Many Logan County teams winning and improving
By Greg Howard, Lpgan County Athletic Director


Posted on September 4, 2023 8:15 PM



 

It's once again time to give you updated news on the student-athletes of Logan County.

GOLF 

August 7 the LCHS Golf team traveled to Bowling Green Country Club to play in the Greenwood Gator and Lady Gator Invitational. The boys played in the morning with the girls going off in the afternoon session.  It was a rough day on the links for the boys as they shot a team score of 351 which placed them 13th out of 16 teams.  The boys were led in scoring by Riley Shephard, who fired an 83(T30), that was followed by Davis Switzer’s 84(T33), Karson Rodgers’ 92(T62), Braden Engler’s 92(T62) and Hunter Holloway’s 94(T67) out of 90 players.  In the afternoon session it was the girls’ turn to conquer BGCC with lady Cougar Emma Fitzgerald getting her turn on the course.  Emma shot a 94(T52) out of 91 girls.

August 8 the LCHS was back at it on the links in the 2A State qualifier at Park Mammoth golf course.  All the boys and girls were on the course at the same time with the boys starting on the front 9 and the girls starting on the back 9.  The top team and the two top individuals not on the winning team qualify for the 2A Championships.  Logan County didn’t have any golfers qualify for 2A state this year.  Emma Fitzgerald shot a 100 for the Lady Cougars.  On the boys side they were led by Davis Switzer’s and Karson Rodgers’ 77, Hunter Holloway’s 80, Braden Engler’s 83 and Riley Shephard’s 88.  Their team score was a 317, which was the second lowest of the season behind the score they put up at the Christian County Invitational the week earlier.

August 12 Braden Engler played in an individual tournament at Shady Hollow Golf Course in the Raider Invitational hosted by Warren East.  It was another rainy and messy day as after 5 holes play was suspended for weather.  After an hour and a half weather delay the players were allowed back on the course.  Braden finished his round by shooting an 83 for his tournament score.   

August 8 the Logan County Boys golf team traveled west for a district match against Todd County at Elk Fork Country Club in Elkton.  The boys came away with a team win by a score of 174-176 to push their season match record to 2-0.  The boys were led in scoring by Braden Engler’s 40 which was one shot out of medalist honors.  He was followed closely by Davis Switz,er’s 44, Riley Shepherd’s 44, Hunter Holloway’s 46 and Karson Rodgers 47.  Two JV players also participated with Zach Krohn shooting a 47 and Mason Logsdon shooting a 52.  It was a good district win for the boys.

August 26  the LCHS Golf team traveled to Franklin for the Wildcat Shootout held at Franklin Country Club. The boys went off in the morning and the girls in the afternoon. The boys shot a 332, which was good enough for 10th place out of 20 schools.  The boys were led in scoring by Braden Engler’s 78, Riley Shepherd’s 83, Davis Switzer’s 85, Karson Rodgers’ 86 and Hunter Holloway’s 87.  In the afternoon it was the ladies turn to conquer the links with Logan County’s lone participant playing and shooting a 93. 

BOYS SOCCER - 

The Cougars continue to work their way back to being a district and regional contender. Young or not, the Cougars are on their way. The Cougars moved to 2-5 on the season with wins over Russellville and Allen County-Scottsville. Their losses have come at the hands of Fort Knox, Warren Central and Christian County, Webster County, and Franklin-Simpson.

The middle school boys brought home the win over the Foundation Christian Academy Falcons 9-2.

GIRLS SOCCER - 

The Lady Cougars have fought through numerous injuries and stood at 3-4 in the early season. The Lady Cougars have wins over Allen County-Scottsville, Russellville, and Franklin-Simpson. Their losses have come at the hands of Hopkinsville, Apollo, Warren Central, and Barren County. The girls stood 2-0 in 13th District play and will be back in action tonight.  Last Tuesday the Lady Cougars defeated Franklin-Simpson 2-0 as Kyla Bilyeu scored both goals. The Lady Cougars will travel  to Todd County Central for another 13th District matchup tonight.

The middle school girls have not played in a bit but will be back in action on September 7th as they play host to Franklin-Simpson.

VOLLEYBALL 

These young ladies’ record began at 5-4 on the season. As usual, they play a tough schedule to prepare for the district, region, and state competitions. The Lady Cougars beat Franklin-Simpson 3-0. They hosted the Greenwood Lady Gators and fell in three straight, extremely close games 0-3. 

Wins have come over Russellville, Franklin-Simpson, Warren Central, Allen County Scottsville, and a big KY 2A Section 2 Championship game win over Warren East. The Lady Cougars won the KY 2A State Volleyball Championship last year in Owensboro. They are now in the mix to defend that state title.

CROSS COUNTRY -

Due to record heat indexes throughout the week, the Warren East Raider ‘Twilight’ at Ephraim-White Park in Bowling Green, originally scheduled Saturday evening, was moved to early morning Aug. 26

There were several top-notch teams (South Warren, Greenwood, Butler County, Apollo, Green County and Grayson County) from the western and central part of the state attending this meet. Despite the sticky, muggy weather and high level of competition, several Cougar runners raised it to another level and provided outstanding performances.

The Girls Varsity, coming off a solid season-opening effort at Hopkinsville, improved greatly in their second meet of the year. Junior Addison Connelly led the way for the Cougars again, finishing 18th with a time of 22:48. Less than a minute behind her were the senior duo of Hailey Burgess (31st , 23:46) and KK Harper (32nd , 23:50). Connelly set a new personal best by almost 2 minutes; both Burgess and Harper by 1 minute each. Following them was Auburn 7 th grader Faith Higgins (64th , 26:47) and senior Amelia Larson (69th, 27.58.

Higgins and Larson were competing in their first varsity races and. Senior Lexu

McMurray (77th, 29:17) blew her previous best out of the water by 2 minutes, continuing her upward trend early in the season. Senior Leslie Hernandez (84th, 30:54) ran well in her first meet of the year, and Katelyn Haas (86th , 30:55) improved on her season-opening effort. The Lady Cougars finished 7th with165 points, only 13 points out of the top 5.

The Boys Varsity fought the heat and gave solid efforts. Junior Landon Crocker (55th , 21:27) was the first Cougar across the line. He passed almost half the field after a slow start, finishing his last mile with a flourish. Sophomore twin brothers Wyatt (69th , 22:09) and Garrett (70th, 22:10) Lawson both set season best times as they continue to push each other. Rounding out the team’s effort was freshman Trapper McCarley (103rd , 25:14). The boys fielded an incomplete team and did not record a score.

In only his second cross-country race, Auburn 8th grader Jack Blanton led from start to finish around the 3k course to win the boys Middle School event. His time of 11:27 was 5 seconds ahead of Eli Moore from Grayson County, as they beat the rest of the field by almost 30 seconds. Blanton had to fight off astrong closing kick from Moore, accelerating up the last hill to create space, then cruising the last 60 meters to the finish. Lewisburg 7th grader Eli Searing was 58th with a time of 17:45 in his first cross country race. Fellow 7th graders Corbin Ruaska (Olmstead, 63rd, 19:14) and Jackson Brown (Lewisburg, 66th , 20:28) also competed.

In the elementary races, the runners responded well to the increased 2k distance. 4th grader 
Burgess (Auburn, 32nd, 11:15) and Delaney Switzer (Adairville, 58th, 12:16) recorded fine times stretching out the extra ¼ mile. On the boys side, Auburn 5th graders SJ Hughes (28th, 9:32) and Tyler Coots (41st, 10:04) battled stiff competition and left it all on the course.

The Lady Cougars and Cougars will return to action Tuesday, September 5 . They will host a home meet for the first time in over five years, as Todd Central and Franklin-Simpson are slated to attend. They will then travel to Hopkins County Central for the Storm Invitational Saturday Sept. 9 , matching up with several Region One opponents for the second time this season.

FOOTBALL

The Cougars are now 3-0 with high-scoring wins over Warren Central, Rossview and Russellville.

They host Greenwood this Friday in a game that is always a tough test for both programs.

MIDDLE SCHOOL FOOTBALL -
These young men are off to a great start for the season. On Aug. 25 they were host to the visiting Rebels of Todd County. The 7th grade team was victorious 32-0 and not to be outdone, the 8th graders brought home another shutout win 44-0.

MIDDLE SCHOOL SOFTBALL -

The young Lady Cougars lost a tough district game with Russellville after being up 5-2. The game ended up Russellville 7-5 over the Lady Cougars. On Monday they hosted Barren County. The JV These ladies will be back in action on Tuesday on the road at Trigg County, then on to play at Russellville Thursday.

Impressive to have such great leadership by our coaches and even more impressive is the way our student-athletes carry themselves on and off the playing fields!!

Congratulations to all of our teams and best of luck in the upcoming weeks!!

When I send these updates out, all I can say is WOW!!

 


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