A fantastic performance by junior Thomas Washington propelled the Logan County Cougars to eighth place overall in the state 2A track meet at the
University of Louisville's Owsley Frazier Cardinal Park in late May.
A marvelously gifted athlete, Washington jumped and ran to first, second and third place finishes for Coach Greg Howard's Cougars.
The Adairville native came home with a state championship along with a second place medal and a third place finish.
Washington won the triple jump with a hop, skip and jump totaling 45', 4", five includes ahead of state runner-up Chris Ulis of Elizabethtown. Two
other jumpers broke the 44-foot mark.
The three-sport athlete was state runner-up in the long jump, landing 22'3" from the takeoff line. That was just two inches behind champion R.J.
Fields of Harlan County. Two Covington Catholic jumpers were close behind him.
He finished third in the 400 meter with a time of 50.55. The champion, Stephon Robinson of Louisville Central, won with a 49.88. The runner-up,
Justin Jackson of Lone Oak, beat Washington by only six hundredths of a second. The guy who finished fourth trailed the Logan Countian by three-fourths
of a second.
The 4 X 200 relay team finished 11th with a time of 1:33.89. Team members were seniors LeRon Collier and Timron Knox and juniors Jonathan Barbee
and Reuben Rawlings-Watson
The 4 X 800 relay team consisting of seniors Scott Kenny, Joe Dan Laster and Josh Stuart and sophomore Maurice Pheal finished 13th with an
8:49.71.
The 4 X 100 team ran a 45.33 time to place 14th. Members were seniors Collier and Knox and juniors Timothy Carpenter and Barbee.
Kenny ran the 3200 meter in 10:21.54 to place 14th. Laster placed 20th in the 1600 meter run with a time of 4:56.93. Carpenter was 18th in the
discus with a heave of 108'11" and 24th in the shot put with 39'10.25".
Lady Cougar sophomore Markita Pheal ran the 400 meter, placing 9th with a 1:02.27.
The Lo Jo
Junior Chiquita Rose has been standing out in track since she was very young. The Russellville junior added to her credentials at the state 1A
track meet at the University of Louisville's Owsley Frazier Cardinal Park May 22.
She was state runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.25, which was 0.36 seconds behind champion Chelsea Harnack of Richmond Model
and 0.16 in front of third-place Miriah Cissell of Heath. She was fifth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 49.31.
A Rose by another name, Lady Panther Karmeshia Rose, placed 10th in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.06. In fact, a third Rose, freshman
Kalisha Rose of Todd Central, was fifth in the event with a 12.77. Karmeshia Rose placed 12th in the 200 meter with a 27.94.
Chiquita and Karneshia Rose were part of the Lady Panthers' 14th place 4 X 100 relay team, which ran a 53.76. Joining them were eighth grader
Nathansia Haskins and seventh grader Davonna Sydnor.
Among the boys, senior Komero Neblett had qualified in the 300 meter hurdles and placed 10th with a time of 43.08.
Freshman Jordan Yancey placed 24th in the high jump with a leap of 5'4".
For the 36th season, Matt Tipton served as the Lady Panther track coach with assistance from Paulette Smith. Dennis Sydnor, who was a key member
of the Panthers' state championship track team in 1975, is the boys coach.