North Hardin track meet to be as strong as ever

By JOSH CLAYWELL jclaywell@thenewsenterprise.com RADCLIFF — With 18 teams from 15 different schools competing, the North Hardin Track & Field Invitational promises to be just as good Saturday as in years past. The annual “State before State meet,” which has been held every year since 1983, will start at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Ray Story Stadium’s Jeter-McKinney Track Complex. Field events will start immediately after a coaches’ meeting at 9:30, while running events will start around 10. “I’m very excited about the turnout,” veteran North Hardin coach James Webb said. “Now that everything is sent in to Linda (Sarrett), yeah. We’re happy. Hopefully next year we can get even more new teams and keep growing.” Six area schools – Central Hardin, Elizabethtown, Fort Knox, LaRue County, Meade County and North Hardin (A and B squad) – will be competing along with Campbell County, Grayson County, Hopkinsville, Nelson County, Paducah Lone Oak and Louisville schools Central, DuPont Manual (A and B squad), Eastern and St. Xavier (A and B squad). The meet features four ranked girls’ teams – Elizabethtown, ranked No. 2 in Class 2-A by kytrackxc.com; Manual, No. 4 in 3-A; Campbell County, No. 5 in 3-A; and Central, No. 7 in 3-A. Unranked North Hardin is the defending meet champions. Elizabethtown finished fourth, while Manual finished sixth. On the boys’ side, St. Xavier (No. 2 in Class 3-A), Manual (No. 4 in 3-A), North Hardin (No. 7 in 3-A) and Central (No. 8 in 3-A) headline the field. “Right now, I’d say it’s between St. X, us, Central and Manual,” Webb said. “All the Louisville schools will be right in the thick of it.” St. Xavier finished second behind Louisville Male last year. North Hardin finished third, Manual was fifth and Meade County and Hopkinsville finished in a two-way tie for eighth. After two straight days of rain in the area, Webb is hoping for good weather for the weekend. Weather.com calls for a high of 73 degrees with no rain in sight for Saturday. “From what I’ve seen the weather should be good,” Webb said. “It’s not going to be as warm as I’d like it to be, but the rain should be out of here.” Next season, the invitational could undergo a name change. Webb wants to honor former North Hardin standout Joey Stockton, a nine-time state champion. Stockton won his first championship in his eighth-grade year. “I’ve always wanted to do something to honor him,” Webb said. “This is the perfect opportunity to do that.” Josh Claywell can be reached at 505-1752