Daviess County

After 23 years in the Jessamine County school system, the last four as deputy superintendent, Owens Saylor is going west to become the new chief of schools in Daviess County. Former Daviess County superintendent Tom Shelton left last summer to take the same post in Fayette County. “I took a look at my age and the opportunities that I have, and I found Daviess County to be a very interesting district,” Saylor, 54, said. “When that opening became available, I started studying the land and decided that was something that I was very interested in, and I was lucky enough to get the job.” The Daviess County Public Schools Board of Education made the decision to select Saylor at a special called meeting Monday with a 4-1 vote, Owensboro's Messenger-Inquirer reported, with the lone “no” vote coming from a member who wanted to keep interim superintendent Mike Gray.

Daviess County took first place Saturday in the Kentucky Pageantry Arts Association Cherry Regional band competition hosted by the Danville High School Marching Admirals at their stadium. Eight bands competed, and winners are as follows: First, winning the Grand Champion William Gravely Award, was Daviess County. It also won the High Percussion, John Arnold Award. High Color Guard, Barren County. Preliminaries: Class A, first, Henry County; Class AA, third, East Jessamine County; Class AA, second, Mercer County; Class AA, first, Barren County; Class AAA, second, Shelby County; Class AAA, first, Daviess County; and Class AAAA, first, Boone County.

1. Lexington Catholic 2. Paul Dunbar 3. Pleasure Ridge Park 4. Eastern 5. Owensboro Catholic 6. Ballard 7. Henry Clay 8. Apollo 9. Tates Creek 10. George Rogers Clark 11. St. Xavier 12. Danville 13. Trinity 14. Paintsville 15. Madisonville-North Hopkins 16. Christian County Lexington Christian 18. Covington Catholic 19. Oldham County 20. Henderson County ...

State Cross Country Championships Results Saturday At Kentucky Horse Park Lexington (All races 3.1 miles) CLASS A Boys (27 teams, 210 runners) Team leaders — 1. St Henry 78; 2. Bishop Brossart 85; 3. Ownesboro Catholic 114. Winner — Dominic Perronie (Louisville Holy Cross) 16:15.. Area runners — 20. Alex Beckerson (Burgin) 17:15; 53. Calvin Steber (Danville) 18:11; 101. Devan Lay (Burgin) 18:57; 116. Travis McEachern (Burgin) 19:14. Girls (23 teams, 172 runners)

The Danville High School Marching Admirals are hosting the Kentucky Pageantry Arts Association Cherry Regional band competition Saturday at Admiral Stadium. Among the participating bands are Shelby County, Boone County, Barren County, Henry County, East Jessamine County, Bryan Station, Mercer County and Daviess County. The DHS Marching Admirals will perform for exhibition only. Preliminary competition begins at 2:30 p.m. and ends with Danville's exhibition at 4:45 p.m. Final competition begins at 7:30 p.m., and Danville performs at 9:30 p.m. Award presentations conclude the ceremony.

Boyle County scored seven runs in the third inning Thursday and went on to defeat Daviess County 8-1 in the Florida Beach Bash at Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Boyle (5-3) got nine hits as it improved to 3-1 in the spring break tournament following its first loss Tuesday and an off day Wednesday. That was enough support for pitchers Casey Whittle and Ryan Pettit, who held Daviess (6-4) to five hits. Whittle pitched six innings for the win, striking out five batters, and Pettit struck out two in a perfect seventh inning.

Meagan Smith of Danville finished 14th Saturday while running against the best field she has faced in the Franklin County Invitational at Lexington. Smith, a first-year cross country runner who has finished first or second in all of her previous meets, defeated all but 10 Kentucky runners in the elite meet, which includes most of the state's top teams and some out-of-state runners as well. She ran the 3.1-mile Kentucky Horse Park course, which is also the site of the state meet, in 20 minutes, 20 seconds.

LEXINGTON - Boyle County rebounded from two losses Friday to win the Bronze Tournament Saturday at the Lafayette Invitational. Boyle (11-8) defeated Rowan 25-12, 25-21 in the championship match. They had 24 kills and only eight attack errors, and they also had 12 service aces. The Lady Rebels reached that point with a 25-9, 25-14 victory over Bryan Station and a 25-10, 25-8 win over Mercer County. "We were disappointed that we went to the Bronze Tournament - we were hoping to do better than that in pool play - but that's where we ended up, so we decided we would do the best that we could and make that a learning experience," Boyle coach Dana Stigall said.

Horse sightings were limited at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington Saturday, with the sound of pounding hoofs replaced by the rumbling of 1,242 runners in the 2009 KHSAA State Cross Country Championships. Of the 1,200+ runners trotting over the grounds of the Horse Park, 431 participated in the Class 3A finals, including seven of Lincoln County's own. Emily Frith, Eric Sanders and Alex Bunch were all making return trips to state while Lady Patriot runners Shelby Meece, Alaina King, Anastasia Aube and Megan Yocum were getting their first taste of state competition.

State Cross County Championships Saturday At Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington (All races 3.1 miles) CLASS A Boys (27 teams; 214 runners) Team leaders ? 1. St. Henry 97; 2. Owensboro Catholic 111; 3. Villa Madonna 154. Individual leader ? Trevin Peterson (Walton-Verona) 16:18. Area runners ? 5. Alex Beckerson (Burgin) 16:44; 60. Jon Beckerson (Burgin) 18:22; 79. Seth Royalty (Burgin) 18:51; 116. Travis McEachern (Burgin)

Boyle County scored seven runs in the third inning Thursday and went on to defeat Daviess County 8-1 in the Florida Beach Bash at Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Boyle (5-3) got nine hits as it improved to 3-1 in the spring break tournament following its first loss Tuesday and an off day Wednesday. That was enough support for pitchers Casey Whittle and Ryan Pettit, who held Daviess (6-4) to five hits. Whittle pitched six innings for the win, striking out five batters, and Pettit struck out two in a perfect seventh inning.

Meagan Smith of Danville took second out of 157 runners Saturday in the Class A-AA race at the Lexington Catholic Invitational at the Kentucky Horse Park. Smith finished in 19:20.68, six seconds behind Karly Gawarecki of Louisville Holy Cross. In the boys Class A-AA race, Garrard County's Cole Grecco finished 15th in a time of 17 minutes, 21.01 seconds. Lincoln County's Brian Carlson was 15th in the Class AAA race, finishing in a time of 16 minutes, 50.2 seconds. Woodford County Invitational - At Versailles, Boyle County's Nikki Coffey finished sixth in 19 minutes, 59.89, while Mercer County's Taylor Gray finished 13th in 21:12.14 at the Woodford County Invitational.

Meagan Smith of Danville finished 14th Saturday while running against the best field she has faced in the Franklin County Invitational at Lexington. Smith, a first-year cross country runner who has finished first or second in all of her previous meets, defeated all but 10 Kentucky runners in the elite meet, which includes most of the state's top teams and some out-of-state runners as well. She ran the 3.1-mile Kentucky Horse Park course, which is also the site of the state meet, in 20 minutes, 20 seconds.

After 23 years in the Jessamine County school system, the last four as deputy superintendent, Owens Saylor is going west to become the new chief of schools in Daviess County. Former Daviess County superintendent Tom Shelton left last summer to take the same post in Fayette County. “I took a look at my age and the opportunities that I have, and I found Daviess County to be a very interesting district,” Saylor, 54, said. “When that opening became available, I started studying the land and decided that was something that I was very interested in, and I was lucky enough to get the job.” The Daviess County Public Schools Board of Education made the decision to select Saylor at a special called meeting Monday with a 4-1 vote, Owensboro's Messenger-Inquirer reported, with the lone “no” vote coming from a member who wanted to keep interim superintendent Mike Gray.

State Cross Country Championships Results Saturday At Kentucky Horse Park Lexington (All races 3.1 miles) CLASS A Boys (27 teams, 210 runners) Team leaders — 1. St Henry 78; 2. Bishop Brossart 85; 3. Ownesboro Catholic 114. Winner — Dominic Perronie (Louisville Holy Cross) 16:15.. Area runners — 20. Alex Beckerson (Burgin) 17:15; 53. Calvin Steber (Danville) 18:11; 101. Devan Lay (Burgin) 18:57; 116. Travis McEachern (Burgin) 19:14. Girls (23 teams, 172 runners)

Horse sightings were limited at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington Saturday, with the sound of pounding hoofs replaced by the rumbling of 1,242 runners in the 2009 KHSAA State Cross Country Championships. Of the 1,200+ runners trotting over the grounds of the Horse Park, 431 participated in the Class 3A finals, including seven of Lincoln County's own. Emily Frith, Eric Sanders and Alex Bunch were all making return trips to state while Lady Patriot runners Shelby Meece, Alaina King, Anastasia Aube and Megan Yocum were getting their first taste of state competition.

State Cross County Championships Saturday At Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington (All races 3.1 miles) CLASS A Boys (27 teams; 214 runners) Team leaders ? 1. St. Henry 97; 2. Owensboro Catholic 111; 3. Villa Madonna 154. Individual leader ? Trevin Peterson (Walton-Verona) 16:18. Area runners ? 5. Alex Beckerson (Burgin) 16:44; 60. Jon Beckerson (Burgin) 18:22; 79. Seth Royalty (Burgin) 18:51; 116. Travis McEachern (Burgin)

LEXINGTON ? Danville's Kaitlin Snapp ran the second-fastest time of the day and won the girls Class A & AA race Saturday at the Lexington Catholic Invitational at the Kentucky Horse Park. Snapp completed the 3.1-mile race in 19 minutes, 10 seconds. Sacred Heart sophomore Emma Brink won the class AAA meet with a time of 18 minutes, 49.05 seconds. Boyle County's Emma Ditto finished fourth in the A & AA race in 20:13.8. Lincoln County's Alex Bunch finished 20th in the Class AAA race in 20 minutes, 38.81 seconds.

FRANKFORT - Evan Hester of Danville earned a medal at the State Wrestling Tournament after finishing seventh in the 215-pound class Saturday. Hester went 5-2 in the tournament and pinned Bernard Franklin of Paducah Tilghman in 2 minutes, 52 seconds in the seventh-place match. "He's our only senior, and he had a great tournament, and he finished his senior year with a win," Danville coach Jeff Selby said. Hester went to the consolation bracket after losing a second-round match Friday, while junior Louis Beto advanced to the quarterfinals before losing by technical fall in that round Friday and losing a 2-1 decision in a consolation match Saturday in which a win would have assured him of a medal.

Friday's games Blazer vs. Montgomery County Ballard Memorial vs. Fulton City Bardstown vs. Washington County Bath County vs. Shelby Valley Beechwood vs. Ludlow Bellevue vs. Bishop Brossart Betsy Layne vs. Paintsville Bowling Green vs. Warren Central Boyle County vs. Lexington Catholic Breathitt County vs. Cawood Breckinridge County vs. Valley Butler vs. Pleasure Ridge Park Butler County...