MOREHEAD — Coming into the Class 2A, Region 6 track and field meet, Mason County and Ashland Blazer knew what they needed to do for a team title.

The two were expected to be close for a team title. Maybe a little too close.

After 18 events scored, the meet ended in a dead heat with the Lady Royals and Kittens claiming co-champions with 152 points apiece. One place here or there could have made things different, but senior Abi Dawson knows the team put out their maximum effort and was a result they could live with.

“People were saying if we could have done this or this, but we can’t look back on that because we still won. It may be shared, but one day you might forget about that. It’s such a big deal to me to have it back. Last time we did I was in seventh grade so I’ve been really working toward this moment,” Dawson said.

The Kittens had won the last four team titles, the Lady Royals the last six prior to that. The two would be tight throughout the race, claiming the top spots in the majority of events. Things remained so tight it came down to the final event…the girls 4×400 relay. Ashland held a two-point advantage going into the final race, the Lady Royals needing to secure a first place finish to claim a share of the title.

“Coach (Kachler) came up to us before if we wanted to know now or later. So we wanted to know now and he said, ‘You’re down by two, if you get second you lose, if you win, you tie,” Dawson said. “So that was with us and gave us more adrenaline and a school record too.”

Dawson got them off to a good start, followed by Rachel Payne and Olivia O’Hearn with comfortable leads, Paige Decker finishing off the race in a school record time of 4:15.95 and a first place finish. Ashland trailed behind and finished second, meaning the two would finish with 152 points apiece, ending the meet in a dead heat.

“Unbelievable. I’ve been doing this for 20 years and never seen it. You stick around long enough you’ll see everything I guess,” Mason County coach Mark Kachler said. “It’s an important piece of hardware to the kids and it’s all credit to them. They really worked toward this. I love it for the seniors and it sets the tone for the younger kids.”

A senior class that was tired of finishing second to Ashland their first three years of high school had a say in it too. On a day where they graduated first, five seniors got the Lady Royals off to a good start.

Dawson claimed first in the pole vault, clearing 10-feet with fellow senior Olivia O’Hearn behind her in second, clearing 9-foot-6. Dawson set a school record of her own in the 400, running 1:02.27 and finishing second.

Te’A King finished second in the 100-meter dash, senior teammate Iyanna Johns behind her in third, Johns also adding a third place finish in the triple jump and sixth in the long jump. King added second in the 200 meters, Ashland’s Lillian Sebastian edging her out in both sprint events. Another senior Emily Huber placed fourth in the shot put with a throw of 29-11, despite missing the majority of the season to injury.

A big decider in the team race came from the relay events. Both Mason County and Ashland’s relay teams all qualified for state with the Lady Royals claiming the first place finish in the 4×400 and second place finishes in the 4×100, 4×200 and 4×800, Ashland claiming the top spot in each of the other three relay events.

After finishing third in a rough 1,600 in what was a hot and humid day, Paige Decker recovered from overheating in the mile to take first in the 800.

“It meant a lot. That really helped me set the tone for myself in the rest of the meet. It helped me get in the right mindset,” Decker said.

Decker fell to the ground after the 1,600 and needed assistance from the trainer.

“It hasn’t been really that hot and today was the first day for that with really good competition. I just got hot and anxious. I shook it off and told myself I can’t just stop here, my team was depending on me for points,” Decker said.

Other state qualifiers were Rachel Payne in the 100 and 300 hurdles, finishing second to Rowan County’s Promise Cross in both events. Cross also added first-place finishes in the high jump and long jump, giving Rowan County 40 points and finishing third as a team with 105 points.

The Lady Royals also got points from Kendra Shoemaker in the 100 hurdles with a sixth place finish, Alyssa Bisotti fourth in the 1,600, Morgan Carpenter fourth in the 300 hurdles, Hayden Faris fifth in the 800, Bisotti third in the 3,200, teammate Elizabeth Lavinder in fourth. Sara Brewer tied for third in the high jump and O’Hearn in sixth to give them their 152 points on the day.

Fleming County placed eighth with 17 points, getting 16 from Erin Pease in the 100 and 300 hurdles with third place finishes and fourth in the 200. Madison Sparks added a sixth place finish in the shot put.

Lewis County was ninth with seven points. The Lady Lions relay teams accounting for the majority with a fifth place finish in the 4×200 and 4×100, Tierra Tully placing fifth in the 200 and Madison Welch claiming sixth in the 1,600.

Anyone finishing outside of the top two at region still has a shot at qualifying for the state meet based off the next 10 best times or distances across other regions of the state. All region meets will be finalized on Tuesday with the rest of the state qualifiers to be decided shortly after.

“You just never know. We’ll know midnight Tuesday night probably. The good thing is we’re sending a bus load down and hoping to make it an even bigger bus load,” Kachler said.

Unlike prior years when the state meet was a week after region, it’s now on May 31, starting at 10 a.m. at University of Kentucky’s Track and Field Facility.

On the boys’ side, Ashland had Keontae Pittman healthy at the right time and he helped the Tomcats blaze to a first place finish with 177 points, beating Russell by 35. Pittman finished first in the 100, 200 and 400. Boyd County came in third with 94 points, Mason County in fourth with 40 points. Fleming County took eighth with 16 points, Lewis County ninth with 12.

The lone coverage area state qualifier came from an eighth grader, Mason County’s A.J. Barrett in the pole vault, finishing second at a height of 10-06. Ashland’s Thomas Skaggs placed first with a height of 11-00.

Others scoring for the Royals on the day were Anwar Perry fourth in the 100, Alix Flinders fifth in the 300 hurdles, Nicholas Drury fifth in the 800, Isaiah Riggs third in the 3,200 and Lang Touchton fifth in the shot put.

The Royals’ relay teams will also have a chance at the state meet with third place finishes in the 4×100 and 4×400, adding fourth in the 4×200.

Fleming County’s Hayden Ramey came close, placing third in the 400 and fourth in the 200, behind the Ashland duo of Pittman and Nana Amo-Mensah.

The Panthers Caleb Faris added fifth in the pole vault and the 4×400 relay team added a fourth place finish.

Lewis County got five of their 12 points from Immanuel Manning with fifth place finishes in the 200 and 400 and sixth in the long jump. Parker Stone added fifth in the discus and sixth from David Keen in the 300 hurdles. The Lions 4×800 relay team placed fourth.

TEAM SCORING

BOYS

1. Ashland Blazer — 177

2. Russell — 142

3. Boyd County — 94

4. Mason County — 40

5. Rowan County — 26

6. Greenup County — 25

7. East Carter — 24

8. Fleming County — 16

9. Lewis County — 12

GIRLS

1. Mason County — 152

1. Ashland Blazer — 152

3. Rowan County — 105

4. Russell — 48

5. Greenup County — 28

6. East Carter — 27

7. Boyd County — 20

8. Fleming County — 17

9. Lewis County — 7

The Mason County Lady Royals track and field team claimed co-champions of the Class 2A, Region 6 meet with Ashland Blazer. Both teams scored 152 points in the meet. (Evan Dennison, The Ledger Independent)
https://maysville-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_Mason-track-1.jpgThe Mason County Lady Royals track and field team claimed co-champions of the Class 2A, Region 6 meet with Ashland Blazer. Both teams scored 152 points in the meet. (Evan Dennison, The Ledger Independent)
Mason County and Ashland end in dead heat

Evan Dennison

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