Throwing phenom and record times lift Scott County to championship day

Scott County track-and-field coach Monty McIntyre was pacing during the boys' 4-by-400 meter relay, the final scored event of the Class 3A, 6th Region championships.

He was informed prior to the race that regardless of its outcome his boys were a lock for a region title. McIntyre wasn't convinced until 15 minutes later until the trophy was in the hands of his Cardinals, who finished nine points ahead of Lafayette in the standings to win their first regional track title since 2007.

"They worked so hard," McIntyre said. "Like the 4-by-1(00), we were seeded eighth and they came in second. We had quite a few upsets today and quite a few PRs (personal records), so I'm proud of 'em."

Josh Davis, who's committed to play quarterback for the Campbellsville University football team, was part of that 4-by-100 team, which ran a school-record time of 43.67 and qualified for state by virtue of a runner-up finish to Henry Clay. He also ran the 4-by-400, which also qualified for state, the 4-by-200 and the 400-meter dash.

Team success matters to Davis, who in his time at Scott County was part of two football region titlists and one basketball region champion. He was not part of the most recent boys' basketball region championship in March but he was gleeful when listing off the regional success the school has had and could continue to have this school year.

"With our other sports you usually hear about us winning region but in track it hadn't been done in a while," Davis said. "This win means something to everybody that was on the team. We were all chasing the same goal."

Davis joked that Scott County knew it had 20 guaranteed points thanks to Bryan Hudson, a standout junior who's nationally-ranked in the discus and shot put. Hudson has committed to play football at Virginia Tech but also will throw for the Hokies' track-and-field team in college. He matched his personal best with a mark of 190-3 in the discus on Saturday and won the shot put with 58-05.5, four feet ahead of Frederick Douglass' Obie Taylor.

Hudson is the defending state champion in both events. He's hoping to get over 200 in the discus at state next weekend (the state-meet record is 193-01, set by Male's Kyle Jenkins in 2010).

"I've hit it a bunch in practice," Hudson said. "That would put me at No. 1, I think, in the nation."

Caleb Griggs, a sophomore, placed second in the 300-meter hurdles for the Cardinals. Peyton Shotwell was second in the high jump and triple jump.

This story was originally published May 12, 2018 at 7:32 PM with the headline "Throwing phenom and record times lift Scott County to championship day."