Tates Creek sweeps region team titles ahead of state championships
Two steps down, one left for Tates Creek.
The Commodores rose to the occasion and swept the boys’ and girls’ team titles at the Class 3A, Region 6 championship Friday evening on their home field. That was another first after Tates Creek last week swept the Fayette County Championship titles for the first time in school history.
Tates Creek’s boys came away with 131 points to eclipse defending state champion Henry Clay (95). The girls scored 152.5 points to edge Bryan Station (140), last year’s state champs on that side. The final goal in mind for the Commodores is a sweep of the Class 3A state titles at the end of this month.
“I have a lot of second-place trophies in our trophy case that we’ve gotten over the last four or five years,” said Tates Creek Coach Chris Hawboldt, whose cross country teams swept the city and regional championships in the fall. “This year’s been pretty sweet. The best part about it is my kids are awesome.”
Alex Mortimer swept the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs for the Tates Creek boys. He also helped the Commodores to a second-place finish in the 4-by-800 relay.
Perhaps the highlight of the meet was Ben Stone’s 15-feet leap in the pole vault, which tied a school record and set a record for the facility. He did that about 10 minutes after setting a meet record at 14 feet, 6 inches.
“At the beginning of the year I set my goal at 14 feet, and I would have been fine with that,” Stone said. “I’m happy I’m doing good. Just setting small goals and progressing.”
The girls’ victory came out looking quite impressive considering their 4-by-100 team — which boasted a state-best time of 48.48 entering Friday — was disqualified after a false start.
“That 4-by-100 hurt because we have a senior on there who has worked really hard to get there,” Hawboldt said. “Tyanne Bentley has been one of the rocks of this program. That one hurt for her. It hurt us as a team only because we know it hurts for her.”
Bentley could take some solace in qualifying for state after finishing second in the girls’ 200 and first as part of the 4-by-400 team. Her 100 time of 12.47 was good for fourth and should put her in that event at state.
Jenna Strange and Emma Wells finished 1-2 in the 3,200 to put the Creek girls ahead in the standings late. Strange was out the previous month with an ankle injury.
“It started hurting a little bit but I just kept on pushing through and it went away,” Strange said. “I just keep on working.”
Brooke Raglin, a Bryan Station junior who missed much of the season with a torn hamstring, fared well in her return to competition. She won the 100 and ran the second leg of Station’s first-place 4-by-100 and 4-by-200 teams.
Raglin was fifth in the girls’ 200; Lafayette freshman Trinity Gay — the daughter of Tyson Gay — came away with a first-place finish in that event. She ran second to Raglin in the 100.
“It’s always tough as the defending champ to come back cause everyone’s always wanting to beat you,” Bryan Station Coach Kathy Broadnax said. “ … On the boys and the girls, we have some great performances going into the state championships.”
The meet was originally scheduled for Saturday morning but was moved to Friday earlier in the week due to weather concerns. It and the Class 2A, Region 7 meet were the only track-and-field regionals held on Friday.
“That was a good decision for everybody,” Hawboldt said. “This meet right here, you’re looking at the top in the state. We watched (Dunbar’s) Will Allen, (Henry Clay’s) Jaron Brooks, (Lafayette’s) Kristina Leggas, Ben Stone, Brooke Raglin. … This region is so hard and so talented, it needs to be on a day like today.”
Allen had as good a day as he could have hoped for: the Alabama commit swept the 100, 200 and 400 and anchored Dunbar’s first-place 4-by-400 team. His 47.04 in the 400 was faster than his record 47.09 in the Class 3A championships a year ago.
Brooks, an Auburn pledge, was in top form, too, as he swept the high jump, triple jump and long jump.
Lafayette pole vaulter Kristina Leggas won the girls’ event with a mark of 12 feet. She attempted a personal record of 12-6, which also would have been a state record (the highest mark in the state this season is a 12-5 held by Jaci Bickett of Henderson County).
“I had a couple really good attempts at it,” Leggas, a junior, said. “The last one didn’t go as well. I’ve just gotta line things up a little bit better and it’ll happen eventually.”
Leggas’ teammate Landon Young, who has signed to play football at the University of Kentucky, won the boys’ discus and shot put. He won the discus and finished second behind St. Xavier’s Jake Glass (who graduated) a year ago at state.
Josh Moore: 859-231-1307, @HLpreps
Boys’ results
Teams—1. Tates Creek 131, 2. Henry Clay 95, 3. Paul Laurence Dunbar 88, 4. Bryan Station 67, 5. Lafayette 60, 6. Scott County 57, 7. Anderson County, 8. Woodford County, 9. Montgomery County 10, 10. Clark County 3
4x800 relay—1. Paul Laurence Dunbar (Timmy Michael, Austin Mathews, Ethan Tan, Mikah Bailey) 8:07.46; 2. Tates Creek (Deangelo Boone, Alex Mortimer, Noel Dingle, Parker Terry) 8:09.72; 3. Henry Clay (Brandon Castillo, Jarod Christopher, Cole Ralenkotter, Guy York) 8:32.58
110 hurdles—1. Isaiah McCall, Bryan Station, 14.20; 2. Ben Stone, Tates Creek, 15.25; 3. Charlie Leppo, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 15.53
100—1. Will Allen, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 10.72; 2. Langston Jackson, Henry Clay, 10.76; 3. Isaiah McCall, Bryan Station, 11.10
4x200 relay—1. Henry Clay (Tyree Clarke, Jack Jackson, Langston Jackson, Ramond Jackson) 1:28.79; 2. Tates Creek (Langston Love, Xavier Johnson, Trent Lieffring, Robbie Lofton) 1:30.55; 3. Bryan Station (Douglas Bean, Jerome Brown, Maliq Trigg, Juan Carlos Guerrant)
1,600—1. Alex Mortimer, Tates Creek, 4:23.11; 2. Austin Mathews, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 4:24.62; 3. Caleb Joy, Lafayette, 4:25.93
4x100 relay—1. Henry Clay (Tyree Clarke, Jack Jackson, Langston Jackson, Ramond Jackson) 42.74; 2. Tates Creek (Peyton Burke, Xavier Johnson, Trent Lieffring, Brody Sellers) 44.51; 3. Scott County (Gabriel Calubad, Bruce Chisley, Josh Davis, Keith Guy) 44.51
400—1. Will Allen, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 47.04; 2. Maliq Trigg, Bryan Station, 51.26; 3. Kuantaze Cooper, Lafayette, 51.69
300 hurdles—1. Isaiah McCall, Bryan Station, 38.50; 2. Connor Duncan, Anderson County, 39.92; 3. Braxton Edge, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 40.38
800—1. Mikah Bailey, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 1:57.77; 2. Caleb Joy, Lafayette, 20:00.11; 3. Austin Mathews, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 2:00.83
200—1. Will Allen, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 21.30; 2. Langston Jackson, Henry Clay, 22.06; 3. Isaiah McCall, Bryan Station, 22.55
3,200—1. Alex Mortimer, Tates Creek, 9:56.23; 2. Cole Ralenkotter, Henry Clay, 10:18.57; 3. Parker Frame, Tates Creek, 10:19.28
4x400 relay—1. Paul Laurence Dunbar (Ike Boling, Mikah Bailey, James Hall, Will Allen) 3:23.53; 2. Tates Creek (Langston Love, Xavier Johnson, Parker Terry, Robbie Lofton) 3:26.69; 3. Henry Clay (Tyree Clarke, Cavon Cofield, Ramond Jackson, Michael McMullen) 3:30.10
Shot put—1. Landon Young, Lafayette, 58-08; 2. Bryan Hudson, Scott County, 55-08; 3. Nathan McGregor, Anderson County, 45-11
Discus—1. Landon Young, Lafayette, 171-09; 2. Bryan Hudson, Scott County, 171-03; 3. Nathan McGregor, Anderson County, 143-03
Long jump—1. Jaron Brooks, Henry Clay, 22-09.5; 2. Robbie Lofton, Tates Creek, 22-09; 3. Keith Guy, Scott County, 21-02
Triple jump—1. Jaron Brooks, Henry Clay, 47-02.5; 2. Robbie Lofton, Tates Creek, 44-02; 3. Keith Guy, Scott County, 43-05.5
High jump—1. Jaron Brooks, Henry Clay, 6-06; 2. Patrick Kelly, Tates Creek, 6-04; 3. Caleb Winding, Tates Creek, 6-00
Pole vault—1. Ben Stone, Tates Creek, 15-00; 2. Kyle Hopkins, Tates Creek, 14-00; 3. Branden Brookfield, Woodford County, 12-06
Girls’ results
Teams—1. Tates Creek 152.5, 2. Bryan Station 140, 3. Henry Clay 80.5, 4. Lafayette 72, 5. Paul Laurence Dunbar 31, 6. Clark County 26, t7. Scott County 17, t7. Woodford County 17, 9. Anderson County 16, 10. Montgomery County 6
4x800 relay—1. Tates Creek (Waveney Brooks, Maddie Covey, Shae Robertson, Savanna Duff) 9:55.9h; 2. Henry Clay (Jennie Clark, Charlotte Kessinger, Josie Cunningham, Lauren Haga) 10:16.0h; 3. Bryan Station (Makiya Allen, D’Jharriah Davis, Taylashae Stewart, Tamara Matthews) 10:52.0h
100 hurdles—1. Kaleshia Harris, Bryan Station, 15.45; 2. Kayla Grange, Lafayette, 16.53; 3. Katherine Fish, Henry Clay, 16.76
100—1. Brooke Raglin, Bryan Station, 12.10; 2. Trinity Gay, Lafayette, 12.26; 3. Rosalynd Hollingsworth, Tates Creek, 12.38
4x200 relay—1. Bryan Station (Jokenia Bond, Brooke Raglin, Dakesha Stewart, Talor Wilkerson) 1:42.17; 2. Tates Creek (Nakaiya Wearren, Rosandra Collins, Myann Davidson, Rosalynd Hollingsworth) 1:43.71; 3. Lafayette (Lamiah Campbell, Aairiona Hayden-Ransom, Aiyanna Drake, Trinity Gay) 1:44.78
1,600—1. Makenzie Cooper, Clark County, 5:26.29; 2. Annie Vandenberg, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 5:30.94; 3. Jenna Strange, Tates CReek, 5:33.98
4x100 relay—1. Bryan Station (Jokenia Bond, Brooke Raglin, Dakesha Stewart, Queenie Livingston) 49.38; 2. Lafayette (Lamiah Campbell, Maya Homer, Aiyanna Drake, Trinity Gay) 50.62; 3. Henry Clay (Daonmonique Burdell, Jasmine Vaughn, Jaden Gatewood, Alexa Winn)
400—1. Talor Wikerson, Bryan Station, 58.11; 2. Brianna Wood, Henry Clay, 59.93; 3. Aairiona Hayden-Ransom, Lafayette, 59.96
300 hurdles—1. Kaleshia Harris, Bryan Station, 48.05; 2. Tatiana Williams, Bryan Station, 48.69; 3. Aleisa Hardin, Tates Creek, 49.13
800—1. Shae Robertson, Tates Creek, 2:22.53; 2. Makenzie Cooper, Clark County, 2:27.52; 3. Maddie Covey, Tates Creek, 2:31.12
200—1. Trinity Gay, Lafayette, 25.35; 2. Tyanne Bentley, Tates Creek, 25.63; 3. Talor Wilkerson, Bryan Station, 25.69
3,200—1. Jenna Strange, Tates Creek, 12:16.95; 2. Emma Wells, Tates Creek, 12:21.20; 3. Eliza Jane Schaeffer, Henry Clay, 13:03.15
4x400 relay—1. Tates Creek (Tyanne Bentley, Brianna Payton, Nakaiya Wearren, LaTaya Winn) 4:03.14; 2. Lafayette (Lamiah Campbell, Aairiona Hayden-Ransom, Aiyanna Drake, Maya Homer) 4:08.93; 3. Bryan Station (Talor Wilkerson, Jokenia Bond, D’Jharriah Davis, Kaleshia Harris) 4:12.03
Shot put—1. Lauren Miller, Tates Creek, 35-05; 2. Deaizha Jackson, 33-03; 3. Amareea Saunders, Tates Creek, 32-06
Discus—1. Tantalissia Champs, Bryan Station, 103-11; 2. Lauren Miller, Tates Creek, 99-10; 3. Amaya Ross, Henry Clay, 99-02
Long jump—1. Grace Slater, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 17-06; 2. Alorra Sims, Anderson County, 17-05; 3. Alexa Winn, Henry Clay, 16-07.5
Triple jump—1. Alexa Winn, Henry Clay, 38-08.5; 2. Alorra Sims, Anderson County, 35-01; 3. Nave Winn, Tates Creek, 33-10
High jump—1. Oasya Taylor, Bryan Station, 5-02; 2. Heaven Bigelow, Tates Creek, 5-02; 3. Audrey Ward, Woodford County, 4-10
Pole vault—1. Kristina Leggas, Lafayette, 12-00; 2. Drew Knight, Tates Creek, 8-00; 3. LiAnna Steffen, Scott County, 8-00
Unified results (mixed)
(Not factored into team standings)
100—1. Walker Redmon, Tates Creek, 37.29; 2. Conor Healy, Tates Creek, 38.60; 3. Sabrina Miller, Bryan Station, 43.64
4x100 relay—1. Tates Creek (Jensen Butler, Amani Shalash, Victoria Taylor, Conor Healy) 1:23.65; 2. Bryan Station (Tamara Matthews, Johnica Hutsell, Sabrina Miller, Yasser Mohammed) 1:26.70
Shot put—1. Walker Redmon, Tates Creek, 26-08; 2. Allison Vassil, Tates Creek, 21-06
This story was originally published May 14, 2016 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Tates Creek sweeps region team titles ahead of state championships."