Track/Cross Country

“I believe that God spared my life for a reason, and it wasn’t to just sit down and accept what had happened to me. It was to overcome it.” Those are the words of Josh Grubb, the soon-to-be senior at Whitley County High School who less than a year ago was clinging to life after he sustained horrific injuries in a tragic head-on car crash that left several others injured and took the life of one person in another vehicle. Grubb was a passenger in the back seat of the car that he was in. He and some friends had been on a hiking trip earlier in the day, and...

On Monday, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) announced some rules changes via its social media accounts and on the khsaa.org website. One rule change dealt with high school baseball, and read: Players using non-wood bats will have greater flexibility in using substances to enhance their grip on the bat with a change that brings consistency to Rule 1-3-2. This rule revision was one of two proposed by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Baseball Rules Committee after its annual rules meeting held June 2-4 at The Alexander hotel in Indianapolis. The rules changes were accepted by the NFHS Board of Directors and are effective with the...

It was another successful spring season for the Williamsburg High School track and field team. The Jackets and Lady Jackets managed to compile a long list of achievements during the past season, but junior Nate Goodin and senior Lylah Mattingly gave performances worthy of a trip to the recent Nike Outdoor Nationals competition in Eugene, Ore. Goodin came into the season as the defending Class A state champion in long jump. He was able to walk away with another first place finish at last month’s KHSAA State Championships, but this time it was in his personal favorite event – high jump. “Since my freshman year I have always wanted to win...

Last week, coverage area teams competed in the 2024 Kentucky High School Athletic Association Track and Field State Championships. Results from the meets, held at the University of Kentucky, are as follows… Class A championships (Thursday, May 30) • Girls 4x800m relay - Williamsburg 13th place in 10:55.07 (Ryan Fields, Emaly Powers, Emma Moore and Tatum Croley) • Girls 100m hurdles - Lylah Mattingly (W’burg) 5th place in 15.91 • Boys 110m hurdles - Peyton Hamilton (W’burg) 14th place in 16.42 • Girls 4x200m relay - Williamsburg 11th place in 1:51.84 (Kaylee Rains, Lynsie Durham, Lillian Roark, Madison Peace) • Girls 1600m run - Tatum Croley (W’burg) 22nd place in 6:03.25 • Girls 4x100m relay -...

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...

Coverage area cross country runners capped off a successful 2023 season at this past weekend’s Kentucky High School Athletic Association State Championships at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. Results from the day’s championship races include: Girls Class A (232 runners, 31 teams) Emaly Powers, Williamsburg - 51st place in 22:52.20 Ryan Fields, Williamsburg - 95th place in 24:13.51 Emma Moore, Williamsburg - 105th place in 24:30.17 Isabelle Cuz, Lynn Camp - 120th place in 25:02.10 Sadie Melton, Lynn Camp - 132nd place in 25:22.57 Tatum Croley, Williamsburg - 134th place in 25:27.72 Lauren Partin, Lynn Camp - 150th place in 25:48.94 Emma Meadors, Williamsburg - 196th place in 28:30.30 Williamsburg (team) - 16th place overall Boys Class A (264...

On Saturday, Oct. 21, runners from Corbin, Williamsburg, Lynn Camp and Whitley County high schools made the trip to Cave Lake Park in Wayne County to compete in this year’s regional championship cross country meet. Results for that morning’s Region 6, Class A meets included the following: Girls • Emaly Powers, Williamsburg (2nd place in 22:37.87) • Emma Moore, Williamsburg (14th place in 24:01.21) • Tatum Croley, Williamsburg (15th place in 24:01.88) • Isabelle Cuz, Lynn Camp (17th place in 24:14.45) • Ryan Fields, Williamsburg (19th place in 24:36.50) • Sadie Melton, Lynn Camp (20th place in 24:45.58) • Lauren Partin, Lynn Camp (23rd place in 26:06.58) • Emma Meadors, Williamsburg (29th place in 27:02.51) • Makenzie Rice, Williamsburg (37th...

As a football player and track-and-field athlete at Whitley County High School, Kevin Simpson was always used to going fast. Whether it was trying to beat a defender into the endzone or cross the finish line before an opposing runner, speed was always the key to his success. Fast forward nearly a decade later, and the 2015 grad is still going places in a hurry as a First Officer for JetBlue Airways and a Black Hawk helicopter pilot for the Kentucky National Guard. “Flying was always my childhood dream,” Simpson said. “Growing up in Williamsburg, there weren’t many resources to accomplish becoming a pilot, so that dream dissipated and fell...

Of all the stellar performances by coverage area track and field athletes at this year’s Kentucky High School Athletic Association state championships, one stood out above the rest. Williamsburg’s Nate Goodin, who has just completed his sophomore year, was the only local competitor to secure a state title, jumping into first place in the long jump event with a distance of 21 feet, four inches. “Last year, I placed runner-up in the high jump,” Goodin said of his previous performance at the Class A state meet. “I didn’t do long jump then, but this year I was asked to try it out. I had been consistently jumping 20-21 feet, somewhere...

Last week, athletes from all four of the News Journal’s coverage area high schools made the trip to the University of Kentucky to compete in the 2023 state track and field championships. Results from the Class A championships on Thursday, June 1, were as follows: From Williamsburg… • Lylah Mattingly, on her birthday, placed tenth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.04. She finished in sixth place in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 49.67. • Madison Peace placed seventh in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.03. She placed fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:01.59. She also finished fifth in the 200-meter dash with...