Basketball star powers big day for Mercer County at Class 2A state track meet
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Kentucky high school sports state championships
KHSAA state championships played out this weekend across four different sports in Lexington, and the Herald-Leader’s staff of writers and photographers covered all the action. Click below for highlights from the baseball, softball, tennis and track and field state championships.
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Just .04 seconds separated Timberlynn Yeast from a perfect day at the track on Friday.
The Mercer County junior had to settle for three first-place finishes and a runner-up medal in her four events in the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop/KHSAA Class 2A State Track and Field Championships, held at the University of Kentucky’s Outdoor Track and Field complex. Yeast’s feats helped propel the Titans to a team title, their first since 2019.
Her name is more widely known in basketball circles — she’s a future Division I player who will contend for Miss Basketball honors next winter — but Yeast has made quite an impression in her second sport. She won the 200- and 400-meter races and was the anchor leg for the Titans’ winning 4-by-400 relay team, making her a repeat victor in each event. Her time in the 200, 24.45 seconds, broke the previous Class 2A record of 24.86 set by Paducah Tilghman’s Danielle Carruthers in 1998.
The only “blemish” on her day was handed out by Franklin County’s Shavi Kennedy, who edged Yeast in the 100-meter dash, 12.15 to 12.11.
“I’m dead right now, but I’m definitely proud of our team,” said Yeast, who had less than 24 hours to rest before suiting up again; she was scheduled to compete for Kentucky’s junior team as part of the Kentucky-Indiana All-Star series on Saturday and Sunday.
“Not much rest, but it’s all right.”
Timberlynn’s father, Terry, is Mercer County’s head coach, and her mother, Tiffany, was a track-and-field star for Southeast Missouri State in the 1990s.
“Timberlynn loves basketball, and she’s really been focused on that this year,” Terry said. “I get that. As a dad and as a coach, I understand that’s where she’s going in the future. But to see what she did today just blows me away. My wife has said all along that she’s a true Division I track athlete.”
He continued with a laugh: “But she doesn’t want to hear that.”
The Titans also repeated as boys’ team champion, making Mercer County the first school to win both Class 2A meets since 2018 (Boyle County). Jalen Lukitsch was part of three wins for the boys — he defended his title in the 300 hurdles while adding a victory in the 110 equivalent — while Beau Brown (200) and Matthew Hays (triple jump) matched his output. Brown and Lukitsch were the first two legs of the Titans’ 4-by-100 winner, too.
Mercer’s boys narrowly defeated Highlands for last year’s title while the girls just fell short against Christian Academy of Louisville. Neither squad left room for doubt in 2022; the boys bettered Highlands by 24 points (94-70) while the girls outscored runner-up Mason County, 81.5 to 56.
“We knew what we had to do, and we did it,” said Brown.
Distance masters
A 39-year-old Class 2A record fell on Friday.
Thomas Nelson teammates Lane Hoyes and Riku Sugie finished first and second in the boys’ 1,600. Hoyes ran it in 9:23.73 while Sugie wasn’t too far behind at 9:25.35. Both times were faster than the previous mark, 9:26.40, run by Rowan County’s Mike Wilson in 1983. The duo also finished 1-2 in the 1,600.
The overall state record, 9:07.17, was set by Jacob Thomson of Louisville Holy Cross in 2013. Hoyes is graduating — he’ll compete for Appalachian State next year — but Sugie is a freshman for the Generals.
“Next year he’s gonna drop that state record to about a nine flat,” Hoyes said. “That state record’s a joke right now. The fact that my name has it with a 9:20 something, that just ain’t right. Next year, he’ll get it down.”
Lexington Catholic’s Caroline Beiting was the only girl to run the 1,600 in under five minutes, crossing the finish in 4:57.75. She led into the second lap of the 800 before finishing third. The freshman also anchored the Knights’ 4-by-400 relay squad, which also finished third, helping LexCath secure a top-five finish as a team.
Beiting, who also swims for Lexington Catholic, ran 5:09.13 at the region meet, projecting her as the third-best 1,600 runner coming into the race.
“I’ve been telling myself all week, ‘I know I can do it, it’s just who wants it more,’” Beiting said. “I knew that I wanted it.”
Boyd County’s J.B. Terrill repeated as the boys’ 800 champ, but this year he set a Class 2A record. The senior let out a euphoric scream as he passed the finish line in 1:54.02, bettering by .04 seconds the mark set in 2008 by LexCath’s Thomas Canary.
Close calls
Kennedy’s narrow win over Yeast wasn’t even the closest photo finish on Friday.
A time of 10.7 was posted on the scoreboard for Paducah Tilghman’s Luke Birdsong and Mercer County’s Brown following the boys’ 100. Birdsong prevailed after a closer review, finishing the race in 10.694 seconds to Brown’s 10.700.
“Never ever,” Birdsong said when asked if he’d ever won such a contested race. “ ... It was a perfect race though. I loved it. It was awesome.”
Kennedy got the better of Yeast in the 100 and was in front for most of the 200. Her time in the latter, 24.81, was still faster than the pre-existing meet record.
“It’s my last meet in high school, so I knew I had to go out with a bang,” said Kennedy, who next year will compete for Fort Scott Community College in Kansas.
Rising Royal
Mason County’s girls finished second as a team, largely on the back of Lexi Young. She finished second in the high jump and long jump, and third in the 100 and 200, to earn 28 of the Royals’ 56 points.
“Just helping my team as much as I can,” Young said.
Young is in eighth grade. She didn’t take up track and field until last spring, and is still learning how to best allot her time during events. Eventually, she figures, she’ll have to dedicate herself either to jumping or sprinting.
“It’s really insane how much I do, and it’s going to get really hard over a couple years,” Young said. “High jump and long jump, I’ve been excelling in, but I think there’s only a certain number of heights left I can get without a lot of training. And it’s gonna be hard on my hips and knees. It’s gonna be easier to get some help in the blocks and learn how to come out of them easier. I think that’ll help me gain a lot more speed.”
Complete results, highlights, interviews
RESULTS: bit.ly/3NSIU3v
This story was originally published June 3, 2022 at 8:44 PM.
