Track Champions of 2008

Male junior Justin Green and Butler junior Chelsea Brown were the individual stars, while Male and Ballard were the top teams at the 2008 KHSAA State Track & Field Championships May 30-31 at Owsley B. Frazier Cardinal Park on the University of Louisville campus. GIRLS Butler girls' track and field coach Stephanie Barnes could see it in Brown's eyes. "It" was Brown's determination in the Class 3-A 200-meter dash as she won her fourth individual state championship of the day. "It's something in her eyes. In a split-second and I could see something, it was like, 'Ok, she's got it,'" Barnes says. Brown also won the 100, 400 and 300 hurdles to repeat her accomplishment of her freshman year. Brown's four wins helped the Bearettes to a second-place finish in the team competition. Ballard won its ninth state title with 72 points. In addition to Brown's four firsts, Butler's 800 relay team of Karma Berkley, Moriah Corey, Shanika Cox and Tiffany Rogers also won. Other Louisville-area event winners were Ballard senior Lutisha Bowen in the 100 hurdles, Sacred Heart freshman Emma Brink in 3,200 and Fern Creek's 400 relay team of Kierra Moore, Jasmine Webb, Monique Reid and Victoria Mitchell. Also in the girls' competition, duPont Manual was fifth, Assumption was 11th, Fern Creek 12th, Male tied for 13th, while Sacred Heart was 16th and Central 17th. In Class AA, Mercy Academy was ninth and Bullitt East 10th, while Louisville-area individual winners were North Bullitt freshman Helen Heines in the 1,600 and North Oldham junior Erin Overcash in the high jump. In Class A, Christian Academy tied for 13th. BOYS As Male's team prepared to accept its Class 3-A team title trophy, St. Xavier track and field coach Chuck Medley offered up his congratulations to the Bulldogs' contingent. "You guys are one of the best teams ever," he said. Male certainly looked the part. The Bulldogs nearly lapped the field, in amassing 103.5 points, while second-place North Hardin had 55.5 and third-place St. X 44. Male won six events led by Green's victories in the 100, 200 and 400. He was a member of the Bulldogs' winning 1,600 relay team, which also included Tony Booker, Lewis Dodson and Kieran Story. Also winning for Male was its 400 relay team of Jeremy Fugate, Robbie Graham, Jeremy Webb and Kieran Story. Webb, a senior, also won the long jump. Other Louisville-area winners included St. X sophomore Jackson Carnes in the 3,200 and Central's 800 relay team of Montez Bell, Stephan Robinson, Byron Debro, Tarrell Holstein in a state-record time. Several other Louisville-area schools finished in the Top 15, including Ballard in sixth, Trinity seventh, Fern Creek in a three-way tie for eighth and duPont Manual and Central in a three-way tied for 11th. In Class AA North Bullitt was 12th, while in Class A CAL was ninth. INDIANA In the IHSAA all-class state championships (the 105th annual for the boys and 35th annual for the girls) May 31 at Indiana University in Bloomington a few Southern Indiana girls cracked the Top 10. Jeffersonville sophomore Shanice Gholson was the top performer, finishing third in the 100. Also from Southern Indiana, Henryville senior Maggie Gilstrap was sixth in the long jump and New Albany junior Hali Alexander was ninth in the 300 hurdles.