Track Field

Six members of the George Rogers Clark track and field team will end the season on a high note Saturday at Owsley Frazier Cardinal Park in Louisville. Cora Kerber will end her prep career by competing in the 800-meter race and also will compete in the long jump. Kerber won the Class 3A Region 7 event in the 800 meters last week by holding off Madison Central's Gabby Sabino and Alex Bunch of Lincoln County. Her finish of 2:24.27 set a new school record. “That was the best girls 800-meter race I have ever seen in my life,” Clark coach Dodd Dixon said.

The power of persuasion worked wonders on Taylor Sanders, and she couldn't be happier that it did. In her three years in track and field, Sanders has gone from novice to regional champion to future college athlete - all because a teammate talked her into giving the sport a try. The Burgin senior will compete in the Class A girls discus and shot put Saturday at the state track and field meet in Louisville, and she could bring home a medal in...

Thirteen athletes from Jessamine County schools are competing in the Kentucky High School Athletic Associations 2A track-and-field state championships Friday. Below are the competitors and their respective events in the order they are scheduled to compete. The Journal will update results throughout the day. Follow @thejj_sports on Twitter for the latest news. 2:30 p.m. - boys' shot put • Robbie Irgang - West Jessamine High School - 12th place (43 feet, 10.25 inches) 4 p.m. - boys' triple jump • Noah Daniel, East Jessamine High School - 18th (38 feet, 5.5 inches)

Tabitha Evans was willing to do anything to get out of the 400-meter dash, even giving the 300 hurdles a shot. That turned out to be a great move for the Boyle County senior since the 300 hurdles is one of three events she qualified for in Friday's Class AA state track and field championships in Louisville. “Coming in, I was going to run the open 4 (400) and I absolutely hate that race. It's just a dead sprint the whole time and no one likes it,” Evans said. “So when Coach (Brent Wagner)

Cole Grecco felt confident he could win a regional title in the 3,200-meter run since that's his main race. But now the Garrard County junior has gained confidence in the 1,600 as well after winning Central Kentucky Conference and Class AA regional titles in the past two weeks. “My goals were to come out and win the 2-mile because I knew Bryant (Qualls of Mercer County) and Tucker (Jones of Corbin) were going to be really good in the mile," Grecco said. “I was OK in the mile, but then I stared working on that some more.

Class AA, Region 5 Championships At Boyle County Saturday GIRLS Team scores - 1. Boyle County (BC) 156; 2. Madison Southern 90; 6. Casey County (CC) 40; 7. Mercer County (MC) 30. (Area finishers; top two finishers  qualify for state meet) 3,200 relay - 1. Boyle County (Logan Arnold, Hannah Harris, Nikki Coffey, Hannah Robertson) 10:14.4. 100 hurdles - 5. Tiara Cochran (CC) 18.27. 100 - 3. Kylie Thompson (BC) 13.59; 4. Kaile Short (BC) 13.66; 6. Lyric Houston (MC)

Nikki Coffey wasn't going to let anyone out do her on her track. The Boyle County sophomore was part of a dominant day for the Rebels on Saturday, winning all three of her events and helping Boyle outscore runner-up Madison Southern by 66 points at the Class AA, Region 5 meet at Boyle. Coffey won the 1,600- (5;34.38) and 3,200-meter runs (12:11.63) for her two individuals wins and teamed with Logan Arnold, Hannah Robertson and Tabitha Evans to take the 3,200 relay in 10 minutes, 14.4 seconds.

As Clint Hellyer took the baton for the final leg of the 1,600-meter relay, he had one goal in mind: Get second place. The Boyle County senior outran a West Jessamine runner who was right with him, then passed a Russell County runner to get that second for his team and edge Mercer County 19-116 in the Class AA, Region 5 championships on a drizzly, windy day at Boyle. “It was close. I passed a kid (from Russell) on the first curve and just ran away from them,” said Hellyer, who was part of two runner-up relay teams.

The way Chris Beckerson saw it, the Burgin boys had one shot. With four of the 10 athletes on the team only days away from graduation, the Burgin coach didn't figure his team would be in position to contend for a regional track and field title a year from now. So he and the Bulldogs went all in Saturday, working out the math before the meet and stockpiling points during the meet to win their first regional championship. Burgin won only three of the 18 boys events but scored in 16 events to finish far out in front in the Class A, Region 5 championships at Admiral Stadium.

The George Rogers Clark track and field team achieved a goal during the Class 3A Region 7 meet Thursday at Southwestern High School in Somerset. The boys and girls teams finished fourth in the event and will send two runners - Cora Kerber and Sandra Skinner - to the state meet next weekend. The boys' 4X800 team, comprised of Grayson Brookshire, Austin Richards, Ben Petrey and Thomas Busby are expected to receive an at-large bid. "Placing in the Top 4 is always the goal,” Clark coach Dodd Dixon said.