February 22 Fayetteville's Jessica Taylor participated in the Super 8 High School Invitational Indoor Track Meet at Virginia Tech on 1/29 and 1/30. Jessica finished 6th in the 3200 with a time of 11:38.53 and 10th in the 1600 with a time of 5:21.74. Congratulations on a fine performance.
Coaches:
The coaches association is trying to locate information on the results and lists of athletes that participated in last year's regional qualifying meets. What we really need is the names and grade of all the participants. We need this information in order to help us get started with our planning for the Mid-West Track Meet of Champions to be held in June. Any help that you can give us would be greatly appreciated.
You can fax the information to me at 686-3510--Attention David Evans
Tyler Consolidated High School, Middlebourne, WV, will host the 4th annual Coca Cola Classic Track Meet on Saturday, April 10. Field events begin 9:00 am. Running events begin at 9:30. For more information contact Joe Semple at jsemple@access.k12.wv.us or Tina Mercer at tmercer@access.k12.wv.us. Either of of can be reached at Tyler Consolidated (304)758-9000.
Tyler Consolidated Middle School, Middlebourne, WV, is hosting a middle school relay invitational on Saturday, March 27. For more information contact Tina Mercer at tmercer@access.k12.wv.us or (304)758-9000.
Track & Field Clinic at St. Marys added 2/2
January 27, 1999
Coaches: The St. Marys High School Pleasants Pacers Invitational
will be hosted by the Pleasants Pacers Running Club on Saturday,
May 9, 1999 at Tyler Consolidated High School's all-weather track
starting at 9:00 AM. The Meet will be for both boys and girls.
Awards will be given to the top 3 boys and girls teams,
trophies to the top scoring male and female track athlete,
trophies to the top scoring male and female field athlete,
and awards to the top 6 places in each event. There will be
a concession stand available.
The entry fee will be $25 for one team and $45 for two teams.
We will limit each even to 3 athletes per school.
If you have questions, contact Coach Larry Butcher:
(304)684-2421 (School), (304)684-9475 (Home), or via E-Mail at
lbutcher@access.k12.wv.us
If you would like an entry form for the 1999 Pacers Invitational,
send your Name, Address, City, School Phone Number, and whether
you want an entry form for boys, girls, or both to
Larry Butcher
St. Marys High School
1002 Second Street
St. Marys, WV 26170
January 13, 1999
Hurricane High has a new 8-Lane MaxFlex Track. We will be
hosting several meets this year.
3/27 Sat. Hurricane Junior High Invitational Boys/Girls
4/13 Tue. High School JV Meet Boys/Girls
4/27 Tue. High School Boys Invitational
5/4 Tue. High School Girls Inviational
5/8 Sat. Hurricane Middle School Invitational
Any schools interested in coming to these meets need to
let me know.
Steve Caldwell (304)562-9271 - Work (304)562-9233 - Home
E-Mail scaldwel@access.k12.wv.us
Steve Caldwell
Hurricane Middle School
January 10, 1999
Fayetteville's Jessica Taylor participated in the Days Inn
Indoor High School Invitational held on January 8th and 9th
at Virginia Tech. Jessica finished 2nd in the 3200 Meter Run
with a time of 11:39.29 and 1st in the 1600 Meter Run with
a time of 5:17.23. Congratulations on these outstanding
performances.
December 15, 1998
The following was sent to us from a coach in Northern Kentucky.
She is seeking track meets for the upcoming season that will
include girls' pole vaulting. If you have an open space
in any of your invitationals and would like to feature an
out of state school, give her a call or E-Mail her. The
details are as follows.
"We are a small class A school in Northern Kentucky. We
are looking for track meets for the upcoming season.
Please inquire about invitations for us. We have girl
pole vaulters.
Coach Jam Stryffeler Home phone 606 342 5903
school 606 485 7721
fax 606 485 7739
Jam Stryffeler
342 Eastern Ave.
Elsmere Ky 41018
Walton Verona Track and Field
30 School Rd
Walton KY 41094
email babyjammer@rocketmail.com "
For a reference point, Walton, KY is 28 miles south of
Cincinnati, OH. Huntington is a 182 mile trip from
Walton. It would be quite a trip for them anywhere in
the state, but she is asking, so it's worth looking into.
November 9, 1998
The following was mailed to us this afternoon. Some of you may be interested.
Dear Coach,
My name is Terry Drake. This summer I am putting together a unique opportunity for your athletes and possibly even yourself.
This summer, June 29 through July 13, I will be taking a group of high school and college students to Europe (England, Ireland, and Scotland) for two weeks of competition, training, and fun.
The concept of this trip is to provide each athlete with a fantastic experience. Not only will they be rewarded with a unique cultural experience, but also each athlete will gain valuable experience and expertise from World Class Athletes, and nationally recognized coaches.
Among those traveling with us will be Steve Scott, American Record holder in the mile: Irv Ray, Head coach at California Baptist University: and Terry Drake, former Head cross country coach at Kansas State University and Olympic Trials Qualifier in the steeplechase. Throw and Jump coaches will be provided to us in Europe, so your throwers and jumpers will gain expert knowledge in a unique way. How can you benefit? Not only will your athletes learn some valuable lessons from some of the worlds best, but also if you can bring 13 athletes, your trip will be provided free of charge.
To learn more about this unique opportunity, please feel free to e-mail me at tdrake@usd497.k12.ks.us
I will then get you the needed information you request.
Don't miss out on this exciting adventure.
Sincerely,
Terry Drake
At the Footlocker National Scholastic Outdoor Invitational Track Meet, Nathan Fields finished 4th in the High Jump at 7'0 1/2. David Kessler finished 5th in the Pole Vault with 15'1. Holly Hunter finished 18th in the 2 Mile, time unknown. An ill Hunter also finished in the top 40 in the mile.
The AAA 800 Meter Boys Race has finally finished. It finished sometime this afternoon, probably making it the longest race in state track meet history. Due to an error in the recording of competitors in the order that they finished, the 800 Meter results were appealed by at least two parties. After going through the various channels of appeal, it was determined that Phillip Parsons of Parkersburg South was the actual 6th place finisher with a time of 2:00.38. Charles Fitzwater of Woodrow Wilson was moved to 8th place and Jacob Isserman of Morgantown moved from 12th place (I believe) to 7th place. Isserman's movement from 12th to 7th did not allow him to place, but did allow him to set the school record. The changes have been reflected in the State Meet Individual and Team Results. I applaud the officials involved for having the courage to change the results nearly 4 full days after the fact. I normally don't don't like coaches, athletes and fans appealing finishing places or times, but this situation was different. Parsons finish in sixth place was apparent to the naked eye and the hand timers picked him sixth. The malfunction appeared to be with the computerized timing and picking system. A computer glitch should not decide the who gets a medal and who doesn't when the replay is readily available. Congratulations to Phillip on his 6th place finish and thanks to all involved in the appeal process.
Every state meet has it's share of golden moments and this year was no exception. Here is a list of several of the outstanding performers and performances at the state track meet.
Jenny Rayburn AAA Girls 200 Meters Caroline Fleek AAA Girls 400 Meters Holly Hunter AAA Girls 1600 and 3200 Meters LeAnn Boron AAA Girls High Jump Roshannda Parker AAA Girls Shot Put Heidi Mercer AA Girls High Jump LeRahn Davis AAA Boys 100 and 200 Meters Ryan Dumont AAA Boys 400 Meters Isaac Eastwood AAA Boys 110 Hurdles James Daniels AAA Boys Long Jump Nathan Fields AAA Boys High Jump Parkersburg Girls 3200 Meter Relay Valley Fayette Girls 400 Meter Relay Weir Girls 800 Meter Relay Charleston Catholic Girls 3200 Meter Relay Capital Boys 400 Meter Relay Williamstown Boys 1600 Meter Relay Parkersburg Girls Overall Champions Cabell Midland Boys Overall Champions Winfield Boys Overall Champions
AAA Girls 800 Meters Holly Hunter 2:17.35 AAA Girls 1600 Meters Holly Hunter 5:05.12 AAA Girls 3200 Meters Holly Hunter 11:09.09 AAA Girls Pole Vault Mary Beth Held 9'0 AAA Boys High Jump Nathan Fields 7'3 AA Girls Pole Vault Erin Ricards 8'6
Holly Hunter 800, 1600, 3200 AAA Girls Jessica Taylor 800, 1600, 3200 AA Girls Josh Watson 800, 1600, 3200 AA Boys Latoya Parks Long Jump, 100 H AAA Girls Jenny Rayburn 100, 200 AAA Girls Jack Chapman Shot Put, Discus AAA Boys Lehran Davis 100, 200 AAA Boys Pam Nettles 100, 200 AA Girls Jon Huffman 100 H, 300 H AA Boys Jeff Lemasters 100, 200 AA Boys Josh Shapaka Shot Put, Discus AA Boys
Holly Hunter, Nathan Fields, Jessica Taylor and Lehran Davis got most of the headlines, but only one athlete managed to take home 4 first place medals. Magnolia's Josh Watson, the AA boys defending cross country champion, won the 800, 1600, 3200 meters and was a member of Magnolia's winning 4x800 meter relay team.
Be sure and check in this summer as we will continue to update our site including track and field updates, road racing information and results and full coverage of cross country. If you have your cross country schedule in place, be sure and email or fax us a copy.
We now have State Meet Results posted. They can be found under the State Meet Link. Several events were left out of the press release package, so we do not have times for a few of the events. However, we made sure and listed who we believe the placers were at the state meet. Congratulations to the Winfield boys and girls, Parkersburg girls and Cabell Midland boys teams on their state championships. Cabell Midland was the only upset winner, defeating Capital in what came down to a 100 meter sprint at the end of the 4x400 meter relay. Anyone who left early missed one of the most exciting finishes ever in West Virginia high school track and field. We will add a full meet rundown sometime in the coming days that will include a detailed description of that final race as well as other meet highlights. Please note that the high point performers are based on who we think ran the relays for the teams involved. Check Track News tommorrow for a run down of some the meets top performers and performances.
We have updated/activated three important sections that you might want to take a look at. The first of these is our State Meet Predictions link. We have predicted every event at the state meet from first to sixth place, listed top high point contenders, and tallied the team scores. Please see the following paragraph for how we came up with our predictions. The next link we added was a full breakdown of the Regional Qaulifiers. This list combines all the athletes in a single event and lists their regional times as well as their best times this year and can be found under our Regionals link. Finally, we have also updated the Top Performances link which includes the results of every meet we have received this year including regionals.
The predictions we came up with were the result of hours of research and discussion between the editors. Among the things we tried to take into account when coming up with the predictions were regional times, regional placing, best times, previous state meet experience, results of head to head competition, hand times vs accutrack times, recent event performance, how long an athlete would have to rest between events, possible additions to relay teams and good old fashioned gut feel. While many of the events had clear cut contenders, others were so close that we would not be shocked if someone we picked tenth got second or third. Among the most wide open events are the AAA Girls Shot Put, AA Girls 400 Meters and Discus, AAA Boys 800, 1600, 3200, Long Jump and the AA Boys Long Jump, High Jump, 100, 200 and 400 meters as well as many of the relays in each class. In each of these events (as well as others) we had trouble either finding a clear cut winner or choosing places amoung 10 contenders for the final few spots. Please remember these are only predictions and that the real standings will be decided by the athletes themselves.
Finally, you will see that the Team Rankings link is now connected to the State Meet Team Predictions. We moved away from using the best time scoring system because many of the athletes that had among the year's best times did not advance at regionals. This was caused by several factors including injuries, sickness, false starts, doing different events and poor performance. There are several ways to look at a teams chances of contending for a state title. Let's look at the AA-A Girls for an example. Winfield has a commanding lead of 23 points. The next six teams are within 11 points of each other. Someone might say that Doddridge, Weir and Richwood had the best chance of catching Winfield. However, Weir and Richwood's athletes are already scoring at or near the top of their events and don't have much room for upward movement. Doddridge on the other hand has athletes in several events that are picked to finish in the fifth and sixth place positions. These athletes have a chance to really improve their finish and many have the potential of second or third place finish. Looking on down the list, Fayetteville is similar to Weir and Richwood in the fact that most of their athletes are scoring at the top of their events already. Magnolia and Charleston Catholic have the same potential as Doddridge to have many athletes improve several places and close the gap on Winfield. The other three classes have similar scenarios, but I won't go into an example for each one. The closest thing to a lock is the Parkersburg girls team. They have great depth and talent which is a deadly combination to other teams. The meet, however, is not run on paper (thank goodness). False starts, injuries, sickness as well as exceptional/poor performances can alter the entire face of a meet and make even the best predictions worthless.
Good luck to all athletes and coaches. SEE YOU THERE.
The Top Performances and Team Rankings links have been updated. There was again a change at the top as the Williamstown boys knocked Winfield out of the top spot in the AA-A division in what now appears to be the closest race for the state meet title. Less than 10 points are currently separating first from third. Several teams made gains last week with the Parkersburg boys making the biggest gain byjumping from not ranked into the number 5 position.
The Top Performances and Team Rankings were based off of times we had received by May 19th. Any meets or times received after that point were not included this time, but will be included in the next update. This includes the John Marshall and Independence Invitationals, the Jason Hedrick Memorial and Shamrock Relays as well as several other meets.
Did you know that each year thousands of athletes take place in track and field across the state with the goal of participating in the state meet? Around 200 of these athletes will take home medals for placing in the state meet in an individual event. With the amount of talent competing at the state meet, it is uncommon for an freshman to place in the top six in any event. Even more uncommon is for that freshman to come back year after year to place in the same event for four straight years. This feat is so rare in fact that only a handful of athletes in the entire state will be attempting to win a medal in the same event for the fourth consecutive year. These athletes must not only overcome the competition, but also have avoided injury and burnout as well.
The first of these athletes is Winfield's Leigh Brazeau. Brazeau will attempt to win the elusive fourth medal in two individual events, the 100 and 200 meter dashes. In the three years prior to this years state meet, she has earned one first place finish, two second place finishes and three third place finishes in these events. Her best individual finish came at the end of her freshman season by being winning the Girls AA-A State Championship in the 100 Meter Dash.
Another runner who will be attempting to win a fourth medal in two events is Magnolia's Emily Strother. Strother will be trying to place for the fourth year in a row in the 1600 and 3200 meter runs. During the last three years in these events, she has earned one first place finish, two second place finishes, two third place finishes and a sixth place finish. Her best individual finish also came at the end of her freshman season when she won the 3200 Girls AA-A State Championship in the 3200 Meter Run.
The third runner is Stacy Jones from Hurricane. Jones will be going for a top six finish in the 800 meter run. She has placed third once and sixth twice during her career in this event. Her best finish came last year when she finished third.
The lone male athlete in this group is Huntington's James Daniels. Daniels will be attempting to long jump his way into the top six. Daniels has one first place finish, one second place finish and one sixth place finish to his credit in the long jump. He is the defending state champion in the event.
In addition to these four athletes, two other runners may be attempting to pull of the 4-peat but we have unable to verify their first names. The first of these two is Pocahontas's Tosha Combs. A Combs has been running this year for Pocahontas, but we have been unable to verify the first name of the runner. If the runner is Tosha, she will be attempting to place for the fourth year in a row in two events, the 800 and 1600 meter runs. In these events, she has one first place finish to her credit, two second place finishes, two third place finishes and a fourth place finish. The title came in 1995 in the 1600 meter run.
The sixth and final possibility is Resa Musgrove. If the Musgrove running for Moorefield is Resa, she will be trying to place in the 3200 meter run for the fourth year in a row. She has placed first, third and sixth in the last three years in this event with the State Championship coming in 1996.
To the best of our knowledge, these are the only six athletes with a chance to place for the fourth year in a row. Some others may have placed in states for the last three years in different events or may have been part of a placing relay team for the last three years. If you get a chance to watch these athletes, be sure and do so. They are rarer than a defending champion or even a double champion. If you have been lucky enough to coach or even compete against one of these five, make sure and thank them because out of the 3,000 plus runners that compete in track and field in the state of West Virginia every year they are the one fifth of one percent who are even able to attempt to do what they are trying to do.
The Top Performances and Team Rankings links have been updated. There was only one change at the top as the Winfield girls knocked Doddridge out of the top spot in the AA-A division for the first time this season in what appears to be the closest race for the state meet title. The AA-A girls division is fairly close from top to bottom with at least 7 teams having at least an outside shot at winning it all. Several teams made big gains over the last week including the Weir girls, and Hedgesville boys who both lept up into the top 5 in their respective divisions as well as the Wheeling Park boys who went from being not ranked to number 6.
The Top Performances and Team Rankings were based off of times we had received by May 13th. Any meets received after that point were not included this time, but will be included for next weeks updates. This includes the LKC, Potomac Valley, MCAC and Big Ten conference meets as well as several invitationals and small meets.
I would like to once again point out that these rankings are based off of the top performances in a hypothetical state meet. It assumes that everyone in the state will come to the meet and run exactly the best time they have ran all season. Please see the Team Rankings link for a longer list of the weaknesses of this system. This system of ranking will also not tell how one team would fair against another in a head to head match up or a conference meet. However, this system will give you a quick glimpse of the teams with the athletes to make some noise at the state meet and provides a systematic way for the editors to rank teams without a large amount of discussion. We will probably not get a true read of how the teams will stack up until we see all the regional results, so get the results from your region in as soon as possible after completion of the meet.
We would like to thank the coaches from around the state who have been sending us the results by fax and by email. They have been a great help in reporting results from several areas of the state that we have not been able to get results from previously. Keep the results rolling in and we will get them posted as soon as possible.
We are still missing the results of several big meets including much of the Coalfield Conference and Pioneer Invitational (need AA only) and Independence Invitational. These meets have results from several teams we have been unable to get much information about. If anyone has these results (or any others we don't have), please fax them to us at 624-5675. You can also mail or email them to us (check the contacting us link for our addresses.)
Be sure to check back into Track News later this week for
a look at some special athletes who will be trying at this
years state meet to place in the same event for the fourth
year in a row.
The Top Performances and Team Rankings links have been updated. We were able to get results from several new teams over the last couple weeks and this led to some big changes in both of those links. The biggest gainers over the last week include the Winfield and Martinsburg girls and Buckhannon Upshur boys who went from not being ranked straight to the top five. Other strong moves were made by the George Washington and Nitro Boys and Fayetteville girls. Three teams fell over five places including the Magnolia girls and Wheeling Park and Parkersburg Boys. These teams have an excellent chance of rebounding as Winfield did by claiming the Girls AA-A number two ranking one week after falling off the chart.
We are missing the results of several big meets including much of the Coalfield Conference and Pioneer Invitational (need AA only) meets as well as the Lions Club invitational in Fayetteville. These meets have results from many teams we have been unable to get very much information about. If anyone has these results (or any others we don't have), please fax them to us at 624-5675. You can also mail or email them to us (check the contacting us link for our addresses.)
If you are a coach who uses the site, send us your results and tell other coaches about us. If you are an athlete who uses the site, make sure and tell your coach about us and try to get him or her to send us your meet results. If you know who happens to be faxing the results to your local newspaper, go ahead and tell them about our site as well and give them our fax number. Within less than a minute they can have results to us and you and your team can get the recognition they deserve.
We have posted new Team Rankings under our "Team Rankings" link. Please remember to take into account the admitted weaknesses of the system listed on the Team Rankings link. These Team Rankings are from results we had obtained prior to April 28th.
We would like to remind you that rules enforcement is tightening up as it does toward the end of every year. One particular infraction we would like to mention is uniform violations. Please have your coaches check the rule books to make sure that what you are wearing (from head to toe) is within the stated guidelines. We recently attended a meet in which throws were disallowed due to the athlete's socks not being a solid color. This led to some scrambling among several teams to bring all participants up to code. (They ran sockless or put on different socks) Some of the rules do seem silly, but they are the rules and we need to stick to them until they are changed. You may slide a violation by a meet official, but why take the chance. The last thing you need to be doing before a big race is scrambling to get your uniform to pass inspection instead of warming up and concentrating on the task at hand.
To see Track And Field News and information prior to May 3, 1998,
Click Here.