High School Sports

It’s been a long time since the Carroll County softball team notched a season opening win or defeated regional foe Grant County in a game. The 2012 edition of the Lady Panthers did both Tuesday, March 13, winning 3-1 at home.

First-year head coach Dennis Hawkins said he could not remember when the last time either of these things had happened. A quick check on the KHSAA website shows neither have happened since at least 2002, the earliest full season statistics shown online.

Juan Fernandez will be pulling double-duty this year as the head coach of both the boys and the girls tennis teams. This will be his first year coaching the girls, but he has had previous experience helping former head coach Larry Morgan with the team.

Fernandez said he has had to develop a new coaching style with the girls versus the boys. More than anything, he has found that the girls need more encouragement from him during practices.

The deadline has been extended for elementary students interested in participating on the Carroll County High School track and field teams to March 30. Players will begin practice on the Monday following Spring Break.
Students will need to have a KHSAA physical on file at the high school with Coach Joe Creager before they can practice. Students will also need to have a permission form with parent/guardian contact information and signature before they can participate. Practices will be Mondays at CCHS from 3:30-4:30 p.m.

The Panthers Track team was in action Saturday at the 52nd annual Mason-Dixon Indoor Games. Andie Hardesty led the Lady Panthers with a third place finish in the high jump.

The Panthers were led by Austin Blankenship, who finished in seventh place in the pole vault, and Devin Gray, who set a new Panther 1500 meter indoor record with a time of 4:56.76.

This was the final 2012 indoor meet for Carroll County. The full Panther team will be back in action on Tuesday, March 13 at home for the first outdoor meet of the season.