The 2007 high school spring sports season in Fayette County has ended, but not before state championships were won by several teams in soccer, track and field and tennis.

Individuals showcased their prowess on the field of play all season long and represented their schools and community very well. As a reporter, I felt privileged to watch these young athletes and their teams and though I welcome a bit of a break, I am already looking forward to the next season.

The task at hand is how to summarize a spring sports season so full of great moments and performances.

The high school track teams from the area were outstanding this year. Not only did the Sandy Creek boys win the AAA state championship, but they won the Region 6-AAA title, knocking off Carrollton, region champs for over 20 years, and the county title, against teams like Starr’s Mill, which tied for second in the AAAA state meet, and Our Lady of Mercy, which took third in the Class A state meet.

The Patriots’ Christian Taylor was amazing. He was the High Point Award winner for Class AAA and had the best mark in any classification in the triple jump. He was joined by Michael DeHaven, Dechaun Lee, Rhyan Atrice, Carl McGill and Jonathon Ross on two state champion relay teams. DeHaven, a recent signee with Auburn University, also recorded a second and third place finish in the state meet. The Sandy Creek Lady Patriots had good years from Karnesha Slaughter, Whitney Judson, Aleah Hordges and Erinn Knight.

Starr’s Mill’s Austin Enriquez, McIntosh’s Emily Borsare, Landmark Christian’s Kaity Bulger and Christian McGuire and Our Lady of Mercy’s Raven Moore and Jake Lethbridge both won two individual state titles in their respective meets, while Matt Lethbridge of Our Lady of Mercy and Michelle Stegall of Starr’s Mill each won one.

Fayette County’s Brandon Boykin had a second place finish in the state, as did McIntosh’s Vince Brown, Mercy’s Megan Malasarte, Starr’s Mill’s Crystal Christian, Greg Davis and Lauren Marchman. Other local athletes who had a good year on the track were Whitewater’s Jerrod Richardson, Mallory Woodard and Candice Clark, and Fayette County’s Javar Whitehead, Jamahl Calloway and Jonathon West.

But titles and high finishes aren’t the only things that were great about the track teams this year. These athletes pushed themselves day in and day out to break personal bests and school records on their way to individual county and region titles and they did it while showing great sportsmanship.

One thing I watched a lot more of this year was lacrosse and I was very impressed with the level of play of both the boys and girls teams from McIntosh and Starr’s Mill.

The McIntosh teams both made the second round of the state playoffs and had some incredibly talented scorers. On the boys side were the brothers Ward, Zach and DJ, while Nicco DeRosa, Garrett Lee, Joe Maskery and David Bexley were other standouts, along with freshman goalie Cooper O’Brien.

The girls got amazing play from Kelly Polo, Brit LaPalm, Kristen Lein, Lauren Schindler and Taylor Lugash, among many others. On the Starr’s Mill side, the girls got solid performances from Catherine Sanders, Sarah Risley and Alexandra Stanley, while the boys were led by the brothers Gosner, Joel and Sean. The feeder program into all of the local high schools is so great that local lacrosse fans can expect to see even more great high school lacrosse in the future.

I didn’t catch a lot of tennis this year, but Starr’s Mill and McIntosh were both dominant.
The Starr’s Mill girls won a state title, while the McIntosh boys were state runners-up and McIntosh’s girls made the AAAA final four.

Starr’s Mill got great singles play from freshman Kourtney Kowal and juniors Jessica Lange, while McIntosh’s boys were led by sophomore Austin Tilton, senior Will Truex and junior Jonathan Emmett, among others. The McIntosh girls got great play from senior Lyndsi Tufte, Kendall Wilde and Marybeth Black. Starr’s Mill’s boys were knocked out in the quarterfinals but will only graduate four seniors from this year’s roster - Ryan Cook, Derrick Davison, Willie Hughes and Jake McPherson.

With all of the great golf courses in the area, our local golf teams have some outstanding players. This year, both Starr’s Mill’s boys and girls made the state tournament and McIntosh’s boys made the tournament as well.

Some of the strong golfers for Starr’s Mill this season were Adam Baaklini, Cory Crump and Connor MacBean, while strong golfers for the girls were Kristen Bourg and Lauren Hubbert. McIntosh’s boys were led by Austin Barerras, Jason Kimpel and George Maddox. Other solid golfers from the area this season were Whitewater’s Nick Ward and Jessica Porch.

Like an acceptance speech at the Academy Awards, I’m sure I am forgetting to include some people, but this past season of high school sports was one of the most enjoyable for me to cover in my career and every athlete and team was fun to watch.

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