Travis Yazell named head coach of Mason County track and field teams

Mason County assistant track and field coach Travis Yazell has been promoted to head coach.

Yazell succeeds Mark Kachler who resigned last month after serving as the head coach since 2004.

Yazell joined the Mason County coaching staff last season after serving as the head coach at Nicholas County for several seasons.

In an email to the parents, Kachler wrote that he assisted in the search for the new coach, and he plans to remain in a "mentorship role" to Coach Yazell.

🚨 MCHS Athletics is excited to welcome Travis Yazell as the new Head Track Coach! 🏃‍♂️💨

Travis coached track at Nicholas Co. before joining us last year as assistant under Coach Kachler. We’re ready to continue our winning tradition with Coach Yazell leading the way! #GoRoyals pic.twitter.com/DI8PPGHOZm

— Mason Co. Athletics (@RoyalsAth1etics) July 17, 2025

Mason County track and field coach Mark Kachler announces his retirement

Mason Couny track and field coach Mark Kachler has announced his retirement.

Here is the news release from the Mason County High School Athletic Department:

Maysville Ky— Longtime Boys and Girls Track and Field Coach, Mark Kachler, has announced his retirement from coaching.  Coach Kachler

informed the students, parents and school administration of his intention yesterday.  Coach K’s long and decorated career began in

2000 when he took over the Boys and Girls Cross Country programs at Mason County High School.  During his tenure, a Mason

County High School female would win the individual region championship seven times and his teams would accumulate ten region

championships. At the state level his Cross Country teams finished fourth place or higher six times.  These six podium finishes

included a run from 2018 through 2022 where Mason County would finish on the podium five consecutive years at the KHSAA

State Championships. Coach Kachler coached ten state meet medalists and thirty-one all state cross country athletes. In 2014-15

he was named a national finalist for the Girls Cross Country Coach of the Year.  He would remain as head coach for twenty three

seasons, resigning in 2022 from leading our cross country teams.In 2004 Coach Kachler began leading both the boys and girls track teams at Mason County.  The numerous accolades of his

track athletes and teams include the following: 15 Regional Team Championships (12 female, 3 male), 104 Individual Champions,

52 Regional Relay Champions, 4 Indoor State Team Championships, 12 Indoor State Team Runners-Up, 22 Indoor State Individual

Champions and 12, Indoor State Relay Champions, 3 Outdoor State Top 4 Team Finishes, 9 Outdoor State Individual Champions,

2 Outdoor State Relay Champions and 116 All State Award Winners.  In 2019-2020 Coach Kachler was named the Kentucky Girls

Track and Field Coach of the Year by the National Federation of High Schools. On behalf of the Mason County High School Athletic Department and School Administration we would like to extend a huge

thanks to Coach Kachler for all of his time and effort leading the Royals to be one of the most respected Cross County and Track &

Field programs in the state.  Coach K, congratulations on your retirement!The Mason County Athletic Department will begin a search for a new Track and Field Head Coach,  immediately.  All interested

applicants should send a resume and cover letter to Chris O’Hearn at Chris.Ohearn@mason.kyschools.us and bryan.gregory@mason.kyschools.us

Random notes

Here are a few random notes for your Friday:

• The Mason County at Nicholas County girls' basketball game scheduled tonight has been canceled. The Lady Royals' next game is on Tuesday night at Fleming County.

• Tonight's Simon Kenton at Mason County boys' basketball game is varsity only with tip-off at 7 p.m.

• The Larry Smith Classic, featuring five boys' basketball games, is Saturday at Bracken County. Here is the schedule: 11 a.m. Dohn Academy vs. Augusta; 12:30 p.m. Bath County vs. Tates Creek; 2 p.m. Mason County vs. Highlands; 3:30 p.m. Wesley Christian vs. Dohn Prep and 5 p.m. Boone County vs. Bracken County.

• Mason County indoor track and field meet #3 is Saturday. Mason County coach Mark Kachler is expecting many more participants than the first two meets. 

• Mason County seniors Ava Thompson and Deshawn Overly set a new school records at last week’s meet. Thompson broke her own record in the pole vault with a vault of 11’-11” while Overly set a new record in the indoor 1500 meter run with a time of  4:47.20.

• Mason County varsity baseball tryouts are scheduled on February 10 from 6-8 p.m. at the STEAM Academy. The tryouts are open to students in grades 9-12. Participants must have an updated physical on file.

Another sucessful and record-breaking year for Mason County track and field

2024 has been another successful and record-breaking year for the Mason County indoor and outdoor track and field teams.

The outdoor season came to an end Friday with the Lady Royals taking fifth place and the Royals finishing tied for 18th place at the Class 2A state championships.

Coach Mark Kachler has compiled a list of more highlights for the teams:

• Three individual indoor track state champions
• One indoor relay state champion
• The Lady Royals girls were indoor state meet runners-up
• Four individual outdoor region champions
• Three outdoor relay region champions
• 27 outdoor state meet medalists
• 13 indoor school records broken
• Five school records broken
• Four outdoor school records established for new events during the trip to South Carolina
• Eight athletes earned All-State honors
• A still undetermined number of athletes earned Academic All-State honors

The awards banquet is scheduled on June 20 at 6:30 p.m.

Lady Royals No. 6, Royals No. 15 in first track and field rankings of the season

The Mason County girls' track and field team is No. 6 and the boys' team is No. 15 in the first KytrackXC. com Class 2A rankings of the season.

The Mason County girls' and boys' teams are both ranked No. 1 in the region.

Mason County coach Mark Kachler wrote in an email message that the rankings "are performance based not relient on coaches polls or media polls. They take your best performances to date and project them like it was one big track meet."

Mason County teams competing in special events during spring break

The Mason County softball, baseball and track and field teams are taking advantange of spring break to compete in special events.

The Mason County Lady Royals softball team is in Pigeon Forge, TN for the Cal Ripken Experience for the second straight year. 

The Lady  Royals are scheduled to play Marcellus, NY and Lynn Camp on Tuesday and Edgewood of Trenton, OH and East Jessamine on Thursday.

The Mason County Royals baseball team is scheduled to play four games in three days in the Donny Everett Classic in Clarksville, TN. 

The Royals will play Clay of Oregon, OH on Thursday, Matoon, IL on Friday, and Northeast of Clarksville, TN and Collierville, TN on Saturday. 

The Mason County track and field team will compete in the Myrtle Beach Invitational in Myrtle Beach, SC on Friday and Saturday.

Mason County coach Mark Kachler said the team has been invited to the meet for four or five years but this was the first year it fell on spring break.

Mark Kachler named grand marshal of Homecoming Parade

Longtime Mason County track and field and cross country coach Mark Kachler has been named the grand marshal of the 2023 Mason County Homecoming Parade.

The parade is next Thursday at 6 p.m. in the east end of Maysville. Lineup begins at 5:15. The parade route is along East Second Street from Main Street to the Mason County Health Department.

Kachler has guided the track and field and cross country teams to unprecedented heights. He stepped down as cross country coach earlier this summer after 24 seasons.

 

Jonathan Clahoun promoted to XC head coach at Mason County

Mason County assistant cross country coach Jonathan Calhoun has been promoted to head coach of the Lady Royals and Royals.

Calhoun, a music teacher at Mason County Intermediate School, succeeds Mark Kachler who retired after 24 seasons as the head coach.

Calhoun served as head coach of the elementary and middle school cross country teams last season and was an assistant coach for the high school track and cross country teams.

Cross country practice begins Monday, July 17. A parent meeting will be held at a later date.

Mark Kachler is retiring from Mason County XC coaching job

Mark Kachler is retiring from the Mason County cross country head coach position after 24 seasons at the helm.

Kachler made the announcement in an email message to parents and others this evening. 

Here is what he wrote: "I wanted to formally let all of you know that as of today I have retired as the Head XC Coach at Mason Co. I want to thank all of you and the many parents that came before you. It has been a blessed 24 years. Everything however has an expiration date. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

The XC camp is still on for 8/14-8/17. We still plan to have a home Invitational 9/9/23 just as we have in the past. I will be helping the new Coaching hire with those things that are already on the schedule. 

A new coaching search will begin immediately by school administration. 

My decision about Track for 2024 has not yet been made." 

Kachler guided the cross country program to unprecedented heights. His girls' teams won 10 region championships and were region runners-up four times. 

The Lady Royals took fourth place at the state meet last fall, their fifth straight podium finish. A third place finish at the 2018 state meet is the highest finish in program history.

The boys' teams have been region runners-up four times during Kachler's tenure.

Mason County fourth in the Farragut Secret Safe Place Invitational

Mason County finished fourth at the Farragut Secret Safe Place Invitational in Knoxville, Tennessee with a combined girls' and boys' score of 154.

Mountain Brook of Birmingham, Alabama won with 301.5 points. Farragut was the runner-up (237.5) and Maryville (Tennessee) was third (208). 

It rained and was chilly during the event Friday and Saturday.

"Our athletes hung in there through some very challenging conditions," coach Mark Kachler wrote in an email. "The meet was scored with boys and girls teams combined which is something completely different for us. Just to give you some perspective, the enrollment of the 3 schools that beat us would place all 3 schools as some of the larger schools in KY."

Lexi Young won the 200 meter dash (27.00) and the high jump (5-0).

Here is a link to the complete results. Mason County will travel to Harrodsburg Saturday for the Heart of the Bluegrass meet.

 

Lady Royals 3rd, Royals 11th in Hopewell Invitational

The Mason County Lady Royals cross country team finished third in the Hopewell Invitational hosted by Bourbon County on Saturday. The Royals took 11th place. 

Three Lady Royals finished in the top 10 -- Layla Henderson was sixth (20:32.85), Paige Decker was seventh (20:42.51) and Elizabeth Lavinder was 10th (21:02.44).

It's been an injury plagued season for the Lady Royals.

"We don't know the end result of the season, but I know we will finish fighting on both sides," coach Mark Kachler wrote in an email message.

Rachel Payne breaks her own school record in the 300 meter hurdles, Lady Royals 5th in Bronco Classic

Rachel Payne broke her own school record in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 47.99 and the Mason County Lady Royals finished fifth in the Bronco Classic track and field meet today at Frederick Douglass High School in Lexington.

Mason County and Mercer County were the only two Class AA schools in the meet. The rest were Class AAA schools. Mercer County won the girls' meet with 96 points. Mason County had 49 points.

Mason County coach Mark Kachler wrote in an email message that the Lady Royals were missing some key pieces today. They were just four points behind the fourth place team, Woodford County, and only seven points behind the third place team, Paul Dunbar.

The Royals finished 14th in the boys' meet.

Kachler named KHSAA girls' track and field Coach of the Year

Mason County coach Mark Kachler has been named the Kentucky High School Athletic Association girls' track and field Coach of the Year for the 2019-20 season.

The KHSAA announced the Coach of the Year winners in 19 sports today. The Coach of the Year winners at the state level are now under consideration for Sectional Coach of the Year awards as part of the National Federation of State High School Associations Coaches Association's annual awards program.

Kachler also coaches the boys' track and field team and the girls' and boys' cross country teams at Mason County.

Chloe Adams is first recipient of Georgetown College Undergraduate Assistant Coaching scholarship

Injuries kept Chloe Adams from competing in track and cross country for most of her high school career. So she helped coach Mason County's young cross country athletes and was a support staff person for the track and cross country teams.

Today, the Mason County senior signed an Undergraduate Assistant Coaching scholarship to Georgetown College.

Adams is the first recipient of the scholarship. She will assist Georgetown track and field and cross country coach Luke Garnett.

"I guess I'm just really happy to still be a part of a team," Adams said. "I didn't think I would get that opportunity with everything that's been going on."

She told the Mason County cross country athletes "I'm more proud of all of you guys than I am of like, anything else."

Garnett said he couldn't be more excited about the scholarship program. 

"You're a guinea pig," Garnett told Adams. "We're going to figure it out, we're going to make this work and you're going to get some experience and maybe, eventually, be a coach yourself in high school or college in the future, and I can't wait."

Mason County coach Mark Kachler said it couldn't happen to a better person.

"We think she is going to be a great asset to the Georgetown track and field and cross country programs," Kachler said. "Coach Garnett mentioned the program to me and it seemed to be a perfect fit for her. And we wish her nothing but the best."

Adams is undecided on a major, but said she is leaning toward engineering arts.

Mark Kachler on SportsTalk

Mason County track and field coach Mark Kachler was my guest on SportsTalk this morning. The Mason County Royal Rumble track and field invitational is tomorrow.

Here is a link to the podcast.

Coach Mark Kachler on SportsTalk

Mason County track and field coach Mark Kachler was my guest on SportsTalk this morning.

Here is a link to the podcast.

Five new Mason County indoor track and field records

Mason County athletes set five new school records at the University of Kentucky Wildcat Classic indoor track and field meet Saturday.

"The girls team had what I believe is the most productive single day individual performance in program history," Mason County coach Mark Kachler wrote in an email.

Here is a list of the record setters and the new school records:

Te'a King, 60 meter dash, 8.41
Abigail Dawson, 400 meters, 1:04.44
Paige Decker, one mile run, 5:43.86
Paige Decker, 800 meters 2:32.28
Emily Huber, shot put, 30-9.75

It was Huber's first-ever track meet.

Alyssa Bisotti also beat the old school record for the one mile run with a time of 5.49.74.

Dawson and Olivia O'Hearn both tied their indoor meet record of 9-00.00 in the pole vault.

XC Super Regional will be held at Boyd County instead of Mason County

It was first thought that Mason County would host a cross country Super Regional featuring Class A Region 7 and Class AA Region 6 and Region 7, but the tentative sites released last week by the KHSAA have Boyd County hosting those meets.

"It turned out they had miscalculated the regional dates, and it was an ACT testing date, so they wanted to get that regional moved a little closer to the Pikeville schools that were coming up there,"

Mason County cross country coach Mark Kachler said.

Kachler added that Mason County will probably host the regional meet next year. 

St. Patrick and Mason County XC coaches on SportsTalk

St. Patrick cross country coaches Marcus and Vicki Bess, and Mason County cross country coach Mark Kachler were my guests on SportsTalk this morning.

Here is a link to the podcast.

Mason County track and field coach Mark Kachler talks about the Lady Royals' runner-up finish in the region