Student News Article

Yearbook Class – Student lead news articles

Articles written on August 28, 2024

Facility Renovations

Written by: Juniors – Hunter Hamilton, Parker Crace, and Shane Blair

Gym Renovation
Gym Renovation

Over the summer of 2024 Paintsville High School, with the help of boosters, began renovations on the baseball field and basketball court. In the summer of 2023 Paintsville High School finished the redesign and rebuild of the football field. Paintsville High School decided to build new dugouts, new bleachers, add protective netting and build an all new locker room for baseball players. As for the basketball court, the school decided to redesign the court floor. Both of these projects are making more progress by the day.

Baseball Field Renovation
Baseball Field Renovation
Baseball Field Renovation
Baseball Field Renovation

The Paintsville Tigers rise up and conquer the Floyd Central Jaguars 46-6

Written by: Seniors – Addison Collins and Bailee Porter

PHOTO by PAINTSVILLE HERALD 

After an upsetting loss in the 2023 season against the Jaguars, 28-22, the Tigers made a comeback for the 2024 season by defeating Floyd Central in the first game of the season. Player of the game, Anderson Lauffer, had an outstanding performance by scoring 3 touchdowns. Lauffer ran for 207 yards and had one interception. Quarterback Alex Johnson also had an astonishing game. Johnson had 281 yards, scored 4 touchdowns, and a rush touchdown. Friday, August 30th, the Paintsville Tigers take on the Paris Greyhounds, as it will be their first home game of the season. After a tough loss against the Greyhounds in the 2023 season, the Paintsville Tigers look for a win Friday to advance to 2-0. 


Paintsville Boy’s Soccer and Trey Stafford

Written by: Senior – Delaney Pham and Maddie Bennett

The Paintsville boys’ soccer team makes an astonishing comeback this year with a current record of 4 wins this season! In a game against Morgan County on August 26, 2024, Trey Stafford tied the current school record for the highest amount of goals scored in one game. The amount of goals was 6, which was previously made by Brad Nordin in 2013. It’s been 9 years since such a feat has been accomplished, and when asking Stafford how he felt in that moment he recalled, “I was proud of myself.” Paintsville High School congratulates Stafford on his accomplishment and can’t wait to see what else he accomplishes in his senior year!


Emi Preece Breaks School Record

Emi Preece breaks school record

New School Record! 2,310 points and counting (Facebook post on February 23, 2024). Emilea Preece surpassed Glenna Vanhoose’s Lady Tiger school record.

2024 Academic Achievements

2024 Academic Achievements

Congratulations to PHS Class of 2024 Seniors Om Patel and Brett Gibson on being awarded the University of Kentucky Presidential Scholarship! This scholarship covers FULL tuition at UK totaling approximately $52,818 over four years. Congratulations, Om and Brett!

Congratulations to 2024 Senior Maisie Ward- she was visited today by Transylvania University Admissions counselor Annie Wilder where she was notified as being the recipient of the William T. Young scholarship. The William T. Young scholarship is a prestigious scholarship that awards full tuition and fees for four years!

Congratulations, Maisie!

Congratulations to PHS Class of 2024 Senior Brooke Mollette on her graduation from eKAMI yesterday. Brooke has completed this program while also fulfilling her high school graduation requirements. Upon her high school graduation in May she will be moving forward to pursue a career in advanced manufacturing. Congratulations, Brooke!

Congratulations to PHS Class of 2028 8th grader Olivia Sorrell on being selected to represent Johnson County as a 2024 Roger’s Explorer by The Center for Rural Development! Olivia was selected to participate in their program during the summer of 2024 through a highly competitive application process. We are so proud of you, Olivia!

Congratulations to PHS Class of 2028 8th grader Josie Ward on being selected to represent Johnson County as a 2024 Roger’s Explorer by The Center for Rural Development! Josie was selected to participate in their program during the summer of 2024 through a highly competitive application process. We are so proud of you, Josie!

3 KCU Signees

3 KCU Bass Fishing Signees

We are excited to announce that we have 3 recent graduates that have signed recently to compete on the Bass fishing team at Kentucky Christian University.

Congratulations Carson Holbrook, Ethan Elliott, and Bryce McDonald

Tiger Signings and Achievements

Tiger Signings and Achievements

Spring has been treating Paintsville Athletics well! We want to recognize a some of our student-athletes and what they have accomplished over the past few months! Our Spotlight Tigers are Bryce McDonald, Ethan Elliott, Isabella Christy, Emi Preece, Karah Lafferty, Kayllyn Vannoy, and Kennedy Conley.

“Congrats to these two young men for winning the biggest event of their High School career. Battle of the Border on Dale Hollow Lake. 100 top Ky boats be 100 top Tenn boats. They won with 21.29 pounds. Amazing accomplishment. So proud of them. This is huge for High School Bass Fishing and for Paintsville High School.”

– Coach Copley

Emi Preece has signed with UVA Wise to continue her education and to further her basketball career as a NCAA Division II athlete.

Kayllyn Vannoy has signed with Southwest Virginia Community College to continue her education and to further her basketball career as an athlete member of the NJCAA program.

Karah Lafferty has signed with Hanover College to continue her education and to further her basketball career as NCAA Division III athlete.

Isabella Christy has signed with Academy of Art University. She will be playing golf for ART U who is a member of the NCAA Division II program.

Congratulations to Kennedy Conley for earning a 1st ranking at the KMEA District 9 Vocal & Ensemble Festival & also earning an entry into the Ky. State Solo & Ensemble Event.

Freshman Kylie Kinner reaches 1,000 career points

Freshman Kylie Kinner reaches 1,000 career points

Paintsville freshman Kylie Kinner is presented her 1,000th career point basketball. Kinner is only a freshman and has already scored over 1,000 career points. Kinner is averaging 18.7 points per game this season. 

https://www.paintsvilleherald.com/sports/freshman-kylie-kinner-reaches-1-000-career-points/image_4675647c-a500-11ee-b568-c37cc757e15f.html

Kinner excels on the volleyball court and the basketball court

Kinner excels on the volleyball court and the basketball court

Kylie Kinner enters her freshman season of sports in a situation unlike a lot of girls.

A multisport athlete with seemingly endless talent, the 5 foot 10 member of the Class of 2027 already has a resume to rival those who have already graduated.

On the volleyball court she finished her freshman season with 586 kills, 222 digs, 75 aces and 39 blocks.  That placed her in the Top 10 in the state with kills.

As an eighth-grader, she had solid numbers playing for her mom, Coach Dawn Kinner. She had 253 kills with 37 blocks and 50 digs.

Kylie can stay cool under pressure and she’s already shown that. As an eighth grader she helped lead her team to an All “A” State championship. She put down seven kills, one block and four digs in the championship match.

She played a big part in her team’s 3-0 win over Johnson Central in the 15th Region championship.

On the basketball court, Kinner is equally as dominant.

As a seventh grader, she put the 15th Region on notice when she knocked down 12 three-pointers in a game against East Ridge for a game-high 36 points. She ended her seventh grade season with 351 points. As an eighth-grader she scored 541 points, a team high.

Entering her freshman season, she’s already scored 892 points. That’s an impressive number for anyone.

Last season, she helped lead her team to a 19-12 record, pushing Lawrence County to the limit in the 15th Region Tournament.

In typical Kinner fashion, she rose to the occasion at that moment. She paced her team with 34 points. Her passionate display of athleticism and putting her team on her back didn’t pay off that time, falling to the eventual 15th Region champions.

But, she’ll have more opportunities.

Kinner’s basketball teams have made it to the 15th Region tournament both years she’s been active, giving her even more experience in high pressure situations.

Expect big things from Kinner this season as her potential for greatness in her high school career is certainly there. She’s already accomplished a lot at a young age.

Her Baskbetall Coach, Les Trimble has a squad loaded with talent this year that includes Emilea Preece, Karah Lafferty, Emma Keeton, Kayllyn Vannoy and others.

So while it’s true Kinner enters her freshman season on the basketball court in perhaps a different situation than her peers, there’s a reason she stands out from the crowd and this season should see her take her game to even new heights.

Source: written by MikeMuncy SportsWriter
https://www.paintsvilleherald.com/sports/kinner-excels-on-the-volleyball-court-and-the-basketball-court/article_96a86474-8e2d-11ee-93c5-07f9f41b19a3.html

2023 Tiger Volleyball Achievements

2023 Tiger Volleyball Achievements

Congratulations to Freshman, Kylie Kinner, on being named Region Player of the Year.
Kylie has also been selected to participate with the 2023 KVCA first-team All State team as one of their OH/MB players. Congratulations and go represent everyone here at Paintsville Independent!

We would also like to recognize two standout Juniors, Jenna Ousley (position: L) and Olivia Maynard (position: OH/MB). Congratulations on being selected to play in the 2023 Kentucky All-Star game for juniors. We are excited to watch you represent our program as you compete on November 11th in Louisville. Show them what you’re made of!

Congratulations to Senior, Kathleen Baldwin on being named to the AVCA Best and Brightest 1st Team!!

The AVCA Best & Brightest Award is an award meant to honor individual high school Senior student-athletes who excel on and off the court. To be eligible for the Best and Brightest Award, Senior student-athletes must have earned at least a 3.5 Unweighted/4.0 Weighted GPA (or the equivalent, if using a different GPA scale) during their junior year AND play in 50% of their varsity team’s sets during their senior season. Keep up the great work, Kat!

Congratulations to Coach Kinner for all the hard work put into this program. She has been awarded by the KVCA the Region 15 Coach of the Year. This award is a major accomplishment and one to be proud of. Congratulations!

Olivia Maynard named AVCA/MaxPreps Player of the Week

Olivia Maynard named AVCA/MaxPreps Player of the Week

Paintsville’s Olivia Maynard has stepped up her level of play in her junior season, and she has the stats to back it up.

She ranks 29th in the state with kills (393) as well as 31 blocks, 14 assists, 258 digs and 40 aces.

Each week during the season, the AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) recognizes deserving student-athletes for their outstanding play.

Week 9 (October 9-15) honors went to Maynard for her performance in a three game span.

Those three games saw Paintsville knock off Floyd Central and Prestonsburg twice. Maynard was impressive through that stretch of games, recording 55 kills, three blocks, 28 digs, and six aces. That sets her at 18.3 kills per game average in that span of time.

Paintsville’s Olivia Maynard goes up for a kill against Martin County in the opening round of the 57th District Tournament at Paintsville. Maynard was named the AVCA/Max Preps Player of the Week.
Paintsville Herald photo by Mike Muncy

“I’m very proud of Olivia and happy to see her get acknowledged at the state level for this accomplishment,” Paintsville Coach Dawn Kinner said. “It’s a testament to all the hard work she puts in as a player and the teammates she has surrounding her. She’s a team player and we’re extremely proud of her accomplishments on and off the court.”

Maynard and her team knocked off Martin County on Monday night to advance to the 57th District Finals. The Lady Tigers will take on Johnson Central on October 17 in the championship round.

by Mike Muncy Sportswriter
https://www.paintsvilleherald.com/sports/olivia-maynard-named-avca-maxpreps-player-of-the-week/article_7b96328c-6d27-11ee-8f6d-979dbf58fde4.html

2 Tiger Anglers Finish Top 5

2 Tiger Anglers Finish Top 5

Congratulations to Ethan Elliot and Bryce McDonald! These two Tigers finished 3rd place out of hundreds of other anglers at the Bradley Roy High School tournament on Lake Cumberland this past weekend. These two also came top of the charts for the senior team and both won a $50,000 scholarship to Kentucky Christian University. Congratulations Ethan and Bryce and good luck to all of our fishing team members as they continue to bring home these great achievements.
Go Tigers!