May 26—The Daviess County girls and Owensboro boys will look to capture their respective region titles when they travel to compete in the Class 3-A Region 1 meet on Wednesday morning at Marshall County High School.
The Lady Panthers, who won last month’s City-County Championship, are led by their relay squads.
“For the girls’ side, our relay squads are very strong,” DC coach Mark Fortney said. “Our 4×100, 4×400 and 4×800 relay teams all have the fastest seeds coming in and have really good shots of being regional champs in those events.”
Fortney also expects his 4×200 relay team to contend for a region title, along with several individuals who enter as the top seeds in their events.
Those standouts include Jersey Vanover in the 100-meter dash, Kyra Rowan in the 200 and 400, Emily Rempe in the 800 and Ainsley Taylor in the 3,200.
“The girls have several chances to collect region crowns and will also be in the team picture for title contention,” Fortney said. “Everything will need to fall in place on race day for a team title to happen.”
And, Fortney added, the health of his team is a major advantage.
“After three months of training and racing, our athletes are in a great place health-wise,” he said. “We have no injuries heading into regionals, and that is a definite plus. The kids are feeling really good about the upcoming meet.”
Looking to knock off DC, which won the region in 2019, will be City-County runner-up Apollo. The E-Gals finished just seven points short of the team title last month but were led by top finishes from the 4×200 relay team, Chloe Sandefur (100-meter hurdles and long jump), Mary Ann Lyons (discus throw) and Amari Sanders (shot put).
On the boys’ side, Owensboro will look for its second consecutive region title.
According to Red Devils coach Drew Hall, though, it won’t be an easy task.
“For the most part, we feel good about heading into regionals,” he said. “Marshall County are the favorites to win it, with us finishing second.
“Our 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400 all have a good shot of winning the region. We have guys in the top three in some of the running and field events. It’s going to be a good meet.”
Owensboro ran away with the City-County title last month, led by top finishes from the 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams, Reece Carroll (100-meter dash and 400), Zackary Clark (200), Austin Gough (shot put), Ethan Pendleton (high jump), Aiden Roberts (pole vault), Nathanael Turner (1,600), Steven Stevenson (long jump) and Gavin Wimsatt (triple jump and discus).
“Our guys know the challenges we have ahead of us,” Hall said, “and I truly believe they are up for it.”