Bluebirds Notebook: Highlands Golf Completes First Day at State Tournament

Highlands Wins Seventh Straight Against Boone County

PHOTO: Ed Harber. Highlands junior defensive lineman TreVaughn Woods celebrates after recovering a fumble against Boone County on Friday.

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The Highlands Bluebirds boys golf team found itself in 11th place out of 12 teams in the state golf tournament after the first day shooting a total of 350. 

The Christian Academy of Louisville shot 297 on the first day to lead Madison Central by a stroke after the first day. The par for the Bowling Green Country Club course is 72.

Freshman Hank Schick led Highlands shooting an 81 on that day. The next two scorers in senior Jack Schneider and junior Joel Craft shot 86. The fourth scorer in Highlands freshman Nate Surrey shot 97. Freshman Oliver Golden is in his first state tournament.

The second day of competition resumed Saturday.

Gessner Commits to NKU:

Highlands freshman goalkeeper Meg Gessner has committed to play collegiately at Northern Kentucky University. She'll join former Highlands players Lindsey Meyer and Lauren Deckert.

Highlands faces Ryle in the 9th Region Quarterfinals on Monday. Game time is 7 p.m.

Scouting Covington Catholic:

The Colonels come into the game Friday at 4-3. They defeated Boone County, 39-6 after holding off Coopers, 31-24 in overtime to move to 2-0 in district. The Colonels have won five consecutive district titles. CovCath has not lost three games in a season since going 9-4 in 2016 losing in the region title game to Louisville Fern Creek.

Sixth-year Head Coach Eddie Eviston led CovCath to a 44-1 mark between 2017 and 2019 with undefeated state championship seasons in 2017 and 2019. Current Miami (Ohio) quarterback AJ Mayer and younger brother Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer had a lot to do with that run.

CovCath did make it all the way back to the state semifinals last year losing 20-0 to eventual state champion Bowling Green. The Colonels finished 5-8 in Eviston's first season in 2015, but have not had a losing season since then.

The Colonels have won seven straight against the Bluebirds. Highlands is still seeking its 50 win all-time against CovCath still leading the overall series 49-24.

Class 5A, District 5 Notes:

The Cooper Jaguars (5-2) and Conner Cougars (5-3) met in a crucial game Thursday and CovCath took its bye week. Cooper destroyed Conner, 43-7 giving the Colonels sole possession of first place in district play at 2-0. Cooper and Conner are 2-1 in district play. Highlands trails at 1-1 and Boone County is 0-3. The Rebels will miss the playoffs for the third straight year.

Series Against Boone County:

The Bluebirds beat the Rebels for the seventh straight year since the series resumed in 2015 following a four-year hiatus.

Highlands Girls Win NKAC Division II Crown

Highlands Boys Finish Second

Highlands senior KJ Toole shot a 78 to help the Highlands girls golf team win the Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference Division II crown Monday.

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The Highlands Bluebirds girls golf team won its first tournament since Mike Lipscomb became head coach four years ago.

The Bluebirds won the Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference Division II crown Monday at the Kenton County Pioneer Course shooting 368. The par at Pioneer is 70.

"We have been working a lot this season on getting our distances down," Lipscomb said. "The girls have put in a lot of time. Their confident when they pull a certain club that it's going to go a certain distance. They're striking the ball very well."

Highlands senior KJ Toole led the way earning medalist honors with a 78. She won the tournament last year shooting the same score.

"It's definitely nice to have seen the team win a tournament, especially being here for so long and being in the program," Toole said. "I'm really proud of everyone on the team. We had some younger girls step up. It's so satisfying."

The other three Highlands scorers shot personal records. Sophomore Bailey Markus shot 90. Freshman Jenna Richey shot 93 with junior Ali Welch shooting 107.

"Golf is one of those things where some days are really good and then other days are really bad," Welch said. "You never know what's going to happen. But I think the most important thing is your mentality really with anything. If you don't have a good mentality, you're not going to have a good game. I just focus on preparing myself and trying to calm myself down. I told myself it's just for fun and I ended up doing really well, which was a bonus."

The Highlands boys took second at the Willows Golf Course shooting 328 on the par 72 course Tuesday. St. Henry shot 324 to win it.

"We had three of the five kids play well, which gave us a chance to win," said Bert Richey, Highlands Head Coach. "Hopefully on Tuesday, we'll have four of the five or five of the five play well. We're in the mix. The kids understand we have a chance if we play to our potential."

Highlands junior Joel Craft shot 78 to tie for top honors. He lost the playoff for medalist honors.

"I think that we've been putting in a lot of work," Craft said. "We didn't play our best at conference. Obviously, the conditions weren't ideal. But it was still a pretty solid score for the team. I think if we can all take a few shots off our scores, we definitely have a chance at the region."

Junior Jack Schneider shot 80 for Highlands with freshmen Oliver Golden and Hank Shick rounding out the scoring at 82 and 88. Freshman Nate Surrey also golfed shooting 89.

Saturday Highlands Golf Results

The Highlands Bluebirds boys golf team placed 15th out of 18 teams in the 58th Annual Kentucky Invitational Tournament on Saturday at Big Springs Country Club in Louisville.

Highlands shot a 322. The Christian Academy of Louisville won it shooting 283. Junior Joel Craft led the Bluebirds shooting a 77 on the par 72 course. Freshman Hank Shick and senior Jack Schneider followed shooting 80s with freshman Oliver Golden rounding out the scoring shooting an 85. Freshman Nate Surrey also participated shooting 88.

The Bluebirds play in the Frederick Douglass Invitational at Greenbrier Country Club in Lexington on Monday.

Tuesday Highlands Golf Results

The Highlands Bluebirds boys golf team placed ninth out of 17 teams in the Cooper Invitational at Boone Links Golf Course in Florence. Junior Joel Craft led the way tying for 11th.

Highlands plays host to its own OrthoCincy Highlands Invitational on Wednesday. Tee time is 7:30 a.m. at AJ Jolly Golf Course in Alexandria.

Toole Shoots in Top 10:

Highlands senior KJ Toole golfed in the Grant County Invitational at Eagle Creek Golf Course in Dry Ridge. She shot an 80 to place in the top 10 at the event.

Monday Highlands Golf Results

Highlands senior girls golfer KJ Toole opened up the season with a runner-up finish at the Cooper Invitational at Lassing Pointe in Union shooting a nine-over par 80.

Owen County's Lilly Bauman won the event shooting a 72. Highlands did not qualify for a team score in the event.

Highlands plays in the Grant County Invitational on Tuesday at Eagle Creek Golf Course in Dry Ridge. Tee time is 7:30 a.m.

Highlands Boys Compete in Model Invitational:

Highlands shot a team total of 329 to finish 10th out of 19 teams at the Model Invitational on Monday at the University Club at Arlington in Richmond.

Junior Joel Craft led the way shooting a 73 on the par 72 course. Freshman Hank Shick shot a personal-best 79. Freshmen Nate Surrey and Oliver Golden followed with scores of 88 and 89 to round out the scoring.

Golf Round-Up: Highlands Boys Earn Biggest Win of Season

Gabbard Earns Medalist Honors Defeating Defending Individual State Champion

Highlands senior Luke Muller fires a shot in a recent tournament.

The Highlands Bluebirds boys golf team faced some of the best around the state Monday and came away with what Head Coach Bert Richey called the team's biggest win of the season.

Highlands won the Frederick Douglass Invitational at Greenbrier Country Club in Lexington shooting a 302 out of 18 teams. This marked the fifth win in eight tournaments this year.

The Bluebirds outdistanced runner-up Marshall County by seven at 309 overcoming a two-hour rain delay. McCracken County and Ryle tied for third with 310 and region rival Mason County took fifth with 311.

"We played well," Richey said. "It rained on us for the first six holes. Our guys kept their wits about themselves. They didn't make any big numbers."

Golf Round-up: Third Tournament Win for Highlands Boys

Bluebirds Take Cooper Invitational

Highlands senior Luke Muller watches his shot during the Cooper Invitational on Tuesday. Muller tied for second overall shooting a 73 to help the Bluebirds to their third tournament win of the season.

The key for the top four scorers of the Highlands Bluebirds boys golf team is putting 80 or fewer.

Highlands did that Tuesday in the Cooper Invitational and won it by 13 strokes at the Boone Links Golf Course in Florence. The Bluebirds shot a 305. Runner-up Mason County shot a 318. Ryle took third at 319 and Grant County fourth at 328 with Covington Catholic taking fifth at 328.

Highlands Boys Golf Wins Another Tournament

Muller, Gabbard Place in Top Five for Third Tournament

Highlands junior KJ Toole follows through on a shot in the Northern Kentucky Shootout on Monday.

The Highlands Bluebirds boys golf team won a second tournament on the young season by 11 strokes in the 18-team Model Invitational on Monday.

That marks the second tournament win in three tournaments. The tournament took place at the University Club at Arlington in Richmond. It is the home course of the Eastern Kentucky University golf teams.

Highlands Boys Take Fourth in Saturday Tournament

The Highlands Bluebirds boys golf team finished fourth in the Mason County/St. Patrick Invitational at the Maysville Country Club on Saturday in its second tournament of the season.

Senior Luke Muller shot a 74 to finish third to lead Highlands. Senior Justin Gabbard shot a 75 to finish fifth. Sophomore Joel Craft shot an 81 and junior Jack Schneider shot an 87 to round out the scoring. Junior Charlie Gorman shot a 98.

Bluebirds Win Bullitt East Invitational

Highlands Opens Season With Tournament Victory

Twitter Photo. Highlands sophomore Joel Craft (left) holds the Bullitt East Invitational Tournament team championship trophy while seniors Luke Muller (center) and Justin Gabbard (right) hold individual plaques after finishing second and third. Highlands shot a 294 to win the 18-team tournament.

The Highlands Bluebirds boys golf team won its first tournament of the season at the Tanglewood Golf Course in Taylorsville on Friday.

Highlands won the 18-team tournament shooting a 294. The Bluebirds defeated 8th Region rival Grant County and Cooper from Northern Kentucky in a field comprised of teams mostly from around central Kentucky. The Bluebirds also won the tournament two years ago.

Tuesday Highlands Results

Highlands Golf Finishes Third at Region

Twitter Photo. Highlands juniors Luke Muller (left) and Justin Gabbard (right) qualified for the state tournament Tuesday.

Entering the season, the Highlands Bluebirds boys golf team knew repeating as region champs would be tough.

Highlands placed third at the 8th Region Tournament on Tuesday at Eagle Creek Golf Course in Dry Ridge shooting a 322 as a team. The Grant County Braves won the region to qualify for state as a team and the Henry County Wildcats took second with 321. Only the region champ advances to state as a team unlike previous years when the region champ and runner-up advanced to state.

Monday Highlands Golf Results

Highlands Boys Beat NC in Dual Match

Twitter Photo. Highlands girls golf Head Coach Mike Lipscomb (left) stands with the members of the team on Senior Nite.

The Highlands Bluebirds boys golf team knocked off Newport Central Catholic, 176-198 at Highland Country Club.

Highlands Boys Golf Wins Bourbon County

First Tournament Win of Season for Bluebirds

Twitter Photo. The Highlands Boys Golf team won the Bourbon County Invitational on Sunday.

The Highlands Bluebirds boys golf team won its first tournament of the season Sunday.

Highlands won the Bourbon County Invitational shooting a 321 team total on the Par-72 course. Junior Justin Gabbard led the way shooting a 74 and placing third individually. Gabbard won medalist honors at the Shelby County Invitational and the Beechwood Invitational earlier in the season.

Saturday Highlands Results

Girls Soccer Takes Down Defending Ohio State Champion

Twitter Photo. The Highlands Bluebirds soccer team knocked off Cincinnati (Ohio) Indian Hill on Saturday.

The Highlands Bluebirds girls soccer team (2-0-1 overall) knocked off an Ohio defending state champion Saturday at Tower Park.

The Cincinnati Indian Hill Braves had won the last two Division II state championships. But the Bluebirds beat the Braves, 3-1.

Anna Podojil led the Braves to those two state championships. The 5-foot-5-inch forward won the 2018-19 Gatorade Player of the Year award for Ohio last year and is now playing at the University of Arkansas. Her sister Ellie Podojil, a midfielder, is a senior and has also committed to Arkansas.

"(Ellie Podojil) is the real deal," said Alex Dean, Highlands Head Coach. "So we changed up our formation (Saturday). We had kind of an irregular formation. We took one of our outside wings and we turned it into a man-to-man (defense). We had two of our defenders switch off and we had one of our defenders stay with her the entire game. She did not get a lot of chances. That was one of the things we wanted to work on because in the future, we're going to face some teams that have that stellar player. Our defense did a good job of helping if the defender did get beat."

Sophomore Chloe Bramble scored the first goal for Highlands with around 35 minutes left in the first half. She also had an assist and leads the Bluebirds with two goals and two assists for six points on the season. The Bluebirds led 1-0 at halftime.

The second goal came from senior Maria Broering with 39 minutes left in the game. Sophomore sister Faith Broering scored with three minutes left in the game for the final score. Faith Broering and junior Greta Noble also had assists.

Highlands has yet to allow more than one goal in a game this year. Highlands had 14 shots with 11 on goal to eight shots for Indian Hill. Bluebirds junior goalkeeper Jasmine Rehberger had seven saves.

"I felt our defense held a very tight line and worked well together," said Parker Price, Highlands senior midfielder. "Our passing was extremely good. Our midfield held back a little to help the defense. Our offense was making fantastic runs and our balls were great over top."

Highlands plays host to Ryle (1-3) on Monday. Game time is 8 p.m.

Soccer, Boys:
Highlands 5, Trinity 3:

Highlands (4-1) lost for the first time this season.

Highlands had 15 shots with 11 on goal. Trinity had 10 shots with nine on goal. Highlands senior goalkeeper Nick Fischer saved four.

Senior Caymon Stevie, junior Max Farris and sophomore Cole Lorenzen had the goals for the Bluebirds. Junior Hank Cook had the assist. Farris has six goals and two assists on the season for a team-high 14 points.

Highlands takes on North Oldham on Tuesday. Game time is 7 p.m.

Golf, Boys:
Highlands plays in Mason County Invitational:

The Bluebirds tied for seventh with Pikeville with 322 in the event at Laurel Oaks Golf Course. Lexington Sayre won it with 310.

Junior Luke Muller led Highlands shooting a 74 with sophomore Justin Gabbard shooting a 75. Freshman Joel Craft shot a 79 with eighth grader Ryan Toole finishing out the scoring with a 94. Junior Mac Valentine also golfed shooting a 95.

Highlands plays Campbell County on Tuesday at Highland Country Club. Tee time is 3:30 p.m.

Bluebirds Cross Off Final Goal

Highlands Boys Golf to Play on Final Day of State Tournament

Twitter Photo. The Highlands boys golf team wanted to shoot 320 or better to make it to the second day of the state tournament. The Bluebirds hit that score exactly at Bowling Green County Club on Friday.

The Highlands Bluebirds golf team finished the 18 holes and waited patiently for some time wondering if the final goal would be crossed off.

After the final balls found their ways into their respective holes, it happened. The Bluebirds made the cut for the final day of the state tournament Friday at Bowling Green Country Club finishing ninth shooting a 320 on the par-72 course.

Thursday Highlands Sports Notes

Great Evening for Highlands Volleyball, Girls Soccer

PHOTO: Allen Ramsey, DWCPhoto.com. Highlands junior Rylee Kirschenbaum (center) makes a pass while Casey Dunn (left) yells out instructions. The Bluebirds improved to 3-0 on the season with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Campbell County. 

A 2-0 start was nice for the Highlands Bluebirds volleyball team because it had not happened since 2012.

But the Bluebirds entered Thursday's home opener hoping to cap off the week with an even better clean sweep of three wins in four days to start the season. That had not happened since 2008.

The county rival Campbell County Camels (1-2) came into the game determined to take another step forward under the guidance of second-year Head Coach Kennedy Berkley. Campbell County has seven seniors on the team coming off a 17-18 season last year. The Camels lost to Scott in the 10th Region championship last year.

The nail-biter that could have gone either way saw Highlands come through for a 3-2 victory. After two sound 3-0 wins to start the season, the Bluebirds had to pull out everything to record the win.

Golf Match Cancelled

The Highlands Bluebirds boys golf team had a dual match scheduled against Campbell County on Wednesday at A.J. Jolly Golf Course in Alexandria.

Bluebird Golfers Finish Fifth in Pikeville Invite

The Highlands Bluebirds boys golf team took fifth at the Pikeville Invitational on Saturday at StoneCrest Golf Course in Prestonsburg.

Highlands Girls Golf Bests Beechwood in Dual Match

The Highlands girls won another dual match Friday.

Highlands Golf Results

Leigh Places Fourth at Central Kentucky Showdown

Twitter Photo. Highlands senior Ryan Leigh finished second in the Central Kentucky Showdown shooting a 73.

The Highlands Bluebirds boys golf team finished fourth in the Central Kentucky Showdown at the Danville Country Club on Tuesday.