Meet: State Meet Predictions
Date: For May 26-27, 2000
Location: Charleston, WV
Boys Individual Event Predictions
100 M 1. Carleton Wilcox Jefferson
2. Eddie Whitehead South Charleston
3. Scott Mayle Philip Barbour
4. Derrick Johnson Capital
5. Jonathan Bonecutter Point Pleasant
6. T.R. Dues South Charleston
Wilcox was beaten by Mayle in their region, and they each own a handful
of 10.9 hand-times. Wilcox, however, has a 10.72 that we're told was FAT.
In Whitehead's last three meets, he's dropped from 11.03 to 10.86 to 10.81.
Derrick Johnson could move up, but his achy hamstring concerns us.
200 M 1. Terris Baldwin Riverside
2. Jemmel Pursoo Cabell Midland
3. Carleton Wilcox Jefferson
4. Eddie Whitehead South Charleston
5. Scott Mayle Philip Barbour
6. T.R. Dues South Charleston
Pursoo is the defending champion, but he comes in with only the 9th best
top performance. Baldwin has 4 outings of under 22.10. Wilcox is the only
one to go under 22 seconds. Whitehead finished second last year and is
certainly a threat to win. We would likely have placed Derrick Johnson in
this event, but again, his hamstring injury made us leary.
400 M 1. Nate Manns Woodrow Wilson
2. Jemmel Pursoo Cabell Midland
3. Chuck McCoy Brooke
4. Robert Turner Nitro
5. Matt Phares Elkins
6. Marrico Greenhowe Capital
Again, Pursoo is the defending champion, winning the meet last year out of
the slow heat. We felt we had to give the nod to Manns, though, since
he has recorded 4 times under 50 seconds. No one else has been under 50
seconds at all.
800 M 1. Brent Garrett Capital
2. Seth Crislip George Washington
3. Larry Atkins Huntington
4. Matt Crumrine Wheeling Park
5. Mike Jones Parkersburg South
6. Brandon Johnson Nitro
Garrett stands as the clear favorite with 5 times of 1:58.6 or better,
including 2 under 1:55.5. Crislip has also been under 2:00 three times.
No one else has managed that feat even once. Atkins ran sub-2:00 last
season. Crumrine and Jones had a tight race at their regional meet and could
both go under 2:00. Johnson nearly cracked the 2:00 barrier at the MSAC
Conference meet, but was under 2:03 only one other time. Zach Beckett of
Cabell Midland and Keonte Lee of Princeton could jump up and grab a place.
1600 M 1. Brent Garrett Capital
2. Larry Atkins Huntington
3. Matt Crumrine Wheeling Park
4. Shane Ruggles Hampshire
5. Billy Shedd Parkersburg South
6. Casey Brown Jefferson
Garrett has dominated the 1600 this year with a top time 4:23.19. No other
runner has been under 4:30. Atkins ran a 4:21 at the state meet last year.
Crumrine has three races under 4:34. Ruggles and Brown had a nice duel in
their region coming in at 4:30 and 4:31. Shedd is a bit of a wild-card. He
ran a 4:23 at the state meet last season to finish second, but hasn't really
shown much improvement from the beginning of this season to the end. Jason
Pyles of Point Pleasant finished 3rd last season with a 4:25, but his season
best time of 4:43 made us reluctant to pick him.
3200 M 1. Larry Atkins Huntington
2. Jonathan Wright East Fairmont
3. Tyler DeVault East Fairmont
4. Billy Shedd Parkersburg South
5. Zach Sabatino George Washington
6. Ben Lukowski St. Albans
Atkins owns the best time of the group and was the state cross country
champion. Wright and Devault have each been under 10:00 three times. No
one else has been under more than once. Shedd is the only runner on this
list who has yet to go under 10:00, but we saw him turn in a 10:06 early
in the season and look like he was on cruise control. Also look out for
Keith Rand of Morgantown and Jonathan Calhoun of Oak Hill. Rand has run
a 9:57 and Calhoun placed last year with a 10:01.
110 HH 1. Jamar Dunnigan Woodrow Wilson
2. Tony Shade Robert C. Byrd
3. Joe Payne Huntington
4. Adam Stone Buckhannon-Upshur
5. Frankie Jones Nitro
6. Eric Eastwood Nitro
Dunnigan has owned this event all season. He has five clockings under
14.80. Shade and Payne each have five times under 15.0. Frankie Jones
could finish as high as second as he has a 14.43 under his belt. However,
his second best time is a half-second slower than that.
300 IH 1. Jamar Dunnigan Woodrow Wilson
2. Jemmel Pursoo Cabell Midland
3. Andy Kucish North Marion
4. Frankie Jones Nitro
5. Tony Shade Robert C. Byrd
6. Adam Stone Buckhannon-Upshur
Dunnigan has been under 40 seconds 4 times. Only one other person has done
it even once (Jones). Pursoo was running an extremely tight race with Dunnigan
at the Gazette relays for falling over the last hurdle. He'll be coming off
the 400 Meter dash which will have him slightly fatigued. Kucish placed
last year and has been consistenly under 40.3 in May. Jones owns a 39.99, but
his regional time of only 41.43 worries us. Shade and Stone ran a tight race
at their regional and could both move up.
4x100 M 1. Riverside
2. Woodrow Wilson
3. Capital
4. South Charleston
5. Cabell Midland
6. Huntington
Riverside has only the third best top performance, but their unit has worked
together most of the season and has 4 times under 44 seconds. No other team
has done that more than twice. Any of the first four on the list could win
this event. Capital's hopes hinge on the hamstring of Derrick Johnson.
4x200 M 1. South Charleston
2. Woodrow Wilson
3. Riverside
4. Jefferson
5. Nitro
6. Capital
South Charleston and Woodrow Wilson have each been under 1:30 five times.
South Charleston owns two very close head-to-head wins over Woodrow. One by
0.08 and the other by 0.01. Riverside is the only other team to record a
time under 1:30. A strong showing by Johnson could move Capital up the list.
4x400 M 1. Capital
2. Nitro
3. Cabell Midland
4. Hurricane
5. Brooke
6. Huntington
Capital has four guys who have run under 53 seconds in the open 400 (none of
whom is name Brent Garrett) and have another going under 42 in the 300 IH. This
unit could go under 3:26. Nitro's 3:28 regional time was quite impressive.
Midland and Hurricane should have a nice battle for third.
4x800 M 1. Capital
2. Parkersburg South
3. Cabell Midland
4. Huntington
5. East Fairmont
6. Nitro
Capital has a 1:55, 2:02, 2:04, and 2:07 in the open 800. This group has a
shot at going under 8:05. South has a 2:01, 2:03, 2:03, 2:07 in the open
800. That should be enough to pull them into second place. Midland has the
horses to compete with the front two, but it will require a great effort from
each athlete. Huntington and East Fairmont should have a great duel for fourth.
Shuttle 1. Nitro
2. Huntington
3. Cabell Midland
4. Buckhannon-Upshur
5. Parkersburg South
6. North Marion
Nitro is far and away the class of the group. Huntington has been exceptionally
strong the last two weeks. Buckhannon has been running under 1:00 all season
long and could conceivable break out at the state meet.
L Jump 1. Gabe Casdorph Nitro
2. Teon Saunders South Charleston
3. Scott Mayle Philip Barbour
4. Luca Deluca Hedgesville
5. Patrick Miller Hedgesville
6. Tony Shade Robert C. Byrd
The long jump is always one of the most difficult events to pick. The athletes
are so inconsistent much of the time. Casdorph gets the nod due to his 4 jumps
of 22' or better. Saunders is the only other person to have a 22' jump this
season, and he has 5 jumps over 21'. Mayle has three jumps over 21'. Deluca
is the defending champion but is nursing a sore hamstring that limited him to
two attempts at his regional meet. With a week's rest, he could well win the
event again. 4 of Miller's 5 best jumps have come in May. Shade has been over
20'5 in each of his last three meets. Look out for Chad Merchant, Chad Shamblin,
and Ryan Jones as well.
H Jump 1. Gabe Casdorph Nitro
2. Michael Young Cabell Midland
3. Teon Saunders South Charleston
4. Chris Taylor Parkersburg South
5. Taurean Jones Princeton
6. Chuck Braithwaite Hampshire
Casdorph is the only one to go over 6'6. He's recorded a 6'8 and a 6'7 on the
season. Young beat Casdorph at region and has been very impressive in May.
Saunders has four jumps of 6'6 on the season, but only one of those has come in
May. Taylor has a pair of 6'6 jumps and consistently clears 6'4. Jones has
only one 6'6 leap but has topped 6'4 three times. Braithwaite has yet to clear
6'6 but has two jumps of 6'5 or and several 6'4 jumps as well. Don't rule out
Preston's Jeff Whitehair who placed in the state meet last season or Brandon
Wiley of North Marion who has a 6'6 leap to his credit this season. Josh Hill
of St. Albans leaped 6'4 at his regional meet to establish himself as a threat.
Discus 1. Matt Morris Woodrow Wilson
2. Blake Bennett Hedgesville
3. Matt Moses George Washington
4. Pierre Moss Capital
5. Matt Showalter George Washington
6. Derrick Burkes Capital
Morris has 4 throws that equal or top anyone else's best. He's dominated the
event this season and should continue to do so. Bennett and Moses are not
separated by much, but Bennett's best throw came at the regional while Moses'
best two throws came in April. Moss has a pair of throws over 140' as does
Showalter, but Moss' best exceeds Showalter's by over 6'. Derrick Burkes is
a bit of a question mark. He seems to have figured something out late in
the season as his last three meets saw him improve from 129' to 130' to 138'.
Householder from Jefferson has a throw of 140' but has a second-best throw of
only 131'.
Shot 1. Chris Nunn Riverside
2. Scott Davis Parkersburg
3. Dwayne Robinson Musselman
4. Chris Rogers Keyser
5. Tom Ames Wheeling Park
6. Matt Showalter George Washington
Nunn owns the event with at least 5 throws better than anyone else's best.
Davis got the nod for second due to his upward movement in the last month.
He's gone from 49'3 to 50'2 to 50'11 1/2. Robinson has three throws over 50'.
Rogers placed last year and has the second best throw of the field with his
51'10 1/2. However, he has no other throws over 50'. Ames' best throw came
in March which makes him a definite concern. He's inconsistent but could
launch a 53' any day now. Of course, he might only throw 47'. Showalter
has a pair of 50' throws, coming in the last two meets. To summarize, anyone
in 2-6 could show up as the second place finisher in the state meet.
P Vault 1. Justin Southall Ripley
2. Brian Albaugh Wheeling Park
3. Josh Brookover Parkersburg
4. Chris Creamer Nitro
5. Jamael Hall Huntington
6. James Shetler Hedgesville
Southall is the only one to clear 14' more than once. Plus, he's the defending
champion. Albaugh has shown steady improvement during the year and has four
vaults that exceed 13'. Brookover only cleared 13' or better on three occasions.
After the first three, it is a toss-up. Creamer has a 13' vault, but nothing else
over 12'. Hall has a pair of 12'6 jumps. Shetler has a 13', but a second-best
vault of only 11'6. Ryan Rader of Parkersburg has a 13' jump, but only one
other jump over 11' and only two other vaults over 10'. Stephen Patton of
University has a 12'6, a 12'3, and a 12' but only managed an 11' vault at his
regional meet. Sam Pierson has been coming on with his best two vaults in his
last two meets and could take a place as well.