By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Covington Catholic’s tennis team won Northern Kentucky’s only state championship trophy in an unclassified high school sport for the second straight school year.
The local teams that won state titles in KHSAA classified sports were Beechwood in Class 2A football, Villa Madonna in Class 1A boys cross country and CovCath in Class 2A boys cross county, indoor track and outdoor track.
The list of All “A” Classic state championship teams during the 2024-25 school year included St. Henry in volleyball and boys golf and Brossart in girls soccer.
The majority of individual state champions came in indoor and outdoor track, which are classified sports. The exceptions were two in boys tennis, two in girls wrestling and one each in boys wrestling, girls swimming and girls bowling.
Here’s a look back at the local teams and athletes who made headlines during the recently completed school year.
FALL SPORTS
Northern Kentucky football teams had a 1-2 record in state championship games. Beechwood regained the Class 2A title with a 50-34 win over Owensboro Catholic, but neighboring schools Cooper and Ryle were not able to attain their first championship trophy.
In the Class 5A final, Bowling Green defeated Cooper, 37-20, and Louisville Trinity defeated Ryle, 42-23, to take the Class 6A title. Cooper finished with a best-ever 14-1 record and junior quarterback Cam O’Hara set school single-season records in passing yards (3,617) and passing touchdowns (52).
The Villa Madonna boys cross country team made history when it placed first in the Class 1A state meet. It was the first state championship won by a boys team at the Catholic high school since it became co-ed in 1988.
CovCath repeated as Class 2A state champion with senior Will Sheets and junior Joe Meyer placing second and third in the race. The local runners who won individual state titles were Cooper junior Paul Van Laningham in Class 3A boys and Beechwood junior Lily Parke in Class 1A girls.
Parke became the first Beechwood girl to win an individual state title in cross country. Both of Van Laningham’s parents, Eric and Michelle, were Class 3A state champions when they were in high school.
The Notre Dame volleyball team achieved a national ranking during the season and won the 9th Region championship for the third consecutive year, but the Pandas were upset by Louisville Assumption, 3-2, in the state semifinals.
The Pandas finished the season under departing head coaches Leslie Litmer and Jenna Leistner with a 33-4 record and senior libero Julia Grace was named Defensive Player of the Year on the all-state team selected by coaches.
Another senior who completed her high school career in the fall was Cooper golfer Reagan Ramage. She tied for fourth place in her final state tournament to earn first-team all-state honors for the third consecutive year. She was medalist in the Region 7 tournament five consecutive years.
Covington Catholic and Highlands were 9th Region champions in boys and girls soccer and Campbell County swept the the 10th Region titles. But none of those teams made it to the state semifinals.
WINTER SPORTS
Cooper became the first high school to win 9th Region boys and girls basketball championships in the same season since 2012 and the girls team claimed an unprecedented fourth consecutive 9th Region title.
Both teams lost in the state tournament quarterfinals to the eventual champions. Cooper junior guard Haylee Noel scored 34 points in her team’s season-ending loss, the fourth highest total by a 9th Region player in the girls state tournament.
Simon Kenton won the 8th Region girls basketball championship and posted a 26-5 record in Jeff Stowers’ first season back as head coach.
The young Pioneers’ team also made headlines with a 75-70 overtime win against Louisville Sacred Heart, snapping that team’s 92-game win streak against in-state opponents.
After basketball season ended, Cooper did not extend boys coach Tim Sullivan’s contract and St. Henry hired him to succeed Dave Faust, who retired with more career wins (482) than any other 9th Region boys basketball coach.
Cooper then put girls coach Justin Holthaus in charge of the boys program and hired former college assistant coach Christian Stefanopoulos Prohaska as his replacement.
Walton-Verona teammates Emma Moore and Sophie Anderson won weight class titles for the second consecutive year at the girls state wrestling tournament. Other local athletes who claimed individual state championships in winter sports were Ryle senior Landon Evans in boys wrestling, Notre Dame freshman Clare Herfel in girls swimming and Cooper senior Alexis Tignor in girls bowling.
Tignor had the third highest pin total in the qualifying round and defeated both bowlers seeded ahead of her in the final two games to take the title. Her three-game total of 740 in the finals ranks among the top five in girls state tournament history.
The winter sports season included the Class 1A, 2A and 3A indoor state track and field meet. Local athletes won gold medals in 11 events and CovCath took the Class 2A boys team title for the second straight year.
One of the standout performers was CovCath senior Will Sheets, who won the Class 2A 3200-meter run and was a member of the winning 4×400 and 4×800 relay teams. Two state cross country champions also did well. Beechwood junior Lily Parke was a double winner in the Class 1A girls 800 and 1600 runs. Cooper junior Paul Van Laningham finished first in the Class 3A boys 1600 run
SPRING SPORTS
In the first season of state sanctioned playoffs for three sports this spring, local teams that won region championships were Notre Dame in girls lacrosse, Dixie Heights in boys lacrosse and Ryle in boys volleyball.
Notre Dame made it to the final four in the girls lacrosse playoffs and finished with a 17-2 record. Senior midfielder Hannah Powers had the state’s highest goals-per-game average (5.0) with 95 in 19 games. She was also fifth in total points with 104 (95 goals, 9 assists).
CovCath tennis players swept state titles in boys singles, doubles and the team tournament.
Alex Yeager became Northern Kentucky’s first state champion in boys singles since 2013 and joined his father, Jason, on the exclusive list.
In their first season together as partners, senior Kalei Christensen and sophomore Blake Hussey won CovCath’s third consecutive state doubles title.
In the state team tournament, Christensen and Hussey played singles along with Yeager and they scored the points the Colonels needed to repeat as champions by each going 4-0 in tournament matches.
CovCath picked up its fourth state championship of the school year by scoring the most points in the Class 2A outdoor state track meet. Three local runners also posted state records in the season finale.
Cooper junior Paul Van Laningham set a statewide record in the 1600 run when he crossed the finish line in 4:08.23 in the Class 3A boys race.
Beechwood senior Lily Parke set Class 1A state records in both the girls 800 run (2:15.96) and 1600 run (4:59.88). Newport Central Catholic senior Charlie Ford also set a Class 1A state record in the 200 dash (21.62).
Parke won five gold medals in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track during the school year. Van Laningham was a three-time state champion in those state meets.
CovCath senior Will Sheets won gold medals in two relays and two individual events at the Class 2A indoor and outdoor state track meets, but he finished second in the Class 2A state cross country meet.
The high school sports year concluded with the baseball and fast-pitch softball playoffs.
Holy Cross won its first 9th Region title in softball on a grand slam home run by freshman Kayla Fledderman in the seventh inning of a 5-3 victory over Highlands. But the Indians lost their debut game in the state tournament.
The Highlands baseball team took the 9th Region title for the first time since 2018 under first-year head coach Brian Benzinger. The Bluebirds had a 4-1 lead in their state tournament opener before rain delays messed up their momentum and they ended up losing in extra innings.
Last week, CovCath baseball coach Bill Krumpelbeck retired after 48 years with the program. His teams compiled a 1,149-485 record for a 70.3 winning percentage. He’s second on the career wins list in Kentucky high school baseball.