By sports reporter Terry Boehmker, NKyTribune
Next season, Dan Sullivan, a seasoned coach with 250 career victories, will return to Northern Kentucky boys basketball for his second tenure with the Ludlow program.
From 2018 to 2022, Sullivan served as Ludlow’s head coach for four seasons before taking over as athletic director. After 17 varsity seasons, he had a 250-219 record when he returns to coaching.
At Walton-Verona, where he held his first head coaching position, his teams finished 60-46 over four seasons (1990–1994). After that, he took over as head coach at Campbell County, where he coached the team to a 126-118 record in nine seasons between 1994 and 2003.
At Campbell County, he had two seasons with 20 wins, and the squad in 2000–01 qualified for the state tournament by winning the 10th Region title.
Aaron Stamm, the boys’ head coach at Ludlow for the previous three seasons, was replaced by Sullivan. Stamm resigned last month to take over as Brossart’s head coach for girls.
Coach Sullivan is excited to return to LHS and continue to build on the success of the boys basketball program, according to a post on the Ludlow Independent Schools Facebook page. He is thrilled and appreciative of the chance to collaborate with this outstanding bunch of young men.
Last season, the Panthers finished first among small institutions in the NKAC Division III conference standings with a 16–15 record. This spring, three out of that team’s top five scorers graduated.
Ludlow last participated in the 9th Region boys competition in 2006. The Panthers have a 6-10 record in 34th District playoff games over the past ten years, and all six of their wins have come against another Division III team, Villa Madonna.
Top runners in 5K race were high school standouts
Northern Kentucky high schools have produced exceptional distance runners in recent years, including the top three finishers in Friday’s Edgewood Fourth of July 5K.
Natnael Weldemichael, a 2022 Beechwood graduate, won the event in 15:15.21. In his senior year, he won the 1600 and 3200 runs at the state track competition and was the Class 1A state champion in boys cross country.
Tiger Bartlett (15:28.46), a 2024 graduate of Ryle, and Will Sheets (15:56.07), a 2025 graduate of Covington Catholic, were the next two runners to cross the finish line in the Christmas race.
Sheets won first place and Bartlett placed third in the 2022 Class 3A state cross-country competition. During their high school careers, they both surpassed the 15-minute barrier in 5K cross-country races and won state titles in track events.
Weldemichel is a junior on the track and cross country teams at Northern Kentucky University. Sheets was recruited by the University of Virginia, while Bartlett runs distance for the University of Cincinnati.
CovCath grad back on Kansas City Royals roster
Luke Maile, a product of Covington Catholic, is back in the major leagues as the third catcher for the Kansas City Royals.
Prior to being assigned to the Royals’ Triple-A squad in Omaha, Maile participated in four games for the team in May. The Royals brought him up on July 4 while he was hitting.280 (23 of 82) with that team.
In ten major league seasons, the 34-year-old catcher has played for six different organizations, including the Cincinnati Reds in 2023 and 2024. With 22 home runs, 114 RBI, and 238 hits, his lifetime batting average is.209.
