‘I wanted to be the best.’ Senior’s big day leads Rebels to second straight title.

Storms tried to spoil the KHSAA Class 2A State Track Championship Meet for the second year in a row on Friday, but two teams secured their place in history before lightning ended the day prematurely.

While results won’t be official until the final two events of the meet are run beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, Boyle County’s boys and Mercer County’s girls have clinched the overall team titles.

For Boyle, it is its second team title in a row. For Mercer, it is its first in program history and ended a string of three straight titles for the Boyle County girls.

Senior Chris Duffy led the Rebels with individual wins in the 100 and 200 meters and was part of their first-place 4x100 relay team as well. And he has a chance for another medal in the 4x400 relay when the meet resumes on Saturday.

It was in his first track season as a sophomore that Duffy found his passion, even though then he wasn’t competing at the highest level.

“Two years ago I ran this race and I got like 13th place. I wasn’t even in the fast heat,” he said. “And it just hit me that I just wanted to be the best.”

Boyle County also got wins from Jackson Cox in the 800 and Ezekiel Harless in the 3,200 and earned seconds from its 4x800 relay and Marquise Kinley in the long jump.

“We knew going in we were very well-balanced on the field and on the sprints,” Boyle Coach Brent Wagner said.

Wagner said his staff prides itself on finding talent throughout the school and harnessing it into track and field’s 18 events.

That was certainly the case for Harless, who collapsed as soon as he crossed the finish line first in the 3,200.

“The coaching staff, they’ve unbelievable. They are beyond the best,” Harless said. “They pour so much into us. We just have to give back. We have to give back and win a state championship for them.”

Mercer girls’ first title

A runner-up last season, Mercer County overtook Boyle’s girls, the three-time defending champs. It was led by wins in the 4x800 relay, Zoe Yeast in the shot put and Jasmine Claunch in the triple jump.

“It means everything, especially since this is the best we’ve done in program history,” Claunch said.

Yeast, a cousin of Mercer County Coach Terry Yeast, came in as the favorite in the discus but was also looking to get a qualifying mark for nationals. Zoe Yeast did it in her third throw with an event-winning mark of 130 feet, 3 inches. The discus event is held outside the track and far away from the stands where her coach was sitting.

“We saw her throw it, and we saw her reaction. It was exciting, because we knew it had to be something big,” Terry Yeast said.

Coach Yeast’s daughter, eighth-grader Timberlynn Yeast, didn’t get a win but broke school records in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter events. Visibly disappointed after being caught in the 400, she still brought home enough points (17) to make the difference in the team standings.

“I told them every point would be key to our team winning today,” Coach Yeast said.

East Jessamine can hurdle

East Jessamine senior Zion Morgan captured both the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, but he had to edge out a teammate to do it in the longer event.

“He beat me at regions,” Morgan said of junior Dylan Moore, “But I made sure that when state came I was not going to let him beat me. It’s my senior year. I can’t lose to my junior hurdler. … But he’s definitely going to be beating my records in the 300 next year.”

Morgan cruised in the 110-meter hurdles by more than 0.4 seconds. But Moore finished less than 0.2 behind in the 300 hurdles after clipping one somewhere during the run.

“Everything he does is perfection, so that helps me a lot. It makes me a lot better,” Moore said.

Record-breaker

For the second day in a row a state class record was broken in the girls’ pole vault.

North Oldham’s Raegan Franklin maxed out with a clearance of 12 feet, 3 inches, to take over the record in Class 2A by 2¾ inches.

She got advice and encouragement from her brother, Clayton Franklin, who as a senior for North Oldham last year also broke the Class 2A record in the boys’ event.

Finishing second to Franklin for the second year in a row was Lexington Catholic sophomore Nina Jazdzewski.

“Every year I just want to get a little bit better,” said Jazdzewski, whose face didn’t bear the slightest hint of disappointment. “I’m really excited for Reagan.”

Click here to view results from Friday’s Class 2A state championships.

This story was originally published May 31, 2019 at 8:22 PM.