The Harlan County track team secured its place as regional champions Tuesday at Bath County in the Class 2A Region 7 meet. The girls had 230 points, 163.50 points ahead of Estill County. The boys had 219 points, 108 points ahead of Bath County.
“What an incredible day for our program, and I’m so happy for these kids today. They are a great group, and lots have experienced the game of ‘musical regions’ we’ve played in the last four or five years. They deserve this moment, and they’ve worked hard for it this season,” Harlan County track coach Ryan Vitatoe said. “I can’t say enough about this team and who they are. This was the hottest regional meet (and track meet period) that I can remember, and they absolutely crushed it, but that’s who this team is. They are a great group that puts all their individual goals in line with our team goals. It showed today. They are the regional champions, and they 100 percent deserve it.
“We are currently sitting with 29 total kids in as automatic qualifiers and another two or three who will likely join us as at-large qualifiers. We have a boy qualified in every event at the state meet except one, and a girl in every event but two. We have several events in which we have multiple qualifiers. That’s insane. It’s going to give a great opportunity to score a lot of points at next week’s state meet.”
Luke Kelly led the Bears, winning the 200-meter dash and breaking his school record. Kaden Boggs won the 1,600- and 3,200-meter run. Dallas Sergent won the 300-meter hurdles. Brayden Howard won triple jump. Jayce Brown won pole vault. Bradley Henson won shot put. Kelly, Sergent, Taelor Haywood and Ethan Simpson won the 4 x 100-meter relay, setting a new school record. Kelly, Sergent, Simpson and Bryan Howard won the 4 x 200-meter relay. Simpson, Gage Bailey, Bryan Howard and Jacob Schwenke won the 4 x 400-meter relay. Bailey, Boggs, Caleb Schwenke and Jacob Schwenke won the 4 x 800-meter relay.
“I’m very happy for these boys. This is the first regional championship team I’ve coached at HC, and they joined the 2011 team as the only regional winning team in track and field at HC,” Vitatoe said. “These guys brought it today. It’s really difficult to offer comments on any individual, because every single guy deserves to be recognized for their effort.”
In the 100-meter dash, Kelly placed second. Haywood finished fifth.
Jonah Mumford was ninth in the 200-meter dash.
In the 400-meter dash, Simpson finished second. He was immediately followed by Jacob Schwenke.
Bailey placed third in the 800-meter run. He was immediately followed by Jacob Schwenke.
Caleb Schwenke placed fourth in the 1,600-meter run and third in the 3,200-meter run.
Sergent was second in the 110-meter hurdles. Brayden Howard placed fourth.
Brayden Howard placed sixth in the 300-meter hurdles.
In long jump, Haywood was second. Bryan Howard placed fifth.
Haywood placed second in high jump. Brown was eighth.
Bradley Brock was fourth in triple jump.
Landon McCreary placed second in pole vault.
In discus, Jacob Shoemaker was second. Alex Greene placed third.
Peyton Jackson placed second in shot put.
“Our senior core was excellent today,” Vitatoe said. “I’m ecstatic for Jacob Shoemaker and Brad Henson to get in as seniors. They both came in ranked outside the top two and did their jobs to make sure they got in and how about Brad being regional champion? What a great moment. Brayden Howard had a big win in the triple jump, and his performance has skyrocketed throughout the season. Taelor had a big day in his events, and Dallas did too. I know the 4 x 100 boys are super excited to break the school record. They’ve been chasing that record all season. Bryan qualified in several events, and Landon will make his third straight trip in the pole vault. Luke had a huge day in his events, Peyton had a great performance in the shot, and I’m super proud of Jayce. I’m really proud of all of our guys, it’s impossible to give out all the credit that’s deserved. It was a total team effort.”
To lead the Lady Bears, Ella Karst won the 100- and 200-meter dash. Lauren Lewis won the 400-meter dash. Peyton Lunsford won the 800-meter run, setting a new school record. Gracie Roberts won the 1,600- and 3,200-meter run. Paige Phillips won the 100-meter hurdles, breaking her school record. Phillips also won the 300-meter hurdles and high jump. Madison Daniels won long jump and pole vault, setting a new school record in long jump. Maddi Middleton won triple jump. Daniels, Karst, Aliyah Deleon and Macy Jones won the 4 x 100-meter relay. Deleon, Jones, Karst and Jaylee Cochran won the 4 x 200-meter relay. Lewis, Lunsford, Brianna Howard and Preslee Hensley won the 4 x 400-meter relay. Lewis, Lunsford, Gracie Roberts and Preslee Hensley won the 4 x 800-meter relay.
“This is the first regional track championship for our girls program and the first for a county team since Evarts in 1998,” Vitatoe said. “Both teams have been so close so many times during these last 11 seasons, and I’m glad they got it done today. Like the boys, this was a total team effort, and it’s very difficult to acknowledge everyone in the way they deserve.”
Deleon finished second in the 100-meter dash and third in the 200-meter dash.
In the 400-meter dash, Howard was fifth.
Lewis placed third in the 800-meter run.
Kiera Roberts finished second in the 1,600-meter run.
In the 3,200-meter run, Lunsford was second.
Heaven Hensley was third in the 100-meter hurdles and fifth in the 300-meter hurdles.
Hailie Hensley placed second in long jump.
In high jump, Middleton placed second.
In triple jump, Phillips was fourth.
Taylor Clem was fourth in pole vault.
In discus, Lacey Robinson was seventh. Whitney Noe placed eighth.
In shot put, Ali Hensley placed sixth. Addyson Caldwell was seventh.
“Our senior girls were fantastic today,” Vitatoe said. “Paige and Ella had huge days. I’m happy for both of them for their individual performances. Paige killed it in the hurdles and her jumps, and Ella had a huge day in her events. I’m so proud of Heaven and how far she’s come in the last four years and she deserves to close her career in Lexington. I’m happy Taylor will make her fourth straight trip in the pole vault. Peyton had a big day in her events and set a new school record in the 800. Gracie and Kiera were fantastic in their distance events, Maddi had a gigantic day in her jumps, and Madison Daniels won her second regional championship in the pole vault in three years. It was just a great day for these girls. To give all the credit that’s deserved would mean pages worth of quotes for these kids. I hope they all know how proud we are of them.
“I hope both groups realize how special this is and that the group they join within our school in winning a regional championship. This is a huge accomplishment that they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. I really hope all the kids who ran for us in the previous years recognize that these kids stand on their shoulders today. We got here because of the environment they created during their time in the track program at HCHS, and I am appreciative to every single one of them. I want to acknowledge my staff for all their hard work. Abby (Vitatoe), Baili (Bailey), Bryan (Howard), Derek (Plitt), and Josh (Sargent) have done an incredible job this season and we have become a stronger program because of the passion and expertise they have brought to these kids. Now it becomes about the state meet and trying to make their mark next week. We have lots and lots of kids who are on the cusp of scoring in their respective events. It’s important to recognize that we didn’t merely qualify in our events, we have times/marks that are highly competitive at the 2A level. We can really accomplish something next week if we keep pushing ourselves.”
The full list of individual qualifiers is not yet available pending the completion of all regional championship meets. State qualifiers will be highlighted in an upcoming article.
The KHSAA Class 2A State Championship will be May 31 at Lexington.