Sports

It was a heck of a freshman year for Williamsburg Lady Jacket runner Selena Mattingly… Mattingly gave varsity-level competitors a run for their money in both cross country and track as a middle schooler. Then, back during the fall of last year, she finally realized her dream of becoming a state champion when she opened up her high school career with a Class A cross country title. Coming into the 2016 KHSAA state track and field championships, all eyes were on Mattingly after she was able to pile up victory after victory all season long in distance running events. Among her top accomplishments this spring was taking first place in the...

This From the Sidelines column appeared in the June 1, 2016 edition of the News Journal: On Saturday, Williamsburg High School freshman Selena Mattingly won two state championships at the KHSAA Class A track and field meet in Lexington. I was there, watching as she made winning the 1600-meter run look easy. I was also there when she raced ahead in the final moments of the 800-meter run, moving up in a hurry from second place to secure her second state title of the day. Mattingly’s two victories at this year’s state championship meet was an amazing accomplishment. There is absolutely no doubt about that, but I want to talk for...

As of Tuesday night, there are no more coverage area baseball or softball teams left standing in 2016 as both the Corbin Redhounds and the Williamsburg Lady Jackets fell to North Laurel in the semifinal round of this year's 13th Region baseball and softball tournaments. Corbin got into a hole early against the Jaguars, and by the fourth inning North had built up a commanding 10-0 lead. Things were looking bleak for the Hounds at this point, but they continued to fight, putting a couple of runs up on the board to prevent the shutout loss. It was too little, too late though, as the Jags would eventually go on...

With a 16-10 win over Knox Central Wednesday night, the host Lynn Camp Lady Cats became the first team in the history of the program to win a 51st District championship title. Knox got out to an 8-0 lead after two innings, but the Lady Cats were able to go ahead thanks to a nine-run explosion in the top of the third. They never looked back from there, adding two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth, three in the sixth and one more in the seventh inning. The Lady Panthers would put two more runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth before going on to...

Earlier this month a From the Sidelines column discussed Whitley County senior Keaton Logan’s quest to make it to Australia this summer to represent the USA in the annual Down Under Sports international track and field competition. In order to make the trip, Logan had to raise a certain amount of funds, mostly to help with the cost of airfare. The News Journal is happy to report that Logan has since met his fundraising goal, and will be traveling to Australia this July. Logan also recently signed to run track and cross country at the University of the Cumberlands. On the day of his signing, he was asked how he felt...

The 2016 high school tennis season concluded last week with the KHSAA state championship tournaments for singles and doubles. Day one saw all boys matches taking place at the University of Kentucky’s Boone/Downing Tennis Complex, and all girls matches taking place down the road at the Shillito Park Tennis Complex. Beginning with the boys, Whitley County’s Chris Tan was able to defeat McCracken County’s Eddie Lam 6-4, 6-4 in an early morning singles match last Thursday. That win advanced the sophomore to round two, where he would face Adam Slone, a talented senior player from LCA. Prior to taking the court for the match against Slone, Tan said, “I was...

This From the Sidelines column appeared in the May 25 edition of the News Journal: In 2014, Garner Chandler, Cole Shelton, Abe Barnes, Ben Phillips, Cade Cooney, Cameron Allen, Boston Hardesty, Jacob Gardner, Ethan Wine, Zac Hash and Caden Worley were about to lead the Corbin 11-12 year-old Little League All-Stars team to an appearance in the state championship tournament. Now, nearly two years later, those players, along with teammates Nick Yeager, Caleb VanNorstran, Quinton Botner, Josh Werner, JT Moore, Zac Young, Cole Hicks, Cody Cox, Peyton Addison, Nic Osborne, Matthew Creekmore, Eli Campbell and Josh Oliver, have brought the Corbin Middle School baseball team to a new level of success. In...

Both the softball and baseball 50th District championship games were contested Tuesday evening at South Laurel High School in London. In softball action, the Williamsburg Lady Jackets met up with the host Lady Cardinals. The Jackets were coming off of a thrilling 7-0 victory over Corbin on Monday, but things did not go their way in the district title game. The Lady Cards were dominant, winning 10-0 in five innings. Both teams will now move on to this year’s 13th Region tournament, being held next week at Knox Central High School. Be sure to look in the June 1 edition of the News Journal for coverage from the region tourney. In baseball,...

Look in the 5/25 edition for a full list of local athletes competing in this weekend’s KHSAA state championship meets in Lexington!

The University of the Cumberlands (UC) Women's Golf team would battle the elements all week as they competed in the 2016 NAIA National Championship Tournament at Savannah Quarters Country Club in Pooler, Georgia. UC would hold a share of the lead after the opening round of play before the 2nd round was cancelled. The Patriots would then play the 3rd and final round of play over a two-day span as the 4th round was cancelled due to weather as well. The Patriots would struggle a bit in the final round of play, but would still earn a high finish while one Patriot would play her way to the NAIA Individual...