MaxPreps Mascot Mondays: Kentucky high school mascots

Just as important as a school's name and its location is its mascot. Options abound, and some teams go with the commonplace while others go with the truly unique.

In Kentucky, there are 286 schools with mascots listed in the MaxPreps database. Listed below are the Top 15 most popular mascot names in Kentucky, the mascot names that only one school owns and other mascot facts/stats.

THEY SURE LOVE THEIR COLONELS
One of the more famous names associated with Kentucky is Colonel Sanders, the face attached to KFC, formerly Kentucky Fried Chicken. While high schools in the Commonwealth of Kentucky (it's technically not a state) aren't celebrating that specific colonel, there is definitely some love for colonels in general. There are nine schools that chose Colonels as their mascot, and that is good enough to be tied for seventh on the list of most popular choices. Virginia has four colonels, but after that no other state has more than two. Being named a Kentucky Colonel is the highest honor someone can receive from the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the governor awards the honor, according to the Secretary of State's site. So it turns out those nine schools didn't choose their mascots because they love fried chicken.

BRIAR JUMPERS - WHAT'S THAT?
It's quite the mystery what a Briar Jumper is. The simple explanation is that the Somerset mascot is based on a rabbit (which can jump high) and rabbits are known to hang out in briars, which are plants with thick stems and thorns. The complicated explanation from Americanfolklore.net is that Brer Rabbit is a "trickster character in folktales of African, African-American, and Native American Culture. Brer Rabbit is the consummate trickster, who typically matches wits with Brer Fox, whom he always bests." And he gets by on brains, not brawn. No matter the reason, it's a mascot nobody else has and it's one that grabs your attention. The other worthwhile aspect of the Briar Jumpers is that they are one of the oldest football teams in Kentucky. Click here to read a stellar story about a man who played on the 1928 team and grew up in an area called Rabbit Town.

A TOUGH LABEL TO LIVE UP TO
It's a lofty nickname to live up to at Lloyd Memorial (Erlanger). The dictionary says that a Juggernaut is "a massive inexorable force, campaign, movement, or object that crushes whatever is in its path," and it's obviously a perfect nickname for a sports team when it comes to striking fear into the opponent. However, it doesn't seem like so good of a choice if the Lloyd Memorial teams happen to struggle. The school's website says that the Cincinnati Post wrote that the school's football team played like a juggernaut, and the name stuck.

THIS ONE'S FOR THE GIRLS
Some single-gender schools don't take the opportunity to choose a gender-based mascot, going with a vague Eagles or Bulldogs. Not Sacred Heart (Louisville). They are the Valkyries at Sacred Heart, and it's the only school that has chosen to do so. It's easy to see why the name is not for everybody. Valkyries are any of the maidens of Odin who choose the heroes to be slain in battle and conduct them to Valhalla, coming from Norse mythology. No all-boys school would choose that, and a co-ed school probably should avoid it as well.

BIGGER IS BETTER
Silver Grove athletes can thank their town's history for their cool mascot name. The Big Trains are the only big trains in the nation, and actually are the only "trains" on the list. So why go with a simple train when you can be a big train? The mascot name comes from the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad company, which started the town and built it up on the shores of the Ohio River. The rail yard there was able to accommodate the big trains full of coal coming from the hills of Appalachia, then split them up into smaller trains to send the coal westward.

TOP 15 MOST POPULAR MASCOT NAMES
#Eagles 17 (There are 2 Golden Eagles)
#Panthers 15
#Wildcats 15
#Tigers 12 (There is 1 Fighting Tigers)
#Bulldogs 11
Cardinals 10
Colonels 9
#Raiders 9
#Cougars 9
Rebels 7
#Trojans 7
#Warriors 6
#Lions 5 (There is 1 Golden Lions and 1 Lyons)
Pirates 5
Yellowjackets 5
# Denotes mascot name is in America's Top 15

MASCOT NAMES USED BY ONLY 1 SCHOOL

Admirals * Big Trains Black Bears Black Cats Black Devils Blazers Blue Devils * Blue Lightning Blue Tornado Bluebirds Bluehawks Bluejackets Bombers * Briar Jumpers

Cadets Camels Cavaliers Centurions Commanders Crimsons Demons Engineers Fighting Tigers Flyers Gators Golden Lions Green Dragons Green Waves

* Greendevils * Juggernauts * Lyons Marshals Mountain Lions Mountaineers Musketeers Owls Pandas Pilots Polar Bears * Purple Flash Purples Red Hawks

* Redhounds Redskins Saints Scotties Shamrocks Spartans Storm * Thorobreds Thoroughbreds Tomcats Toppers * Valkyries Wolves Wyverns

* Denotes that no other school in America has that mascot name

MASCOT STATS
Most popular mascot name is used by 5.9 percent of schools.
There are 104 different mascot names for 286 schools.
10 schools have mascot names that no other American school has.
Kentucky's Top 15 features 10 of America's Top 15 mascot names.