1. Andrew Witherington, Tates Creek, 41.47; 2. Montae Ashford, Bryan Station, 41.91. 800: 1. Liam Parido, Clark, 2:00.67; 2. Carter Russell, Great Crossing, 2:01.00. 200: 1. Kaylib Nelson, Dunbar, 21.73; 2. Leland Taylor, Woodford County, 22.17. 3,200: 1. Noah Mathews, Dunbar, 9:29.53; 2. James Ndayishimiye, Lafayette, 9:35.64. 4-by-400 relay: 1. Clark (Liam Parido, Josh Wilson, Corbin Ison, Jerone Morton), 3:33.89; 2. Douglass (Eugene Aboagye, Eliya Galuma, Keyshawn Denton, Isaiah Spears), 3:33.91. Shot put: 1. Grant Garrison, Woodford County, 49-00; 2. Casey Hurr, Lafayette, 47-03. Discus: 1. Grant Garrison, Woodford County, 149-03; 2. Casey Hurr, Lafayette, 140-07; Long jump: 1. Joey Hill, Clark, 21-07.50; 2. Tyleik Maxwell, Clark, 21-06. Triple jump: 1. Bryson Carpenter, Bryan Station, 44-01; 2. Tyleik Maxwell, Clark, 40-08. High jump: 1. Bryson Carpenter, Bryan Station, 6-04*; 2. Tyleik Maxwell, Clark, 6-04. Pole vault: 1. Jackson Gray, Woodford County, 13-06; 2. Rodney Potts, Montgomery County, 13-00.

*Tie broken by fewest failed attempts.