SPORTS
DECEMBER 29, 2011 • CCF RECORDER • A5
Editor: Melanie Laughman, mlaughman@communitypress.com, 513-248-7573
HIGH SCHOOL | YOUTH | RECREATIONAL
PRESS PREPS HIGHLIGHTS By James Weber jweber@nky.com
Bowling
» According to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, in its first year as a KHSAA championship sanctioned sport, 80 schools are fielding bowling squads this year. This total is up from 54 schools when it was offered as a non-sanctioned club sport. Bowling, classified as a winter sport with a season that began the week of Nov. 28, will crown its first state champions at the Ebonite/KHSAA State Bowling Championships on the weekend of March 23-24 at Executive Bowl in Louisville. Sixteen Northern Kentucky schools are taking part this season, which is down from last year as four schools who had club teams weren’t able to field a varsity program. Teams are off from competition until Jan. 5.
Boys basketball
• Campbell County beat Highlands 62-36 Dec. 21. Nate McGovney scored 27 points for the Camels (6-3). • Brossart beat Deming 73-34 to improve to 8-0. • Highlands beat Bellevue 8539 on Dec. 22. • Newport beat Lloyd 75-60 to improve to 75-60.
Girls basketball
• Brossart beat Mason County 73-58 to improve to 9-2 on Dec. 21. Abby Stadtmiller had 24 points.
College updates
• Thomas More College junior guard Allison Long (Hebron, Ky./Conner) was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for Dec. 19. Long led the 17th-ranked Saints to their sixth consecutive win last week, as she posted a career-high 25 points along with five rebounds and a pair of assists as Thomas More recorded a 78-62 win over North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) member Wittenberg University in a non-conference game. • Thomas More College senior midfielder Alex Oeswein (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) became the first-ever men’s soccer student-athlete to be named All-American as he was named to the 2011 National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) All-American Teams. Oeswein, who was named the 2011 Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Player of the Year, was named to the AllAmerican Second Team. He led the team in scoring with 48 points on a team-high 20 goals and a team-high eight assists. Oeswein also recorded three hat tricks in 19 games played in 2011. Oeswein and the rest of the Saints finished the season 16-2-1 overall and 8-0 in the PAC to win their second PAC regular season title in three years. The Saints also won the PAC Championship Tournament title for the third straight year and advanced to the NCAA Division III Championship for the third straight year. • Northern Kentucky University’s Amanda Mason was named to the Daktronics NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer AllAmerica first team. Mason, a senior midfielder from Cincinnati, Ohio, was the lynchpin of the Norse offense, scoring 15 goals and adding 13 assists for a total of 43 points to lead the team and the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Her exploits led the Norse to a 16-2-2 overall record and a trip to the NCAA Midwest Region championship game for the second time in three years.
COMMUNITY
RECORDER
CommunityPress.com
2011 a big year for Campbell County sports A look at 2011 in review By James Weber jweber@nky.com
This past calendar year was a memorable one for local athletics in Campbell County. Here is a look at some of the top stories of the year, in no particular order. The emphasis is on high school postseason accomplishments for this story. We could fill a book with all the regular-season highlights, personal records, college signings, youth titles, etc., so this is just a post-Christmas sampling:
State superlatives
» Highlands won the Class 4A state football championship Dec. 3 with a 42-14 win over FranklinSimpson. The Bluebirds won a state title for the fifth straight year, tying a state record, and also tied Trinity with their 21st overall championship. The Bluebirds set a number of offensive records during the year, including total points (849). Patrick Towles threw for 3,820 yards and 42 touchdowns with just one interception and became the school’s second Mr. Football honoree. Austin Sheehan set a national record with 34.9 yards per reception and had 1,013 yards this year overall. » NCC won the Ninth Region girls championship in girls basketball. NCC lost to Calloway County in overtime in the first round of the Sweet 16. » Campbell County’s Garth Yenter won the state championship at 103 pounds with a 10-1 win over Walton-Verona rival Clay Brown. Yenter and Mason Franck won regional titles. Franck was state runner-up at 285. Sean Fausz was state runner-up at 119. Paul Hamilton and Eric Spahr won state medals. » Highlands’ Conner Downard won the state championship in the 500-yard freestyle Feb. 26. Evan Duckworth won his fourth medal in diving. Carly Hill won her third state diving medal and was regional champion. » NCC won the Ninth Region in baseball, ousting Conner 3-2 in the final. NCC went to the state quarterfinals and finished 26-10. Jake Cain was named Ninth Region Player of the Year and first team all-state. »NCC won its third straight team state championship in the 1A girls track meet. The 4x400 relay won for the seventh straight
Highlands QB Patrick Towles on a keeper near the goal line during the playoffs. FILE year, with Kiley Bartels, Madison Little, Morgan Dubuc and Aubrey Muench. The 4x200 also won state with Muench anchoring Dubuc, Bartels and Chandler Cain. » Highlands won its fourth straight state championship in 2A girls track. Lindsey Scaggs won the pole vault and led off the 4x100 and 4x200 state champs. Jordan Earlywine and Maria Weyer ran both relays. Sydney Watson ran the 4x1 and Caroline Newman the 4x2. Ashley Collinsworth won the 100 at state. »Campbell County’s Anna Carrigan graduated with nine state titles in track, anchoring the 4x400 relay and winning the individual 400 this year. Christina Heilman, Carolynn Dreyer and Faith Roaden were on the relay. » Brossart won the 4x800 relay at the 1A boys state meet, with Zac Holtkamp, Michael Caldwell, Jack Foster and Brett Evans. Melanie Fleissner won the girls 100 hurdles at state. » Newport qualified five wrestlers to the state meet. Jamie Oroke finished eighth in the state at 152. » Brossart qualified two wrestlers to the state meet. »Highlands junior Drew Freyberger won the 10th Region boys singles tennis title. Meredith Laskey, now a freshman, won her third straight girls singles title. Carrie Laskey earned All-State honors and won the state’s Forcht Group of Kentucky Sportsman-
ship Award. »NCC boys soccer won its first district title in four years and reached the round of 16 at the state tournament after winning the 10th Region. » NCC’s boys cross country team had its best regional finish in 29 years, finishing second in 1A. » Highlands’ Lauren Ossege won the 2A girls regional title in cross country and finished third at state.
Others
» Northern Kentucky University announced in December it would move up to NCAA Division I for the 2012-13 academic year and join the Atlantic Sun Conference. » The Thomas More College women’s basketball team went 30-1 and lost in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. At times during the past season, they were ranked No. 1 in the nation in Division III. »The KHSAA sanctioned bowling as a championship sport starting with this school year. Campbell County won the state championship in boys bowling at the club level in 2011. » Bishop Brossart made its eighth trip to the All “A” state boys basketball tournament in nine years. Brossart lost to West Carter in overtime in the first round. » Newport Central Catholic
went to the All “A” state boys basketball tournament and lost to DeSales in the semifinals. NCC’s girls team also lost in the semis, falling to Monroe County. » Campbell County won the 37th District in girls basketball for the third time in four years. » The Campbell County Sportsman of the Year was Zac Holtkamp and Sportswoman of the Year was Allie Conner of Highlands in voting conducted by readers. The award combined onfield and off-field strengths. » Thomas More football went 9-2, repeated as Presidents’ Athletic Conference champions, and lost in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. » NCC qualified as a team for the boys golf state tournament for the first time in school history. » Campbell County won its first football district championship in 31 years, going 3-1 in the 6A district. Campbell beat Ryle 27-20 for its first win over the Raiders in 10 years to win the title. Campbell reached the second round of the playoffs and finished 4-8. The home playoff games were the team’s first at least 17 years. »NCC football won the 2A, District 6 title. NCC lost in the regional final to Holy Cross. » NCC volleyball won its sixth straight 10th Region championship and lost in the state quarterfinals.
THE YEAR IN QUOTES “We tell them the Ninth Region games are fine and dandy, but we want to win every 10th Region game on our schedule. We have to keep developing.” Campbell County girls basketball coach Ed Cravens on the team’s 12-0 start in 2010. “Andy Miller played the best game he ever played. He has practiced better than anybody. He’s stepping up to the plate and he showed it tonight.” NCC boys basketball coach Grant Brannen on his junior’s play in the 2011 All “A” Classic. “This is the loudest I’ve ever heard the gym. It was a great experience.” Brossart basketball player Zach Fardo on the team’s home
win over NCC in January “Becca’s a warrior. When the chips are down, she is going to take the big shot. She’s the leader of this team. She’s our heartbeat.” Brossart girls basketball coach Josh Feldmann on 2011 graduate Becca Kidney
play in the world, but you got to knock the shots down, and she did. She’s done that all year, her whole career actually.” NCC girls basketball coach Ron Dawn on 2011 graduate Hannah Thiem
“I never would have dreamed in a million years I would be standing here today. My coaches always knew I could do it.” Highlands’ Conner Downard on winning a swimming state title in the 500 freestyle
“He is absolutely hammering the ball to all fields. It doesn’t matter where you pitch him. He’s hitting about .700. It’s not a soft .700; it’s lasers left and right.” Campbell County HS baseball coach Scott Schweitzer on Jake Rebholz’s hot start to the 2011 season.
“We had two or three sets strictly for Hannah to get a three, and she knocked them down. You can run the greatest
“I was so pumped up. My adrenaline is racing. This is my senior year, and to beat St. Henry is huge. I want to win this really
bad.” NCC softball pitcher Danielle Hausfeld on winning the All “A” regional in April. “It’s one of those things, I tell the guys you got to play every pitch like it’s your last pitch because you never know.” Campbell County HS baseball coach Scott Schweitzer on 2011 graduate Corey Cox, who injured his knee during horseplay. “We put our entire hearts into it because with these graduating seniors I owed it to them to do my job and get the baton to Anna (Carrigan) in first place.” Campbell County HS track athlete Christina Heilman on the team’s fourth state title in a row in the 4x400 relay.