KHSAA track and field: Shelby County's Nevaeh Acklin repeats as Class 2A discus champion

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Class 2A state champion in the discus last year, Shelby County High School junior Nevaeh Acklin said she almost gave up the sport a few weeks ago.

Her uncle, Robert Marshall Sr., died just before the regional meet, and Acklin was distraught.

“He was more like my grandfather,” Acklin said. “It was like a part of me went. He prayed over me. … I was emotional. I don’t cry. So if I’m crying, it’s something serious. Everybody was like, ‘Are you OK?’”

Acklin persevered and made a victorious return Friday to the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Class 2A State Championships at the University of Kentucky’s Outdoor Track and Field Complex.

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Acklin’s throw of 112 feet, 5 inches was good enough to give her a second straight championship in the Class 2A event.

“On a piece of paper, you can do anything,” Acklin said. “But it’s about what you’re going to do that day. I knew today a lot of people were coming for me. I knew I had to compete.”

Acklin was among a handful of Louisville-area athletes to win championships Friday.

In the team competition, Mercer County’s boys won the title for the third straight year with 74 points. Bourbon County was the runner-up with 72 points, and North Oldham finished third with 65.

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Lexington Catholic won the girls title with 83 points and was followed by Mason County (67) and Mercer County (61). Christian Academy was the top Louisville-area team, finishing sixth with 38 points.

Stuck in traffic, Acklin said she barely made it in time to compete in the Class 2A, Region Three meet on May 18 at Waggener.

The rush didn’t bother her, as she threw a personal-record 119 feet, 2 inches to take the regional title.

Her winning throw Friday was nearly 7 feet short of the regional throw, but Acklin wasn’t complaining.

“The past two weeks have been rough for me, mentally and physically,” she said.

Acklin said she plans to compete in the Adidas Outdoor Nationals later this month in Greensboro, N.C., and already is thinking about next year’s track and field season.

“I’m going to be working over the summer to get back so I can have a three-peat next year,” she said.

Acklin was one of two Shelby County girls to win field events Friday as junior Maddi Reed won the pole vault at 11 feet.

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Christian Academy’s 400-meter relay team of Taylor Touche, Ava Moore, Maggie Hydes and Ella Daniels won in 49.64 seconds.

Sophomore Caroline Beiting led Lexington Catholic’s team victory, capturing the 800 and 1,600 runs and helping the 1,600 and 3,200 relays win. Beiting set a Class 2A record in the 800 at 2:14.61 and also helped the 3,200 relay team set a 2A record at 9:23.06.

Mercer County freshman Teigh Yeast won four events — 100, 200, 400 and triple jump.

Brendan Ruggles, North Oldham win three golds on boys side

North Oldham captured three events on its way to a third-place team finish — the 800 and 1,600 relays and the 800 won by junior Brendan Ruggles.

The 6-foot-4 Ruggles outkicked the competition to win the 800 in 1:58.74. Runner-up Jesus Mendoza-Solis finished in 1:58.85.

“You have more weight to carry, but your legs (are longer),” Ruggles said of his height advantage. “Sometimes when I run an 800 or 400, these kids are like, ‘Are you jogging.’ The legs are so long, and the strides are so long.”

Thomas Nelson sophomore Riku Sugie swept the 1,600 and 3,200, setting a 2A record in the 1,600 at 4:15.90.

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Mercer County’s team victory was led by senior Beau Brown, who won the 100, 200 and 400. He set Class 2A records in the 200 (21.46 seconds) and 400 (48.16 seconds).

“In the 400, I definitely exceeded my expectations, for sure,” said Brown, who has committed to Centre College. “I had no idea I was going to go 48.1 The other two, I pretty much knew because I’ve been doing those for years. …

“To sweep all three, there’s no other feeling like that.”

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @kyhighs.

Clark's Pump-N-Shop Class 2A Track and Field Championships results

Girls

Team scores – 1. Lexington Catholic 83, 2. Mason County 67, 3. Mercer County 61, 4. Bourbon County 55, 5. Elizabethtown 41, 6. Christian Academy 38, 7. North Oldham 34, 8. Warren East 33, 9. Shelby County 29, 10. Glasgow 28, 27. (tie) Waggener 5

3,200-meter relay – 1. Lexington Catholic (Caroline Beiting, Joanna Bryant, Cate Conklin, Amelia Monohan) 9:23.06; 2. Bourbon County 9:45.20; 3. Mason County 9:51.79

100 hurdles – 1. Caroline Murphy (Glasgow) 15.55; 2. Tayanah Woods (Warren East) 15.68; 3. Kate Regard (Lexington Catholic) 15.75

100 – 1. Teigh Yeast (Mercer County) 12.40; 2. Mary Martin Hampton (Lexington Catholic) 12.44; 3. Lexi Young (Mason County) 12.47

800 relay – 1. Warren East (Cheyenne Stark, Makenna Rine, Tayanah Woods, Amiyah Carter) 1:45.58; 2. Paducah Tilghman 1:47.67; 3. Elizabethtown 1:48.43

1,600 – 1. Caroline Beiting (Lexington Catholic) 5:07.50; 2. Cate Conklin (Lexington Catholic) 5:12.93; 3. Layla Henderson (Mason County) 5:17.63

400 relay – 1. Christian Academy (Taylor Touche, Ava Moore, Maggie Hydes, Ella Daniels) 49.64; 2. Franklin County 49.68; 3. Paducah Tilghman 49.70

400 – 1. Teigh Yeast (Mercer County) 56.22; 2. Mya Moore (Elizabethtown) 59.11; 3. Joanna Bryant (Lexington Catholic) 1:00.12

300 hurdles –  1. Caroline Murphy (Glasgow) 46.47; 2. Marleigh Estes (Bourbon County) 46.92; 3. Kate Regard (Lexington Catholic) 46.93

800 – 1. Caroline Beiting (Lexington Catholic) 2:14.61; 2. Jaidan Koch (Calloway County) 2:22.61; 3. Ella Tucker (LaRue County) 2:22.93

200 – 1. Teigh Yeast (Mercer County) 24.83; 2. Lily Harper (North Oldham) 25.47; 3. Lexi Young (Mason County) 25.48

3,200 – 1. Ella Johnson (Elizabethtown) 10:58.51; 2. Isabella Day (LaRue County) 11:14.33; 3. Cate Conklin (Lexington Catholic) 11:27.18

1,600 relay – 1. Lexington Catholic (Caroline Beiting, Joanna Bryant, Katie Seitz, Amelia Monohan) 4:01.16; 2. Elizabethtown 4:07.23; 3. Bourbon County 4:11.13

Shot put – 1. Germani Crosby (Lincoln County) 38-11; 2. Jaden Oldham (Franklin County) 36-1; 3. Haley Angel (Estill County) 35-2.5

Discus – 1. Nevaeh Acklin (Shelby County) 112-5; 2. Lindsay Jessie (Mercer County) 105-6; 3. Rylee Swope (Highlands) 102-5

Long jump – 1. Lexi Young (Mason County) 18-0.5; 2. Haley Zell (Highlands) 16-10.75; 3. Elle Turner (North Oldham) 16-10.25

Triple jump – 1. Teigh Yeast (Mercer County) 37-10; 2. Haley Zell (Highlands) 36-2.5; 3. Jaci Woods (Shelby County) 36-1.25

High jump – 1. Lexi Young (Mason County) 5-8; 2. Caroline Murphy (Glasgow) 5-4; 3. Brelynn Wardlow (Warren East) 5-4

Pole vault – 1. Maddi Reed (Shelby County) 11-0; 2. Ava Hernandez (Bourbon County) 10-6; 3. Brianna Isa (Christian Academy) 10-6

Boys

Team scores – 1. Mercer County 74, 2. Bourbon County 72, 3. North Oldham 65, 4. Corbin 49, 5. (tie) Warren East, Boyle County 40, 7. Highlands 36.5, 8. Taylor County 31, 9. Butler County 24, 10. Bardstown 23, 15. Spencer County 14, 28. (tie) Shelby County, 41. (tie) Christian Academy 1

3,200-meter relay – 1. Highlands (Caden Schroeder, Ezra McKenzie, Malcolm Robertson, Alex Lacourt) 8:03.12; 2. Bourbon County 8:04.00; 3. Corbin 8:09.53

110 hurdles – 1. Jordan Piazza (Mercer County) 15.32; 2. Riley Burton (Spencer County) 15.45; 3. Tanner Tumey (Harrison County) 15.46

100 – 1. Beau Brown (Mercer County) 10.77; 2. Geordon Brown (Boyle County) 10.90; 3. Curtez Hill (Holmes) 10.98

800 relay – 1. North Oldham (Dawson Nagle, Luke Whitlow, Zac Mortenson, Zach Gross) 1:31.48; 2. Rockcastle County 1:31.56; 3. Elizabethtown 1:31.99.

1,600 – 1. Riku Sugie (Thomas Nelson) 4:15.90; 2. Caden Miracle (Bell County) 4:18.25; 3. Brendan Nagle (John Hardin) 4:23.25.

400 relay – 1. Bourbon County (Jacob Ezell, Marcus Floyd, Josh Moody, JaQuez Campbell) 43.12; 2. Taylor County 43.29; 3. Boyle County 43.65

400 – 1. Beau Brown (Mercer County) 48.16; 2. Brendan Ruggles (North Oldham) 48.25; 3. Tye Stevens (Corbin) 48.81

300 hurdles – 1. Gage Beasley (Butler County) 39.59; 2. Romello Meade (Warren East) 39.65; 3. Asher Mattox (Bourbon County) 40.85

800 – 1. Brendan Ruggles (North Oldham) 1:58.74; 2. Jesus Mendoza-Solis (Bourbon County) 1 :58.85 ; 3. Parker Smith (Butler County) 1:59.57

200 – 1. Beau Brown (Mercer County) 21.46; 2. Curtez Hill (Holmes) 22.18; 3. Tye Stevens (Corbin) 22.39

3,200 – 1. Riku Sugie (Thomas Nelson) 9:26.06; 2. Adam Patel (North Oldham) 9:29.90; 3. Brendan Nagle (John Hardin) 9:32.03

1,600 relay – 1. North Oldham (Brendan Ruggles, Zach Gross, Luke Whitlow, Zac Mortenson) 3:24.84, 2. Corbin 3:27.24, 3. Bourbon County 3:27.37

Shot put – 1. Hunter Coslow (Taylor County) 60-2.5; 2. Lleyton Penn (Mercer County) 58-11.25; 3. Andrew Hardwick (Boyle County) 54-10

Discus – 1. David Harless (Russell) 168-9; 2. Hunter Coslow (Taylor County) 168-0; 3. Allen Cooper (East Carter) 163-9

Long jump – 1. JaQuez Campbell (Bourbon County) 22-5.75; 2. Donavan Wright (Mercer County) 22-2.5; 3. Solomon Stonebraker (Adair County) 21-2

Triple jump – 1. Thaddeus Mays (Mercer County) 44-3.5; 2. Donovan Stone (Bardstown) 39-10.25; 3. Isiah Summers (Warren East) 43-6.75

High jump – 1. Isiah Summers (Warren East) 6-6; 2. Hayden Llewellyn (Corbin) 6-6; 3. David Jackson (Western Hills) 6-4

Pole vault – 1. Tayvon Snowden (Bourbon County) 13-6; 2. A.J. Barrett (Mason County) 13-0; 3. Rilen Pinkston (Highlands) 12-6