High School Field Hockey
STATE TOURNAMENT
Oct. 27, 2006
Notes: Deskins quietly wins third title
By NATHAN CHAMBERS
BeyondTheDerby.com
Sacred Heart Academy athletic director Donna Moir made a point to mention a little fact about one of her field hockey team’s assistant coaches after the Valkyries beat Kentucky Country Day 3-1 to win the state title at the University of Louisville’s Trager Stadium on Thursday night.
Of course, it’s no secret that Katie Deskins, now an assistant under Sacred Heart head coach Liz Lewis, was KCD’s head coach when the Bearcats upset the Lewis-led Valkyries in the 2004 final.
What might not be so well known is that Deskins became a three-time state champion with Sacred Heart’s victory on Thursday. She played on Atherton’s 1994 title team, which was the last public school to win it.
But Deskins chose to keep the focus on her current players.
“I just think this is a great group of girls, and they’re extremely talented,” she said. “I’m glad to be able to be involved with them.”
Two of those girls, sophomores Kristen Henn and Jessica Lindner, are former KCD students and field hockey players. Henn attended KCD through the eighth grade, and Lindner left after the sixth grade.
“It was very exciting to beat our rivals, I guess you could call them,” Lindner said.
Awards
Two annual individual honors, the “Way To Go” Award and the Rachel Caroline Baker Award, were presented after the game.
Eastern’s Andrea Wellkamp received the “Way to Go” Award, which is given in memory of Bunny Daugherty and Constance Applebee. Assumption’s Tori Senninger, Collegiate’s Allison Grant, Manual’s Rebecca Anderson, Mercy’s Mary Alice Pierce, Presentation’s Jamie Mullett, and Sacred Heart’s Holly Graham also were nominated.
Kentucky Country Day’s Katherine Roberts received the Rachel Caroline Baker Award, which is given in memory of the former Manual student-athlete who died in an automobile accident during the 1997-98 school year. Senninger, Ballard’s Hilary Hutt, Christian Academy’s Morgan Read, Collegiate’s Liz Bingham, Eastern's Theresa Link, Male’s Megan Hildabrand, Manual's Gwen Fenzel, Mercy’s Amy Wimsatt, Presentation’s Elizabeth Sutton, and Sacred Heart’s Courtney Clarkson also were nominated.
Attendance
The crowd for the final nearly filled the stands with a paid attendance of 710, which almost surpassed the total for the four quarterfinals on Saturday.
For the sake of comparison, the attendance at the University of Louisville women’s soccer team’s Big East Conference Championship opener against Pittsburgh, played next door at Cardinal Park at the same time as the field hockey game, was 213.
Paid attendance for the four-day, seven-game tournament exceeded 1,800.
All-County Team
Now somewhat of a misnomer with the addition of teams from North Oldham and South Oldham this season, the 2006 All-County Team was revealed during halftime.
Two players from each team were selected, and Presentation’s Jill O’Bryan was voted Coach of the Year.
Assumption: Christine Brightwell and Karah Nall.
Atherton: Erin Bailey and Simone Mulley.
Ballard: Abigail Mulloy and Amanda Seeley.
Christian Academy: Haley Jurich and Lacey Jurich.
Collegiate: Annie Decker and Allison Grant.
Eastern: Danielle Smith and Jamie Williams.
Holy Cross: Kristen Boone and Rachel Neuner.
Kentucky Country Day: Courtney Tobe and Alex Weber.
Male: Jill Green and Addie Rulketter.
Manual: Rebecca Anderson and Nikki Pierce.
Mercy: CJ Hermes and Mary Alice Pierce.
North Oldham: Holly Dobbins and Ellen Weinbart.
Presentation: Gina Dyar and Caitlin Maguire.
Sacred Heart: Anna Middleton and Brittany Miller.
St. Francis: Hazel Levine and Laura Wallace.
Seneca: Melissa Chestnut and Anne Fowler.
South Oldham: Nicole Scherzer and Emily Spinks.