Big Day On The Track For Bourbon’s Jesus Mendoza-solis And Bethany Simpson, As Well As Paris’ Taesha Speaks
MIDDLE SCHOOL STATE RUNNER-UP – The Bourbon County Middle School boys track team put on a show last weekend inside the Mason County Indoor Athletic Complex and in doing so, they show off their 2020 KTCCCA State Runner-up trophy. Pictured in the photo from left to right and front to back are Jesus Mendoza-solis, Bryce Perraut, Hunter Lunsford, Coach Drew Perraut, Coach Mike Felty, Coach Brian Watkins, Justin Stamper, Ryan Lay, Walker Ison and Coach Matt Perraut. PHOTO SUBMITTED I For BCMS Track
At The 2020 KTCCCA State Indoor
Track And Field Championship
IVAN K. RICE I doctorofsports@aol.com
MAYSVILLE, KY – What a day for Bourbon County middle school seventh grader Jesus Mendoza-solis after he left the Mason County Indoor Athletic Complex with two state indoor titles after winning the 800 and 1600 meter run during the 2020 KTCCCA Middle School State Indoor Championship. Mendoza-solis’ huge day helped the Bourbon MS team place second overall in the team standings.
Jefferson County Traditional won the team title with 62 points. Bourbon had 44 points, as they tied with Louisville’s Farnsley Middle School for the second spot. Raceland Middle was fourth with 41 points and Clark County’s Campbell Middle rounded out the top five with 25 points.
2-TIME STATE CHAMPION AND RECORD BREAKER – Bourbon County seventh grader Jesus Mendoza-solis, pictured at left, won the middle school state title in the 800 and 1600 meter run. He smashed the middle school state record for a seventh grader in the 800 and he also blew by the field in the 1600, running the fourth fastest middle school indoor time on record, regardless of grade. Mendoza-solis is pictured with Campbell Middle school’s eighth grader Cooper Wasson, who came in as the defending champion in the 1600. PHOTO SUBMITTED I For BCMS Track
Mendoza-solis’ winning time in the 800m run (2:19.84) is the fastest time ever ran by a seventh grader and the 11th fastest time overall by a middle school runner. If you think that was awesome, he topped that by running the fourth fastest time ever in the 1600m run after clocking a 5:02.70. Mendoza-solis’ would also run a leg on the third place 4×400 relay team.
Staying with the middle school level, Lady Colonel eighth grader Bethany Simpson sacrificed her chance of winning multiple state titles to help out her team. Simpson’s very grueling day saw her compete in four events during the middle school meet that morning and then she returned later that afternoon to participate in three more events with the high school team. When her day was all said and done, Simpson was part of (1) state title and (3) state runner-up finishes as she helped the middle school and high school Lady Colonels to third place in the overall team standings. Her state title was part of the girls’ middle school 4×400 relay team that also included Ashley Gambill, Addison Felty and Alana Puscas.
SHE CAN DO IT ALL – Lady Colonel eighth grader Bethany Simpson played a huge role on the middle and high school team during last week’s KTCCCA State Indoor Track and Field Meet.
Rockcastle County ran away with the Class AA Girls State Title with 120 points. Host Mason County was second with 70 points. Bourbon came in third (61.50), Western Hills fourth (48) and Rowan County (5th) 46. At the middle school level, Louisville’s Farnsley Middle won the team title with 64 points, edging out Rockcastle County, who totaled 63 points. Bourbon’s 54 points was good enough for third, while Jefferson County Traditional (34 points) was fourth and Mason County finished in fifth place with 27 points.
Other highlights for Bourbon saw sophomore Anna Hunsinger win the AA State Pole Vault Title, which took place inside the Whelan/Nault Vault Center located in Shelbyville, Kentucky. Hunsinger defeated Brianna Isa, a freshman out of the Christian Academy of Louisville, as both cleared 9 feet but Hunsinger won the title because she had the least amount of misses up to the height of 9 feet, 6 inches that neither athlete cleared. You can read more about Hunsinger’s state title in this week’s Bourbon County Citizen sports section.
Freshman Kylie Hernandez finished as state runner-up in the Class 2A 800 meter run. She was also part of the state runner-up 4×400 and 4×800 high school relay teams. The 4×4 team included Makayla Felty, Jennifer Wilson and Tori Young, while the 4×8 team had Ashley Gambill, Felty and Katie Boshears joining Hernandez.
Eighth grader Hunter Lunsford capped off Bourbon’s day with a state runner-up finish in the middle school shot put.
Speaks and Katy Chumbley Led The Ladyhounds
As expected, Ladyhound sophomore sprinting phenom Taesha Speaks, who will be competing at the New Balance Nationals Indoor meet this week in New York, defended her state indoor 55m title by blowing away the field in a time of 7.36 seconds, which was the fastest time clocked for the day regardless of class. Speaks is currently ranked second in the state in the 55m, 60m and 200 meter dash.
SPEAKS DEFENDS HER TITLE – Paris Ladyhound sophomore Taesha Speaks outdistanced second place finisher Karis Applegate from Bracken Cunty to win and defend her Class 1A 55m dash title. Speaks’ time of 7.36 seconds was the fastest 55m time of the day, regardless of class. STACEY SPEAKS I For PHS Track
Other Paris highlights saw freshman jumper Katy Chumbley place fourth in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump, where she recorded a personal best leap of just under 31 feet. One thing to note, Chumbley was the only freshman to score points in both events, as her and Speaks helped the Ladyhounds to seventh place in the overall Class 1A team standings.
Traditional power St. Henry District won the girls’ 1A State Team Title with 117 points. Louisville Collegiate was second with 77 points. Coming in third was Dayton with 51 points. Lloyd Memorial was fourth (40 points), while University Heights’ 38 points was good enough for fifth place. Bath County was sixth (34) and Paris seventh (29 points).
Below is every participant from Bourbon and Paris, high school and middle school that scored during the state indoor meet.
****
–HIGH SCHOOL LADY COLONELS–
400m – Jennifer Wilson (5th) 1:06.46; Makayla Felty (7th) 1:07.36
800m – Kylie Hernandez (state runner-up) 2:29.65
1600m – Bethany Simpson (5th) 5:45.43
3000m – Kayla Brainard (7th) 12:43.97; Madi Perraut (8th) 13:39.47
4x400m relay – Felty, Wilson, Hernandez, Tori Young (state runner-up) 4:23.67
4x800m relay – Gambill, Katie Boshears, Felty, Hernandez (state runner-up) 10:42.82
High Jump – Simpson (5th) 4-06; Lillian Page (7th) 4-06
Pole Vault – Anna Hunsinger (state champion) 9-00; Ashley Wiemers (6th) 6-00
Long Jump – Alana Puscus (6th) 14-03.75
Triple jump – Perraut (7th) 26-10; Page (8th) 26-6.50
****
–HIGH SCHOOL COLONELS–
800m – Jaden Commodore (7th) 2:19.99
4x400m relay – Jake Broughton, John Perraut, Zae Green, Walker Ison (8th) 4:19.83
4x800m relay – Andrew Perraut, Jesus Mendoza-solis, John Perraut, Commodore (4th) 9:34.91
High Jump – J. Perraut (8th) 5-02
Pole Vault – Hunter Lunsford (6th) 10-06; Broughton (7th) 8-06
****
–MIDDLE SCHOOL LADY COLONELS–
55m dash – Ashley Gambill (8th) 8.30
400m – Bethany Simpson (state runner-up) 1:05.22; Gambill (7th) 1:09.90
800m – Simpson (state runner-up) 2:32.89; Gambill (3rd) 2:46.06
1600m run – Simpson (state runner-up) 5:38.53; Kayla Brainard (5th) 6:15.97
4x400m relay – Gambill, Simpson, Addison Felty, Alana Puscas (state champion) 4:38.21
Long Jump – Puscas (4th) 13-02; Sarah Wells (8th) 11-08.75
Shot Put – Emma Howell (8th) 22-10.50
****
–BOURBON MIDDLE SCHOOL BOYS–
400m – Justin Stamper (8th) 1:04.94
800m – Jesus Mendoza-solis (state champion) 2:19.84; Walker Ison (7th) 2:37.26
1600m – Mendoza-solis (state champion) 5:02.70; Stephen Perraut (7th) 5:47.80
4x400m relay – Mendoza-solis, Hunter Lunsford, Stamper, Jaden Commodore (3rd) 4:23.74
Long Jump – Lunsford (6th) 15-00.75; Stamper (8th) 13-08.50
Shot Put – Lunsford (state runner-up) 36-11
****
–PARIS LADYHOUNDS–
55m – Taesha Speaks (state
BIG DAY FOR THE LADYHOUNDS – This Paris Ladyhound foursome of sophomore Riah Oliver, freshman Katy Chumbley, sophomore Taesha Speaks, and sophomore Amiyah speaks, helped their team place 7th overall at the 2020 KTCCCA Indoor State Championship that was held Saturday at the Mason County Indoor Athletic Complex.
STACEY SPEAKS I For PHS Track
champion) 7.36
High Jump – Amiyah Speaks (4th) 4-06
Long Jump – Katy Chumbley (4th) 14-07.50
Triple Jump – Chumbley (5th) 30-08.75
Shot Put – Riah Oliver (4th) 28-06.50
