Friday, December 29, 2000
Northern Ky. year in review
Campbell Co. schools brought home state titles
By Ray Schaefer
Enquirer Contributor
Records aren't kept on how one county's high schools perform in sports. If there were, Campbell County would be near the top.
Three schools, Bishop Brossart, Highlands and Newport Central Catholic, won state titles in three sports. NewCath and Highlands grabbed second in two more, and Newport won a Ninth Region All “A” girls basketball title.
For the second straight year, Bishop Brossart in Alexandria led all of Northern Kentucky with three state titles.
In June, the Mustangs won in Class A boys and girls track — the girls' fourth straight. Five months later the boys cross country team defended its Class A title.
That wasn't all. The girls basketball team reached the finals of the state All “A” tournament for the third straight year before losing to Somerset.
Highlands in Fort Thomas and Newport Central Catholic weren't far behind. The Bluebirds won another Class AAA football title and took second in AA boys and girls cross country, and the girls basketball team won the Ninth Region title.
As was predicted by many, NewCath won the state All “A” boys basketball title in January and followed that with a Ninth Region title in March. The Thoroughbreds also captured the Ninth Region baseball title.
But the Thoroghbreds football team surprised many. It reached the Class A finals before falling to Danville. NewCath beat Berea, Beechwood, Bellevue and Pikeville on the road along the way.
“Nobody expected us to be here, let's face facts,” NewCath football coach Bob Schneider said after the final game. “We felt like this was a bonus and we were going to come down and win it.”
Still, the most amazing finish belonged Brossart's boys basketball team. On March 11, then senior Justin Seiter launched a shot at the buzzer that rolled and rolled and rolled before falling through for a 52-50 win over Mason County for the boys 10th Region title.
Brossart then beat Graves County in the state first round before losing to Russellville in the quarterfinals.
Newport rounded out the list by winning the Ninth Region All “A” girls basketball tournament.
Brossart's cross country title in November was the school's seventh overall (to go with 1972, '84, '91, '92, '97 and '99 victories). It also could be considered the most surprising. Most of last year's squad graduated, and the Mustangs weren't among the top 10 teams in the state at the beginning of the season.
“I'm sure we made a statement,” coach Ray Kues said after the win. “. . . We were pleasantly surprised with the whole team. Each of them ran better times than they did (two weeks ago).”
Juniors Paul Markus and Tim Kaiser finished third and fifth, respectively.
Highlands' football team didn't lose to a Kentucky team the past two years. This year's Bluebirds rolled up 729 points and gave up only 206.
Individually, senior quarterback Gino Guidugli threw for 4,367 yards and 51 touchdowns. Senior receiver Brett Hamblen grabbed 67 passes for 1,386 yards, and senior linebacker and Purdue recruit Brent Grover had 226 tackles.
“It's your senior year, your last time playing with all these guys,” Guidugli said. “It's been a great four years.”
The Highlands girls and NewCath boys basketball teams are on a path to continue what they started.
Highlands is off to a 5-2 start, but the Ladybirds have to contend with Boone County (where former Highlands guard Christian Stefanopoulos transferred this summer).
NewCath carried a 7-0 record going into this week's Fifth Third Bank Holiday Classic tournament in Lexington.
As strong as Campbell County teams fared, they weren't the only schools who performed well.
In February, Scott graduate Andy Seitz capped his high school career with three wins in the state swim meet in February. Beechwood graduate Tim Wera won his second straight 500-yard freestyle, and Notre Dame's Lauren Musk's victory in the 500 freestyle was the school's first since 1997.
Covington Catholic finished second in he state swim meet for the second consecutive year.
February also was a good month for two wrestlers. Scott's Jason Daviaux and Simon Kenton's Chad Dalton each won state titles.
In October, Covington Catholic junior golfer Mark Erlewine finished tied for fourth in the state golf tournament.
Sports Stories
Larkin: Reds can compete
UC 65, UNC Wilmington 55
Davis follows bad with good
UC women 72, Butler 44
Price big boost for XU
Northern Ky. year in review
