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Last week, Corbin High School freshman Ayden Messer made history by advancing to the semifinal round of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s spring e-sports state championships. Messer competed in the NBA2K bracket, and recently took some time to discuss e-sports, his experiences at state, and more. This is year number two of e-sports at Corbin High School, correct? Yes. Were you on the inaugural team as an eighth grader? No. People are getting more used to e-sports in our area, but it is still very much a new thing. What would you like to say about e-sports competition to anyone who might be curious? It’s good to have practice , and to know what...

Corbin High School junior Jace Hatfield has a lot going on. He is a lineman on the Redhound football team. He throws shot put and discus for the school’s track and field team. He is an A student taking classes in HVAC repair, and oh yeah, he was recently recognized by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association as the Midway University Student-Athlete of the Year for archery. How does Hatfield feel about this recognition, and a wide range of other subjects? Read on to find out. Did you know that you were being considered for Athlete of the Year? I actually didn’t know. Our coaches went through the KHSAA, and they picked...

Winning a medal may be the ultimate goal when it comes to competing in a state championship wrestling tournament, but in the case of this past Saturday’s first-ever Kentucky High School Athletic Association girls state championships, the bigger, and more important, victory had already been won before anyone even stepped foot inside Lexington’s Alltech Arena. For several years, girls competing in high school wrestling in the state of Kentucky have had to rely on coaches organizing their own special events in order to have the opportunity to compete against other females for state championship titles. Not anymore. This year, for the first time ever, the KHSAA held its own sanctioned girls state...

Last week, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association held its annual wrestling state championships at the Alltech Arena in Lexington. In the boys’ competition, a total of six local athletes represented the area in six different weight classes. Corbin sophomore BJ Jackson managed to make a deep run in the 138-lb. bracket, starting things off with a win over senior Grayson Shelby from Ohio County in round one. Jackson was defeated in round two by Scott County senior Jonah Baysinger, dropping him into the consolation bracket. From there, he picked up a pair of victories, first against West Jessamine senior Elliot Pope and then against Eastern High School senior Dominick Goatley. Jackson...

It should surprise no one to hear that the outlook for athletics in the Corbin Independent School system is very positive. Last week, Corbin High School Athletic Director Tackett Wilson spoke to the Corbin Rotary Club about the many reasons for why that is. “When it comes to athletics at Corbin, we are very competitive,” said Wilson, who retired from the Kentucky State Police in 2014 before coming to work for Corbin Independent Schools. “I want this to be a top shelf program. If you’re going to have an athletic program, you want it to be the best.” Wilson and company have certainly accomplished a lot since he took over the...

As we close out Mental Health Awareness Month, three Corbin High School students are receiving some much-deserved recognition after putting together an award-winning public service announcement about mental health as part of global HOSA - Future Health Professionals organization. “HOSA began as ‘Health Occupation Students of America,’” explained Julia Rollins, health science teacher at the Corbin Area Technology Center. “About eight years ago it went international as a student-led organization, not a club.” This year, three of Rollins’ students - Riley Lewis, Lindsay Jones and Hannah Perry - came together to create a 30-second PSA on the important topic of mental health. The project has been well-received, and was selected as...

On April 8, the Corbin Bass Fishing Team celebrated their seniors - Tanner Davis, Austin Ooten, Elijah Fortney, Troy Faulkner and Zayne Hammack - with a senior day. These seniors have competed in several Regional, State, National and World fishing tournaments of over the last few years and have represented Corbin High School with pride. They will be missed next year. Over the last 8 years, Corbin has had numerous teams qualify for state and national tournaments. They have also had teams compete in the High School World Championship. This year Fortney and Hammack have solidified their place in the National High School Bass Fishing Championship in Lacrosse, WI...

The Corbin High School boys swim team saw a total of four athletes competing in this past weekend’s KHSAA state championships in Lexington, with senior Jason Killian appearing in three separate events. Killian swam in both the 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter breaststroke events, and he was also a part of the 200-meter freestyle relay team along with freshmen Blake Butler and Nick Partin, and junior Coleman Anderson. The swimming Redhounds were unfortunately not able to qualify for the finals in any of the above-mentioned events, but Killian said that he was happy to have the chance to represent his school at the state level in his final season. “Overall, I’m pretty happy...

Despite being relatively new to the sport, 15-year-old Ayden Mills is already finding himself competing at a high level inside the boxing ring. On New Year’s Eve, he traveled to Louisville and became a state champion in the 138-lb. bracket at the 2022 Kentucky Silver Gloves Championships. “I started about eight months ago,” Mills said of his journey into competitive boxing. “It was kind of an impulse thing. I wanted to do it to get in shape, but after doing it for a while, I realized that I actually wanted to compete.” At that point, Mills made the decision to begin training at Loughran’s Boxing and Jiu Jitsu in London under...

(Story by Trevor Sherman) Just a few short years ago, Jaine Stephens started making waves as the only active female high school wrestler in our local area. As a middle schooler competing at the varsity level for Whitley County High School, the California native was regularly wrestling against, and pinning, many of her male counterparts. Fast forward to present day, and not only has girls wrestling become much more commonplace in our area, but the sport as a whole has exploded in popularity, with several other schools in the region adding teams to their athletic programs. Stephens and her family have certainly played a large role in that increased popularity, with her...