We ’ ve Got Sports !
By Jacob Pratt Commonwealth Journal Sports Editor jpratt @ somerset-kentucky . com
We all know how big sports are in our Commonwealth , especially the two biggest sports of football and basketball . For a month straight the prevailing question around the state was determining if UK was a basketball school or football school . Many will look to Lexington or Louisville as the big sports towns , or maybe even Richmond or Bowling Green , but I ’ d be willing to bet there are few with as passionate fans for high school sports , with the talent to back it up , than there are here in our own town of Somerset .
Wherever you look and whatever you are into , there is a sport for you here as a student . You have the more traditional sports like football , basketball , soccer and volleyball , and there are even more niche sports such as rapidly growing E-sports . There ’ s room for all sorts of athletic talent between the four main high schools of Pulaski County , Southwestern , Somerset and Somerset Christian .
We have a long history with athletics in this town , even more so as of late .
Pulaski County claimed a state championship in football in Class 5A in 2015 , with Somerset winning a Class 2A title just a few years later in 2019 . Southwestern girls ’ basketball had been to Rupp two straight years before this season , even making it to the Final Four in 2022 and to the Championship game in 2019 . Pulaski boys ’ basketball won the region this year and also made a trip up to Rupp before losing to eventual state champion Warren Central .
Even in the E-sports scene , local schools are already making waves , with Somerset making it to the playoffs in Rocket League this year while Southwestern made it to the Final Four in the same game last year .
We have also seen many local athletes go on to make names of themselves after their time in high school was over . JP Vaught , a track and football athlete at Southwestern , now runs track at Centre College and has won many Division 3 National Championships . Riley Hull was the number one prospect in the state in softball after a stellar career at Pulaski
County and she now plays for the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the SEC . Josh Anderson , former major league baseball player , also played his high school career in Somerset .
Again , we are a city of strong athletic programs and heritage . Somerset and Southwestern both have 12th Region titles in recent years .
Southwestern volleyball has been a mainstay in the 12th Region championship game . The Warriors had their first ever undefeated regular season in football just last year . This is not even mentioning all the young talent that are in the process of coming up through middle school .
Not only is the present bright , but the future of our sports programs are just as bright if not even more so .
Somerset will always be known for the beauty of Lake Cumberland but our sports programs deserve the same amount of attention and respect around the state . If you want to see heart with every single play , come watch a sporting event at one of our local high schools and prepare to fall in love with the ever-growing world of sports .
2023-2024 Pulaski Community snapshot l a special publication of the Commonwealth Journal 25