‘It’s so crazy.’ Kentucky high school wins its first team state title in any boys’ sport.

Walton-Verona’s boys finished fourth as a team in the Class A, Region 4 track and field championship meet last week. Regardless, head coach Phil Amstutz believed the state qualifiers he was bringing to Lexington could leave with a title trophy.

The Bearcats turned faith into reality Thursday when they scrapped their way to the Clark’s Pump and Shop KHSAA Track and Field State Class A championship. They created just enough separation amid a crowded field of team challengers to win their school’s first team title in a boys’ sport.

“We just had all sorts of guys show up on the day you needed them to show up,” Amstutz said.

Bishop Brossart, who cruised to the Region 4 team win with 157 points to Walton-Verona’s 78, finished third in the team standings behind Collegiate. Getting the better of their Northern Kentucky rival — in relays, particularly — was a point of emphasis and motivation for the Bearcats in the week leading up to state.

Throughout the season, the Bearcats failed to get much traction against the Mustangs in relays. They saved their top runners for the end of races, and usually found themselves trying to play catch-up.

“Both of our sprint relays, we shifted up our usual order,” said Grady Shay, one of the Bearcats’ two seniors. “Our goal was to beat Brossart.”

Their 4-by-100 relay team usually is anchored by Jackson Smith, a junior speedster who won the 100- and 200-meter titles. On Thursday, Smith ran the second leg of that team and Grady anchored that relay.

The Bearcats finished second. The Mustangs were seventh.

“We wanted to get in their heads early,” Shay said. “I can’t even imagine what their second leg was thinking, watching Jackson Smith, 100-meter champion, lining up next to him.”

Shay, usually the third leg of the 4-by-200 team, opened that race with Smith in his usual anchor spot. The Bearcats won that race, in which Bishop Brossart also finished seventh.

“It’s so crazy how perfectly it worked out,” Shay said. “We ran our best 4-by-200 by about two seconds. It’s mind-blowing to see how much change can happen from a simple mixing of the order.”

Dominant Beechwood

While the boys’ title hung in the balance until the final events, the girls’ honor was easier to see coming by the middle of the day.

Beechwood finished with an even 100, more than 30 points ahead of runner-up Bishop Brossart, to win its second girls’ team title and first since 2019.

Freshman Lily Parke was part of the Tigers’ winning 4-by-100 relay team, finished second in the 1,600 and placed third in the 800. She was the top finisher for the Tigers’ Class A champion cross country squad in the fall and projects as the top returning girls’ distance runner in the class for the foreseeable future.

How’s this victory measure up to the fall variety?

“It feels like there’s a lot more pieces to get here, so a lot more people,” Parke said. “It was a lot more fun, too.”

The Tigers figure to keep having fun: None of the girls who ran for them Thursday were seniors.

LCA’s day

Three event wins helped Lexington Christian Academy’s girls repeat their third-place team finish from a year ago.

The Eagles’ 4-by-800 relay team kicked off the meet with a convincing victory over Beechwood — their quartet bettered the Tigers’ team by about 16 seconds — before securing victories in the 400- and 800-meter runs later in the day. Liliane Hutchinson, a senior, won the 400 and was part of the winning relay team.

Lillian Samford, a senior who was also part of the relay win, was right on the heels of teammate Annie Sewell, a freshman who won the 800.

“It’s good to see all our hard work pay off,” Samford said.

Hutchinson finished runner-up in last year’s 400 by less than a second. She was seeded third coming into the day but was confident she’d be able to win.

“I just had to push it down the home stretch, that’s where I got beat last year,” Hutchinson said with a laugh. “That was a little extra motivation.”

Central Kentucky standouts

Briley Cline was the only sprinter who competed for Paris. The junior’s wins in the 100- and 200-meter dashes comprised the bulk of the Greyhounds’ 22 points on the day, allowing them to finish just outside the top 10 team finishers.

Her time in the 100 — 12.20 seconds — matched a meet record set in 1980 by Todd County Central’s Angela Payne, and her 200 time (:24.93) was a PR and just shy of the meet record.

Not bad at all for someone who barely raced in the spring season due to a hamstring injury during her last indoor meet.

“It’s still not completely healed, but it’s good enough for me to run,” Cline said. “So I just pushed through it.”

Frankfort junior Katie Norman defended her title in the 300-meter hurdles and was second to Cline in the 100. Norman managed a sixth-place finish in the 200, contested about 30 minutes after the completion of the hurdles race.

She said she’s always more nervous for the region meet — in which she ran a seed time below her standards — than state.

“Every year, it sounds so bad, I always do not my best at regions because I’m so nervous,” Norman said. “ … Once you get here, it’s now or nothing. There’s not as much pressure, because people don’t always expect you to win so it becomes more of a ‘prove ’em wrong’ thing. For regions, you’ve gotta qualify or you can’t go.”

Class A results

BOYS

Top 20 teams: 1. Walton-Verona 64; 2. Collegiate 56; 3. Bishop Brossart 53.5; 4. St. Henry 48; 5. University Heights 47; 6. Green County; 7. Beechwood 40; 8. Fort Campbell 37; t9. Murray 28; t9. Williamsburg 28; 11. Louisville Holy Cross 25; 12. Bethlehem 22; 13. Raceland 21; t14. Mayfield 16; t14. Pikeville 16; t16. Danville Christian 12; t16. Shelby Valley 12; 18. Leslie County 10; 19. Fort Knox 9; t20. Hancock County 8; t20. Kentucky Country Day 8; t20. Somerset 8.

Top Individuals: 4-by-800 relay: 1. Bishop Brossart (Ryan Clines, Brennen Callahan, Nick Heck, Nathan Ruth) 8:18.57; 2. Walton-Verona (Wyatt Shearer, Logan Pronk, Seth Cockrell, Carson Milner) 8:23.26; 3. St. Henry (Lake Durrett, Dixon Ryan, Jeff Stewart, Sam B. Baker) 8:24.67; 110 hurdles: 1. Grady Shay, Walton-Verona, 15.32; 2. Julien Veliquette, Collegiate, 15.45; 3. Mason Meyer, Bishop Brossart, 15.68; 100: 1. Jackson Smith, Walton-Verona, 11.07; 2. Luke Erdman, Beechwood, 11.12; 3. Jutoriaus Starks, Mayfield, 11.19; 4-by-200 relay: 1. Walton-Verona (Hunter League, Tyson Smith, Grady Shay, Jackson Smith) 1:31.49; 2. University Heights (Cam Brown, Clayton Lester, Griffin McCoy, Trey Wallace) 1:32.00; 3. Fort Campbell (Mateo Cerritos Gatto, Maurice Moore, McKenzie Andrews, Robert Federovich) 1:32.57; 1,600: 1. Roman Sierpina, Collegiate, 4:24.11; 2. Cole Glover, University Heights, 4:26.39; 3. James Gurley, Collegiate, 4:26.40; 4-by-100 relay: 1. Mayfield (Mehki Dumas, Jutoriaus Starks, Xavier Biggers, Brajone Dabney) 43.75; 2. Walton-Verona (Hunter League, Tyson Smith, Grady Shay, Jackson Smith) 43.76; 3. Raceland (Christian Waugh, Cameron Bell, Brody Austin, Ty Tyson) 44.50; 400: 1. Maurice Moore, Fort Campbell, 49.32; 2. Emmanuel Dut, Danville Christian, 49.89; 3. Cam Brown, University Heights, 50.30; 300 hurdles: 1. Oliver Veliquette, Collegiate, 40.53; 2. Josh Brockman, St. Henry, 40.63; 3. James Noble, St. Henry, 42.05; 800: 1. Triston Key, Holy Cross, 1:55.50; 2. Guervenson Binfie, Murray, 1:58.46; 3. Garrett Scott, Cumberland County, 1:58.88; 200: 1. Jackson Smith, Walton-Verona, 22.18; 2. Luke Erdman, Beechwood, 22.25; 3. Keith Hadley, Holy Cross, 22.55; 3,200: 1. Roman Sierpina, Collegiate, 9:44.71; 2. James Gurley, Collegiate, 9:57.89; 3. Cole Glover, University Heights, 10:00.19; 4-by-400 relay: 1. University Heights (Cam Brown, Clayton Lester, Griffin McCoy, Trey Wallace) 3:29.28; 2. Fort Campbell (Samuel Atoubi, Mateo Cerritos Gatto, Robert Federovich, Maurice Moore) 3:33.34; 3. Green County (Gage Bale, Jake Bishop, Jayden Marr, Jullian Seymour) 3:33.56.

GIRLS

Top 20 teams: 1. Beechwood 100; 2. Bishop Brossart 68; 3. Lexington Christian 52; 4. Walden 46; 5. Collegiate 40; 6. Murray 39.5; 7. Leslie County 37; 8. Williamsburg 28.5; t9. St. Henry 28, Frankfort 28; 11. Monroe County 24; 12. Paris 22; t13. Russellville 20; t13. Green County 20; 15. Trimble County 16; t16. Pikeville 13; t16. Lee County 13; 18. Newport 12.5; 19. Brown 12; t20. Somerset 10; t20. Raceland 10; t20. Kentucky Country Day 10.

Top Individuals: 4-by-800 relay: 1. Lexington Christian (Hannah Seamands, Lillian Samford, Annalise Randes, Annie Sewell) 9:48.75; 2. Beechwood (Lana Holt, Catie Hazzard, Charlie Gerrein, Lily Parke) 10:04.41; 3. Bishop Brossart (Alia Thomas, Hannah Kramer, Peyton Trauth, Amy Klocke) 10:18.13; 100 hurdles: 1. Layla Green, Murray, 15.27; 2. Natalie Svidal, Walden, 15.44; 3. Sophie Maynard, Raceland, 15.75; 100: 1. Briley Cline, Paris, 12.20; 2. Katie Norman, Frankfort, 12.46; 3. Katie Kocan, Beechwood, 12.53; 4-by-200 relay: 1. Beechwood (Maddy Brauch, Maryah Counts, Lana Holt, Katie Kocan) 1:45.81; 2. Murray (Canyon Bourque, Layla Green, Kaydence Kindle, Kendyll English) 1:47.99; 3. Brown (Taylor Morris, Chabely Perez Tolon, Trista Morris, Peyton Jones) 1:48.51; 1,600: 1. Haley Schoenegge, Kentucky Country Day, 5:16.43; 2. Lily Parke, Beechwood, 5:18.28; 3. Kinley Kunkel, Trimble County, 5:21.02; 4-by-100 relay: 1. Bishop Brossart (Zoey Woosley, Hayley Hickman, Lauren Gooderson, Chloe Hein) 50.36; 2. Beechwood (Maddy Brauch, Rylie Kidman, Katie Kocan, Grace Mooney) 51.19; 3. Russellville (Jermani Morris, Jaeda Poindexter, Akiah Bell, Amiyah Collier) 51.24; 400: 1. Lilianne Hutchins, Lexington Christian, 59.97; 2. Maddy Brauch, Beechwood, 1:00.31; 3. Maryah Counts, Beechwood, 1:00.72; 300 hurdles: 1. Katie Norman, Frankfort, 44.93; 2. Layla Green, Murray, 45.59; 3. Hayley Smith, Leslie County, 47.08; 800: 1. Annie Sewell, Lexington Christian, 2:19.18; 2. Lillian Samford, Lexington Christian, 2:21.30; Lily Parke, Beechwood, 2:22.17; 200: 1. Briley Cline, Paris, 24.93; 2. Chloe Hein, Bishop Brossart, 25.57; 3. Katie Kocan, Beechwood, 25.99; 3,200: 1. Kinley Kunkel, Trimble County, 11:42.01; 2. Nora Wilke, Beechwood, 12:02.11; 3. Isabel Ginter, Beechwood, 12:04.57; 4-by-400 relay: 1. Beechwood (Maddy Brauch, Maryah Counts, Lily Parke, Catie Hazzard) 4:11.10; 2. Leslie County (Hayley Smith, Jaelyn Johnson, Eden Melton, Gabriella Ostrander) 4:12.54; 3. Lexington Christian (Hannah Seamands, Annie Sewell, Lilly Meyer, Lilianne Hutchinson) 4:14.22.

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