Class A Girls
I'll be doing the recap a little different this year. Since video is available for each race, there's really no need for me to type out a description of how it happened. You can watch the video if you want to see how the race played out.
100 Meter Dash
St. Mary's Laney Watkins just missed cracking the Class A All-Time list on a day when 100 Meter times were
peculiarly slow. All 8 that made the finals return next year.
RunWV's Current Score: 6 of 8.
200 Meter Dash
While St. Marys' Laney Watkins may have missed the 100 list, she sailed high onto the 200 list. Her 25.35
is the 2nd Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Valley Wetzel's Laken Dawson ran a 25.71
for 2nd and the 8th Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Magnolia's Bella Sockman was a
close 3rd in 25.80, which would have made the list if not for the other two flyers in front of her. 7 of 8 finalists
return next year.
RunWV's Current Score: 13 of 16.
400 Meter Dash
Wheeling Central's Loni Kusic scored a close win over Clay-Battelle's Magnolia Lemley as those two
were the only ones to go under 61 seconds. 6 placers return next year.
RunWV's Current Score: 20 of 24.
800 Meter Run
St. Marys Anna Bennett scored a come-from-behind win in 2:20.60, which is the 8th Best All-Time Class A
State Meet Performance. Charleston Catholic's Bella Boggs was close behind in 2:21.39. Boggs led throug
the first lap in just under 1:09, but Bennett was right on her heels and made the pass before holding off Boggs down
the stretch. Lap 1 - Boggs, Bennett, Kusic, Steele, Rushworth, Sterns, Ayers, Mossor. Finish - Bennett, Boggs, Steele,
Kusic, Rushworth, Ayers, Sterns, Williams.
RunWV's Current Score: 28 of 32.
1600 Meter Run
Charleston Catholic's Bella Boggs broke open a close race on the 3rd lap, turning a 1 second lead into a 10
second lead. Her 5:12.09 is the 10th Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. St. Marys' Anna Bennett
was close for two laps, but when the gap started to generate, she basically shut down and just ran for 2nd to conserve
for the 800, which turned out to be a good move. Lap 1 - Boggs, Bennett, Stern, Perkins, Woodford, L.Williams, Hutnick,
and Ayers. Lap 2 - Boggs, Bennett, Sterns, Perkins, L.Williams, Hutnick, Ayers, Woodford. Lap 3 - Boggs, Bennett, Sterns,
Perkins, Hutnick, L.Williams, Ayers, Soly. Finish - Boggs, Bennett, Perkins, Ayers, Sterns, L.Williams, Hutnick, Soly.
RunWV's Current Score: 35 of 40.
3200 Meter Run
Charleston Catholic's Bella Boggs was unchallenged, winning by over 30 seconds while on relative cruise control. She
led by over 10 seconds after one lap. Lap 1 - Boggs, Perkins, Bennett, Sterns, Chase, Barb, Woodford, Blake. Lap 2 - Boggs,
Perkins, Bennett, Sterns, Chase, Woodford, Williams, Blake. Lap 3 - Boggs, Perkins, Bennett, Sterns, Chase, Woodford, Williams,
Blake. Lap 4 - Boggs, Perkins, Bennett, Chase, Williams, Woodford, Blake. Lap 5 - Boggs, Perkins, Bennett, Sterns, Williams,
Chase, Blake, Bumgarner. Lap 6 - Boggs, Perkins, Bennett, Sterns, Williams, Chase, Blake, Bumgarner. Lap 7 - Boggs, Perkins,
Bennett, Sterns, Williams, Blake, Chase, Bumgarner. Final - Boggs, Bennett, Perkins, Sterns, Williams, Blake, Chase, Dunn.
Bumgarner was in solid position for 8th but must have gotten confused when the bell was sounded for Boggs shortly after
Bumgarner went through. She kicked on lap 7 and stepped off the track after completing it. Goff from Charleston Catholic
tried to go with her, dropping her time from lap 6 to 7 by over 8 seconds, but that ended up blowing her up, and she was
passed for 8th by the hard-charging Dunn. One of my predicted placers scratched the event.
RunWV's Current Score: 41 of 48.
100 Meter High Hurdles
East Hardy's Madison Kerr gets the repeat win, taking the field down by over 0.6 seconds.
RunWV's Current Score: 48 of 56.
300 Meter Low Hurdles
Clay-Battelle's Magnolia Lemley scored the late win, taking the lead just before the last hurdle. Her 45.96 time
is the 8th Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Paw Paw's Shayla Tanouye made a valiant effort,
diving for the line to try to steal the win back. Her 2nd place time of 46.04 is the 9th Best All-Time Class A State
Meet Performance.
RunWV's Current Score: 55 of 64.
4x100 Meter Relay
The Wheeling Central foursome of Meredith Komorowski, Maddie Steele, Claire Kerr, and Ally Jefferson dominated the
field with a 51.47, taking the win by over 1.5 seconds.
RunWV's Current Score: 62 of 72.
4x200 Meter Relay
The same Wheeling Central unit dominated the 4x200 as well. That group of Claire Kerr, Meredith Komorowski, Ally
Jefferson, and Maddie Steele won by just under 3 seconds over Valley Wetzel and were over 5 seconds ahead of 3rd
place Magnolia. Their 1:47.09 is the 8th Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance.
RunWV's Current Score: 69 of 80.
4x400 Meter Relay
Wheeling Central dominated another relay with the group of Claire Kerr, Rylee Wright, Elizabeth Steele, and Loni
Kusic running 4:18.70 to bury the field by over 6.5 seconds.
RunWV's Current Score: 76 of 88.
4x800 Meter Relay
Wheeling Central took this one as well with the group of Rylee Wright, Elah Konkle, Elizabeth Steelet, and Loni
Kusic took the win by over 20 seconds with a 10:29.66. The led from start to finish with a 3 second lead just
one lap into the race. Leg 1 - Wheeling Central, Trinity Christian, St. Marys, Charleston Catholic, Wirt, Ritchie,
Magnolia, Pendleton. Leg 2 - Wheeling Central, Trinity Christian, St. Marys, Wirt, Charleston Catholic, Ritchie,
Magnolia, Pendleton. Leg 3 - Wheeling Central, Trinity Christian, Charleston Catholic, Wirt, St. Marys, Ritchie,
Magnolia, Pendleton. Finish - Wheeling Central, Trinity Christian, Charleston Catholic, Wirt, St. Marys, Ritchie,
Magnolia, Pendleton.
RunWV's Current Score: 84 of 96.
Shuttle Hurdle Relay
It was not a clean sweep of the relays for Wheeling Central. Wahama was the one dominating the field in this one.
Their group of Sydney Rickard, Hannah Frye, Adyson VanMeter, and Aly Barnitz sped to a 1:08.95, taking the
win by over 3.5 seconds. One of my predicted placers False Started and another was hit with a DQ.
RunWV's Current Score: 90 of 104.
High Jump
Wheeling Central's Alexa Loy jumped clean through 5'0 and was the only one to clear that mark in taking the
win. Gilmer's Ava Dobbins and Clay-Battelle's Nevaeh St. Clair cleared 4'10 in taking the next two
spots. Meet officials insisted on starting at 4'8, and only 7 girls were able to clear the opening height.
RunWV's Current Score: 96 of 111.
Pole Vault
St. Marys' Avry Bennett showed no signs of her late season injury, sailing over 10'3 to win by over a foot.
That 10'3 vault is the 9th Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Teammate Sidni Gerlach had
not gone higher than 8'0 all season, but she picked a great day to have a great day as she cleared 9'0 for 2nd place.
She was in 4th place before clearing 9'0 on her 3rd attempt. As in the high jump, the starting height was set too
high, and only 6 girls cleared the opening height.
RunWV's Current Score: 102 of 117.
Long Jump
Valley Wetzel's Laken Dawson, a portrait of long jump consistency all season, won by nearly a foot with a
leap of 17'4.25. That stands as the 8th Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Paw Paw's Shayla
Tanouye, Magnolia's Jessa Anderson, and Wheeling Central's Alexa Loy also surpassed 16'0 in taking
the next 3 spots.
RunWV's Current Score: 108 of 125.
Shot Put
Madonna's Rylee Birkhimer pummelled the field with a 34'11.25 throw. That won the event by over 3 feet. The
battle for 2nd was much more interesting with just 5.75 inches separating 2nd through 6th.
RunWV's Current Score: 114 of 133.
Discus
Ritchie's Natalie Henger sent her opening throw 119'4, and no one was able to match it. Pocahontas' Alyson
Taylor was closed with a throw of 119'1 on her 4th attempt. Those two were well ahead of the rest of the field.
RunWV's Current Score: 121 of 141.
The final score of 121 of 141 means that 85.8% of the people picked to place did indeed place. That's 2 better than last year. There were only two events, 800 and 4x800, in which all 8 of my predicted placers. In Pole Vault, all 6 that placed were predicted to palce. Congratulations to those that proved me wrong.
Exceeding Predictions
The following athletes exceed the predictions by 3 or more places and deserve special mention.
Alexandra Ayers, Trinity Christian -- 1600 M (picked 8th, got 4th)
Hannah Frye, Wahama -- 100 HH (picked 8th, got 4th)
Kadessa Stitt, Gilmer -- 300 LH (picked 8th, got 4th)
East Hardy -- 4x100 Meter Relay (not picked, got 4th)
(Madison Kerr, Xavia Barber, Madilyn Funk, Morganne Miller)
Wheeling Central -- Shuttle Hurdle Relay (not picked, got 5th)
(Madigan Smith, Elah Konkle, Emily Lanos, Alexa Loy)
Madigan Smith, Wheeling Central -- High Jump (not picked, tied for 6th)
Jessa Anderson, Magnolia -- Long Jump (not picked, got 3rd)
Airiana Hoard, Gilmer -- Long Jump (picked 8th, got 5th)
Lila Barnette, Sherman -- Shot Put (picked 7th, got 3rd)
Aryanna Howard, Greenbrier West -- Shot Put (not picked, got 6th)
Aliana Riley, Clay-Battelle -- Discus (picked 6th, got 3rd)
Lila Barnette, Sherman -- Discus (picked 7th, got 4th)
Class A Girls
Wheeling Central + 8.5
Sherman + 7