LEXINGTON – Kaleb Darnell went to Lexington Christian Academy as the favorite in one event on Saturday.
He delivered, and then some.
The Bracken County junior showed why he was the top seed in the triple jump for the Class 1A, Region 5 track and field meet, taking the individual title in the event, to go along with the title in the long jump and podium finishes in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes.
“The highlight of today was definitely Kaleb’s performance,” said Bracken County coach Forrest Hunt. “He broke four school records at today’s meet. I don’t think that’s ever been done before by anybody on our team, so it’s definitely good knowing he’s got another year.”
Darnell delivered a mark of 42-05 in the triple jump, besting Danville’s Damon Jackson’s second place mark of 40-10.
“It was just perfect weather and my steps were right on today,” said Darnell. “I knew I was ranked first, but I knew I had to just finish strong because you couldn’t hold back on any one.”
He entered the long jump as the No. 3 seed, separated from the top spot by three inches. On Saturday, he jumped 21-00.25 to beat Jackson’s mark of 19-10.25. Darnell also finished fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.57 and sixth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.41.
“I was just in the right mindset,” said Darnell. “I knew it was regions and I knew I had to give it all I’ve got.”
Bracken County had several others qualify for the state meet. The 4×800-meter relay team of Daniel Simons, Brandon Cox, Collin Jefferson and Jared Jefferson entered as the top-seeded group, but finished second to Lexington Christian Academy’s team of Malcolm Palmer, Lukas Furgason, Connor Hayes and Andrew Madden. The Polar Bears finished roughly 10 seconds back of the Eagles’ time of 8:38.30.
“This was LCA’s top team. I knew they were going to run that today, and whether or not they run it at state, I don’t know,” said Hunt. “One of the big factors was we lost contact in the third position – their third guys laid down a very strong leg and we faded, then I told Brandon to shut it down because I knew we were going to get second and I didn’t want him to burn himself out for later.”
Jared Jefferson automatically qualified in the 3,200-meter relay by finishing second with a time of 10:16.07. Hayes won the event with a time of 9:53.33. Cox was the third to cross the finish line, but Hunt believes his time of 10:27.64 is enough to advance to the state meet as one of the at-large qualifiers.
“Both of them kind of looked a little bit flat today. I don’t know if the heat got to them or what, but they didn’t look as sharp as what I’ve seen from them,” said Hunt. “We’ve got 12 days until state and hopefully by then we’re ready to go.”
Freshman Payton Tully earned an automatic spot back in Lexington by finishing second in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 18.85, a year after falling in the event. Danville’s Gabe McKnight won with a time of 15.46. Tully also finished sixth in the 300-meter hurdles.
“I told him this week, ‘You’ve got a chance to go to state. You’re seeded second and top two get in. Try to have a clean run and just make sure you’re staying focused on what you’re doing in your lane,’” said Hunt. “It paid off for him today.”
Collin Jefferson landed on the podium in the 800-meter run, finishing fifth with a time of 2:14.18. The Polar Bears’ 4×400-meter relay team of Collin Jefferson, Simons, Andrew Carrington and Damon Bryant finished sixth.
Bracken County finished fourth in the boys’ team standing with 57 points. Danville claimed the region title with 160 points, Lexington Christian was second with 120 and Trimble County was third with 72.
Karis Applegate led the girls’ team by finishing third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.89 and fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.87. She’ll have to wait to see if she advances to state with an at-large bid.
“She should get in in at least the 100 and possibly the 200 as an at-large bid,” said Hunt. “There’s hardly anybody in the state in any of the regions – I don’t think I saw anybody that ran a sub-13 and three girls did it today.”
The Lady Bears finished 12th with 10 points. Lexington Christian won the girls’ title with 144 points, Paris was second with 90.33, Owen County was third with 61, Trimble County was fourth with 53.33 and Danville was fifth with 47.
The Augusta boys finished 11th in team standings with nine points, led by Stephen Cordle’s second place finish in the shot put with a throw of 40-11.50. Owen County’s Ethan Searcy won the event with a mark of 41-08. Cordle is the first automatic qualifier since coach Tim Litteral took over when the program was brought back in 2015.
“The goal was around 41 and he was pretty much there. We’re thrilled to have him qualify for state. We’ve not had somebody since 2016 when Camryn [Snapp] did, and even then it was an at-large,” said Augusta coach Tim Litteral. “Since I’ve taken over, this is the first runner-up finish – this is the highest finish we’ve had – so we’re just real pleased with his effort and the effort he’s put in this season and we’re looking forward to another week and a half of work before we go down to UK.”
Connor Snapp landed on the podium in the 1,600-meter run as an eighth grader. He finished sixth in the event with a time of 5:12.81.
“He’s been real consistent the last two or three weeks and 5:12 is probably his personal best this year,” said Litteral. “We looked at the seeding and saw he was eighth, but then we looked at his competition and we thought that if he has a quality race, he could get sixth place and medal and he did that.”
The Class 1A state meet is scheduled for Thursday, May 30 at the University of Kentucky Outdoor Track and Field Complex.
TEAM RESULTS
BOYS
PLACE; TEAM; SCORE
1; Danville; 160
2; Lexington Christian; 120
3; Trimble County; 72
4; Bracken County; 57
5; Frankfort; 32
6; Nicholas County; 26
7; Paris; 24
8; Owen County; 20
9; Carroll County; 18
10; Burgin; 17
11; Augusta; 9
12; Model; 2
13; Frankfort Christian; 1
GIRLS
PLACE; TEAM; SCORE
1; Lexington Christian; 144
2; Paris; 90.33
3; Owen County; 61
4; Trimble County; 53.33
5; Danville; 47
6; Sayre; 38.33
7; Caroll County; 33
8; Burgin; 24
9; Model; 18
10; Frankfort; 15
11; Gallatin County; 12
12; Bracken County; 10
13; Nicholas County; 6
