LEXINGTON, KY — Beechwood senior Brody Aylor almost couldn’t believe that he had won the Class 1A 200-meter dash state title, even though he ran in the second of three heats.
His time of 22.73 not only tied his personal best, it was 0.03 seconds better than Lexington Christian’s Paxton Gray, bringing home 10 points for the Tigers.
“My coaches were telling me that anything can happen at state. There’s nothing guaranteed, ever. My teammate Nate (Pabst) got sixth place (in the 100-meter dash) out of the second heat so I knew it was possible,” Aylor said. “It just took me a while to register that I just won from the second heat.”
Aylor was one of the most valuable athletes for the Beechwood boys team as it scored 63 points to win its second team state title in three years.
“I think we just had a lot of great energy. We had some veterans and we’ve had some rookies, and a lot of them played football together, and so they just had a camaraderie,” head coach Marsha Parke said. “Everyone showed up today and they did it for each other.”
Parke is in her second season as the track coach and estimates that she has coached 90 percent of the team, boys and girls, since they were running cross country in elementary school.
The Tigers got the day started with a victory as Braxton Lindloff, Elihah Muck, Gannon Parke and Charlie Skeen claimed the 4×800 meter title in 8:27.88. They were never lower than second place at any point. Even after taking third place at the regional meet, they knew that anything was possible in Thursday’s soggy conditions.
“We were like, ‘Everyone’s in this rain. We just gotta fight it out. Thug it out.’ And we did. Everyone put their heart on that line, did it for the whole team,” Gannon Parke said.
The time was a 10-second improvement on their regional performance.
Immediately after taking third place in the 100-meter dash, Aylor anchored the 4×200 meter relay team to a runner-up finish, nearly catching Danville. Running the final leg of the 4×100 meter relay, he overcame a narrow deficit to edge Glasgow and Campbellsville at the line, giving Beechwood its second relay title of the day and their third straight 4×100 state title.
“It’s just really rewarding. We’ve worked our butts off these past three, four years, just putting relay handoffs, things teams don’t really like to do, and it pays off in the end,” Pabst said.
The Tigers had two boys field results: Dylan Topmiller took fourth place in the high jump and Carson Eshelman took sixth place in the discus.
The Bishop Brossart boys were the team runner-up with 41 points. Top finishes included the 4×800 and 4×400 meter relay teams taking second place, Logan Blau’s runner-up finish in the 110-meter hurdles, Justin Bezold’s second place finish in the pole vault and Kyle Piscitello’s third place finish in the 400-meter dash.
Lily Parke, Caroline Nordman lead Beechwood girls to second place finish
The night before the state meet, Marsha Parke asked her daughter Lily if she could believe she was running her state meet and closing her high school career on her future home track.
Lily didn’t want to think about it in the moment. After winning her third straight 1,600-meter and 800-meter state titles, the two reconnected with slightly different feelings.
“I was like, Congratulations! I’m so proud of you. This is your home track.’ And she said, “I’m so excited!'” Marsha said.
It was an abbreviated outdoor season for the University of Kentucky commit after she cut her indoor season short, but she successfully defended her titles, graduating from Beechwood with 12 state titles between cross country, indoor and outdoor track.
“It’s been an awesome four years, honestly,” Lily said.
Over the last few months, Parke has worked to hone her speed in the final lap of her events. She said the countless 300-meter, 200-meter and 150-meter repeats were what helped her to pull away from Lexington Catholic’s Kennedy Moughamian.
Speaking of speed, junior Caroline Nordman won two state titles for the second year in a row and scored a total of 28 points for the Tigers, who finshed as the team runner-up with 77 points.
Nordman opened her day with a win in the 100-meter dash, an event where she was seeded seventh.
“My region time wasn’t great. I had a really bad start so it kind of did seed me back, but anything can happen in such a short race like that,” Nordman said.
In the 400-meter dash, Nordman did what she has done all season: win. Her second state title at the one-lap distance was never in doubt as she beat Floyd Central’s MaHayla Garcia by almost two seconds.
Going for her third title of the day, Nordman was edged out at the line by Kentucky Country Day’s Ellie Beam, who she had beaten in the 100-meter dash.
“I was kind of hoping to win the 200, so give and take,” Nordman said.
Bishop Brossart took third place as a team with 70 points. Thanks to the 4×200 meter relay state title and a second place finish in the 4×100 meter relay, Walton-Verona took fifth place with 33 points. St. Henry tied for sixth with 24 points and Newport Central Catholic rounded out the local teams in the top 10 with 19 points and an eighth place finish.
Ava Walters ends career with two more throwing titles
Bishop Brossart senior Ava Walters and Eastern Kentucky University commit won her third straight outdoor shot put state title by the thinnest of margins: one inch.
“It was pretty nerve-wracking. I was putting my all out there into all my throws, and (Russellville’s DeMyaih Allen) was a very good competitor,” Walters said.
Walters’ first three throws were shorter than Allen’s in the prelims, but she easily made the finals, where her fourth throw measured 38 feet, compared to Allen’s 37-11. In a field event where your longest throw determines your place, Walters made every inch count.
Her first title of the day came about in a slightly different manner. Wet discus and shot put circles can cause trepidation among throwers, not wanting to get injured while maximizing their strength in pursuit of a gold medal.
In one of the first events of the day, Walters’ first discus throw traveled 95 feet, 4 inches. Only four throwers cleared 100 feet in the first round.
“It was just a rough throw. I was like, ‘I can do it. I hopefully have five more, so it’ll be alright,'” Walters said.
Leaving any fear behind, and throwing in slightly better conditions, her next three throws all cleared 120 feet, including a mark of 133-9 that gave her back-to-back discus titles.
Bellevue’s Chloe Meyers took sixth place with a throw of 112-6 and Walton-Verona junior Ava Kendall took seventh place at 109-9.
Walters leaves Bishop Brossart with a total of six state titles and every throwing record in the books.
“I enjoyed it so much and I had so many people that supported me. I couldn’t have done anything that I’ve done without coach Schuh, coach Andy, my dad, my mom. I couldn’t list the amount of people that have been with me throughout this journey,” Walters said.
Which Northern Kentucky Class 1A track and field athletes finished on the podium?
Girls 4×800 meter relay: 2. Bishop Brossart (Tessa Hafer, Addison Geiman, Callie Ochsner, Larah Callahan); 3. Newport Central Catholic (Caroline Rust, Grace Mumper, Maggie West, Ava Willen); 6. Beechwood (Nora Wilke, Lupita Maldonado, Alex Reis, Lily Parke); 8. Villa Madonna (Norie Barker, Emily Barker, Abigail Ford, Jasmine Cozmancuic)
Boys 4×800 meter relay: 1. Beechwood (Gannon Parke, Elijah Muck, Braxton Lindloff, Charlie Skeen); 2. Bishop Brossart (Evan LaBeau, Parker Litmer, Owen Doyle, Adam Tarvin); 4. St. Henry (Bryson Colyer, Mason Dunwwody, Logan Vaniglia, Evan Parhad); 6. Newport Central Catholic (Grant Kevill, Ian Darnell, Harrison Rust, Colin Desmond)
Girls 100-meter hurdles: 6. Winter, Wyant, Beechwood
Boys 110-meter hurdles: 2. Logan Blau, Bishop Brossart
Girls 100-meter dash: 1. Caroline Nordman, Beechwood; 8. Morgan MacDonald, Holy Cross
Boys 100-meter dash: 3. Brody Aylor, Beechwood; 6. Nathan Pabst, Beechwood
Girls 4×200 meter relay: 1. Walton-Verona (Abrielle Hooten, Maci Pettit, Josie Holtzapple, Maggie Meyer); 3. Bishop Brossart (Brooke Lehman, Larah Callahan, Peyton Trauth, Mckinley Scott); 4. Beechwood (Avery Woolridge, Sarah Gigliotti, Ella Schneider, Olivia Schneider)
Boys 4×200 meter relay: 2. Beechwood (Nathan Pabst, Chase McDaniels, Westin Wyant, Brody Aylor)
Girls 1,600-meter run: 1. Lily Parke, Beechwood; 6. Abigail Ford, Villa Madonna
Boys 1,600-meter run: 8. Charlie Skeen, Beechwood
Girls 4×100 meter relay: 2. Walton-Verona (Abrielle Hooten, Maci Pettit, Josie Holtzapple, Maggie Meyer); 4. Holy Cross (Ava Dudderar, Jenna Pennington, Ava Pennington, Morgan MacDonald); 5. Beechwood (Avery Woolridge, Sarah Gigliotti, Emma Smith, Olivia Schneider); 7. Bishop Brossart (Brooke Lehman, Emma Ritter, Peyton Trauth, Mckinley Scott)
Boys 4×100 meter relay: 1. Beechwood (Nathan Pabst, Cole Hoskins, Chase McDaniels, Brody Aylor)
Girls 400-meter dash: 1. Caroline Nordman, Beechwood; 4. Jenna Pennington, Holy Cross; 7. Aubrey Bevan, Bishop Brossart
Boys 400-meter dash: 3. Kyle Piscitello, Bishop Brossart; 6. Emmanuel Addison, St. Henry; 7. Anderson Durrett, Beechwood
Girls 300-meter hurdles: 7. Josie Holtzapple, Walton-Verona; 8. Winter Wyant, Beechwood
Boys 300-meter hurdles: 2. Andrew Kowcheck, Walton-Verona; 3. Dakarai Minor, Bellevue; 7. Logan Blau, Bishop Brossart
Girls 800-meter run: 1. Lily Parke, Beechwood; 4. Norie Barker, Villa Madonna; 5. Larah Callahan, Bishop Brossart; 6. Maggie West, Newport Central Catholic
Boys 800-meter run: 6. Grant Kevill, Newport Central Catholic; 7. Adam Tarvin, Bishop Brossart
Girls 200-meter dash: 2. Caroline Nordman, Beechwood; 3. Maggie Meyer, Walton-Verona
Boys 200-meter dash: 1. Brody Aylor, Beechwood
Girls 3,200-meter run: 5. Callie Ochsner, Bishop Brossart; 7. Jasmine Cozmanciuc, Villa Madonna
Boys 3,200-meter run: 6. Alex Chadwick, Villa Madonna
Girls 4×400 meter relay: 2. Beechwood (Sammy Grubish, Lily Parke, Ella Schneider, Caroline Nordman); 3. Bishop Brossart (Larah Callahan, Aubrey Bevan, Tessa Hafer, Mackinley Scott); 4. Walton-Verona (Abrielle Hooten, Ava Hargett, Josie Holtzapple, Maggie Meyer); 6. Newport Central Catholic (Grace Mumper, Lucy Kennedy, Maggie West, Caroline Rust)
Boys 4×400 meter relay: 2. Bishop Brossart (Kyle Piscitello, Reid Thompson, Owen Doyle, Max Leuderalbert); 3. Beechwood (Elijah Hornsby, Charlie Skeen, Westin Wyant, Anderson Durrett)
Girls discus: 1. Ava Walters, Bishop Brossart; 6. Chloe Meyers, Bellevue; 7. Ava Kendall, Walton-Verona
Boys discus: 3. Max Watson, Villa Madonna; 6. Carson Eshelman, Beechwood
Girls shot put: 1. Ava Walters, Bishop Brossart
Boys shot put: 2. Max Watson, Villa Madonna
Girls high jump: T-4. Kolbey Kohrs, Newport Central Catholic; T-4. Stella Flick, St. Henry; T-4. Hayden Harlan, St. Henry
Boys high jump: 3. Austin Brocket Wesley, Bellevue; 4. Dylan Topmiller, Beechwood; 7. Andre Englemon, Ludlow
Girls long jump: 2. Stella Flick, St. Henry; 4. Winter Wyant, Beechwood; 5. Peyton Trauth, Bishop Brossart
Boys long jump: 2. Nicholi Abbott, Ludlow; 3. Zaequan Sharp, Newport
Girls triple jump: 8. Korra Zimmer, St. Henry
Boys triple jump: 8. Nicholi Abbott, Ludlow
Girls pole vault: 2. Anna Curtsinger, Bishop Brossart; 3. Paislee Litmer, Bishop Brossart; 4. Alyson Yuskewich, St. Henry; 6. Jordyn Reckers, Newport Central Catholic
Boys pole vault: 2. Justin Bezold, Bishop Brossart; T-6. Noah Meyers, Newport Central Catholic; T-6. Caleb Brockman, St. Henry
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Beechwood boys win second Class 1A track state title in last 3 years
Reporting by Brendan Connelly, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
