A-AA Girls
100 Meter Dash
Richwood's Pam Nettles set a blistering pace in the trials, running a state
record time of 12.29 seconds. The finals, though, saw DuPont's Ciara Chic
of DuPont hold off a closing Nettles for the victory in 12.51 seconds.
200 Meter Dash
Pam Nettles repeats as the 200 Meter champion with a time of 25.24 seconds.
Nettles got a good start and was able to pass a fading Andrea Perry with
approximately 15 meters to go. Nettles fell a mere 0.04 short of setting
her second state record of the weekend.
400 Meter Dash
Ciara Chic blew away the field with an impressive 58.39 clocking. Patrice
Smith of Weir was the only other competitor to break the one minute barrier.
800 Meter Run
Jessica Taylor defended her 800 Meter title by controlling the race from the
beginning and finishing strong for nearly a 3 second victory. Kelley Moran
of Doddridge County finished a strong second.
1600 Meter Run
Jessica Taylor set a new state record with a time of 5:11.60, bettering the old
mark by a full 5 seconds. The race for 2nd proved one of the most interesting
of the meet. Heading into the last lap, no less than 7 competitors had a
shot at the number 2 spot. Kayla Lester of Winfield proved to have the stronger
finish to take 2nd with a time of 5:28.80.
3200 Meter Run
Jessica Taylor obliterated the previous state record with her winning time of
11:12.73. The old record has been 11:25.09. This race, like the mile, was a
great battle for second. Five girls were in contention with one lap remaining,
but with 250 meters to go, East Hardy's Jessica Tusing began a furious kick that
no one could respond to as she crossed the line 5 seconds ahead of 3rd place
Kayla Lester of Winfield. Each of the top three ran under 12 minutes.
100 Meter High Hurdles
Tyler Consolidated's Heidi Mercer passed Magnolia's Nicole West near the half-
way point, and continued her surge to the finish line. Her time of 15.53 was
nearly half a second faster than 2nd place West.
300 Meter Low Hurdles
Jackie Dight of Weir not only demolished the field but set a new state record
with her time of 45.15 seconds. Emily Smith of Magnolia earned the second spot
nearly 2 full seconds behind Dight.
4 X 100 Meter Relay
The foursome from Weir finish a commanding first, defeating runner-up Valley
Fayette by 0.46 seconds. Tygarts Valley was in contention for second, but an
errant handoff at the last exchange ended their hopes for a place in the state meet.
4 X 200 Meter Relay
Weir High School smashed the state record by over 1 second with a winning time
of 1:45.31. Doddridge County claimed the second spot with a time of 1:47.98.
4 X 400 Meter Relay
Coming into the 4 X 400 Meter Relay, Weir and Magnolia were tied in the team
competition with Doddridge County only 5 points behind. The three were also the
top 3 ranked teams in the event. One of the closest races of the weekend saw
Doddridge County edge Weir by a meager 9 hundredths of a second (0.09) to win the
race and set a new state record. Weir's second place finish gave them their
first state championship. Magnolia finished third in the race to finish 2nd
in the team standings with Doddridge only 1 point behind.
4 X 800 Meter Relay
Midland Trail opened the meet with a phenomal performance in the 4 X 800 Meter
Relay. Valarie Crist clocked a 2:25 first leg of the relay for Trail and the
team never looked back as 2nd place Doddridge County couldn't close the gap.
Midland Trail finished less than 2 seconds off the state record with their
impressive time of 9:50.05. Doddridge and Magnolia also finished under 10 minutes.
Shuttle Hurdle Relay
Magnolia set a new state record in the trials with a time of 1:06.76, but that
time would last less than 24 hours as Weir demolished the record with a clocking
of 1:05.20 in the finals. Williamstown and Magnolia finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively,
and also bettered the mark set in the trials.
Long Jump
Cindy Meadows of Gauley Bridge soared 17'9 1/2 on her last jump of the competition
to steal a title away from Pam Nettles who had taken the lead on her next-to-
last jump (17'5 3/4). Meadows' jump fell on 1/4 inch from the state record.
High Jump
Mary Greene of Richwood, with the competition already won, had the bar set to
5'5 1/2. Greene cleared the height to set a new state record. Greene was
competing for only the 2nd time since recovering from a mid-season injury.
Chrystal O'Dell of Valley Fayette was the only other competitor to clear 5'4.
Discus
Victoria Swords of Magnolia contributed to Magnolia's title hopes with a
victory in the discus. Her winning throw of 108'5 was only 7 inches further
than runner-up Allison Ritz of Liberty (Harrison). Each of the top 6 girls
had throws of better than 100 feet.
Shot Put
Freshman Alicia Dickson of St. Marys took the event with a mark of 35'4. LeAnn
Lemon of Williamstown was the only other competitor to surpass 34' with her
throw of 34'7 1/2.
Pole Vault
5 Girls Cleared 8'6 to tie state record. However, only two could manage the
9'0 vault. Lisa Davis of Doddridge and Jennifer Jenkins of Winfield. Davis
cleared 9'6 on her first attempt after Jenkins missed on her first attempt. Two
more attempts by Jenkins were unsuccessful making Davis the new State Champion.
Davis, whose regional mark of 9'10 is the state's best ever vault, had the bar
set to 10' but was unable to clear the height on any of her 3 attempts.
AAA Girls
100 Meter Dash
Capital's Rosalyn Cary rolled to victory with her time of 12.54 seconds.
Hampshire's Lindsey Stewart crossed the line in 2nd with a time of 12.67 seconds.
200 Meter Dash
Rosalyn Cary took home her second individual title by cruising to victory with
a time of 25.44 seconds. Lindsey Stewart was again the runner-up clocking a 25.77 in the race.
400 Meter Dash
Fairmont Senior Freshman Amanda Hall took control down the stretch to claim the
victory with a time of 59.48. Hall was the only competitor to break the 1 minute
barrier. Elkins' Ariel Davis edged Keyser's Carrie Barrick for 2nd place.
800 Meter Run
Holly Hunter of East Fairmont laid back for about 600 Meters before starting to pick off the fading
leaders. With only 100 Meters to go, Hunter was still only in 4th place, but
her superior conditioning proved the difference as she bolted past the field to
win with a time of 2:18.19. St. Albans' Sarah Ogle barely held onto second place,
edging Ariel Davis by only 4 hundredths of a second. Each of the first three
girls finished under 2:19, and all 6 placers finished under 2:22.5. The remaining
placers were Amanda Hall of Fairmont Senior(2:20.17), Jennifer Davis of Hampshire
(2:21.30), and Giti Farudi of University (2:22.18).
1600 Meter Run
Holly Hunter took control from the beginning as she set out to be the first girl
to run under 5:00 in the state's history. The heat of the afternoon and a perhaps
too fast early pace kept Hunter from her goal, but she still dominated the field
with a 5:06.46 winning time. Sarah Ogle notched 2nd place with an effort of 5:12.76.
The first 3 girls all ran under 5:18, and all 6 placers were under 5:26. The remaining
placers were Susan Davis of Hampshire (5:17.35), Jennifer Davis of Hampshire (5:24.37),
Sarah Corley of Fairmont Senior (5:24.98), and Stephanie Meleady of Morgantown
(5:25.21).
3200 Meter Run
Defending Champion Holly Hunter let Hampshire's Susan Davis and St. Albans' Sarah
Ogle set the early pace before taking the lead on the 4th lap. Hunter then
slowly stretched her lead each lap and ran a strong finishing lap to better her
own state record by 3 seconds with her time of 11:06.04. Davis and Ogle held
on to the 2nd and 3rd, spots respectively, over a hard-charging Katharine Gorrell
of George Washington. The strongest 3200 field the state has ever seen provided
5 girls running under 11:26 and 8 under 11:55. Each is worthy of mention, so
here are the remaining names and times: Davis (11:20.71), Ogle (11:22.30), Gorrell
(11:22.93), Sarah Corley of Fairmont Senior (11:25.74), Jennifer Davis of Hampshire
(11:42.24), Ryann Metheny of Elkins (11:53.32), and Stephanie Meleady of Morgantown
(11:54.85)
100 Meter High Hurdles
A surprisingly slow final saw Latoya Parks of Martinsburg barely hold off Fairmont
Senior's Rebecca Ripoli at the line. The two finished less than one hundredth
of a second apart.
300 Meter Low Hurdles
Rebecca Ripoli took control over the last few hurdles and sprinted to a 46.39
winning time. Huntington's Kimba Hissom took the second spot with a time of 47.13.
4 X 100 Meter Relay
Jefferson squeaked out a victory over Martinsburg and Capital in a very close
three-way race.
4 X 200 Meter Relay
Capital destroyed the field with a time of 1:45.29. Martinsburg finished a solid
second with their time of 1:47.27.
4 X 400 Meter Relay
Jefferson took control early and never looked back as they cruised to a 4 second
victory in the closing event to move from 7th place to 3rd place in the team standings.
Elkins extremely strong 3rd and 4th legs to nip Fairmont Senior for 2nd place by
only 3 hundredths of a second.
4 X 800 Meter Relay
Elkins opened the AAA Girls Meet with a new state record. The nipped the old
record of less than half a second. Zaia Wharton and Ariel Davis provided the
strong finish to the record by running legs of 2:22.35 and 2:20.47, respectively.
Fairmont Senior ran a strong 2nd finishing in 9:50.22.
Shuttle Hurdle Relay
Parkersburg continued their rivalry with Parkersburg South as the two squared off
once again in the shuttle hurdle relay as the two favorites to take the event.
Parkersburg proved to be a little too much for South as they crossed the line
in 1:06.19, only 0.32 ahead of second place South. Martinsburg finished a strong
third.
Long Jump
Roxanne Ward of Parkersburg leaped 16'7 1/2 to win by a mere 1/4 inch over 2nd
place Lindsey Stewart. Stewart garnered 3 second place finished at the meet.
High Jump
Dori Glance of Fairmont Senior was the only competitor to clear 5'4. Roxanne
Ward of Parkersburg and Erin Compton of Oak Hill each cleared 5'2 as the 2nd
and 3rd place finishers.
Discus
Erin Compton of Oak Hill bettered the state record by 10'5 with her throw of
145'5. Compton's regional throw of 153'4 is the best mark in the state this
year. Patrice King of Wheeling Park finished 2nd with a throw of 129'1. Each of
the other 4 placers were over 117 feet in one of the strongest discus fields ever
for the state meet. The remaining placers were Allison Burner of Parkersburg
(119'7), Tasha Hedges of Martinsburg (117'9), Brandi Helmick of Jefferson
(117'5), and Mary Wilson of Roane (117'1). 13 competitors had throws of at least 100 feet.
Shot Put
Jefferson's Brandy Helmick came within 3 inches of a state record with her toss
of 40'6. Erin Compton continued her excellence in the field events with a second
place finish.
Pole Vault
Fairmont Senior's Darcy Thompson closed Friday's scoring with a victory in the
Pole Vault. Thompson and Mary Beth Held of Parkersburg were the only competitors
to clear 8'6. Thompson claimed the victory on fewer misses at the height.
A-AA Boys
100 Meter Dash
Chris Claudio quieted all doubters by breaking the state record in the trials with
a time of 10.80. He dominated the field in the finals as well with a clocking
of 11.16. Terris Baldwin of East Bank edges defending champion Jeff Lemasters of
Magnolia for second place.
200 Meter Dash
Chris Claudio again demolished the opposition, this time winning by nearly 0.7
seconds. Jeff Lemasters held off Jamie Dove of Williamstown for second place.
400 Meter Dash
Jamie Dove used a strong finish to push past Jonathan Feddock of Shady Spring to
win the 400 Meter Dash. Dove, Feddock, and Oak Glen's Rich Shilling each ran under
51 seconds.
800 Meter Run
Josh Watson led from start to finish and came within 0.34 seconds of the 19 year old
state record with his winning effort of 1:55.64. Jody Morgan of Sissonville was
the only other competitor to run under 2:00 with his time of 1:58.74.
1600 Meter Run
Josh Watson again controlled the race easing to a 5 1/2 second victory with a time
of 4:24.92. West Garrett of East Hardy ran to a 4:30.51 second place finish, followed
by Doddridge's Derek Dailey in 4:32.11.
3200 Meter Run
Josh Watson again led most of the race, and after the first mile, slowly surged
further and further ahead as he ran to a 9:41.94 winning time. West Garrett of
East Hardy was the only other competitor to run under 10:00. Denny Hayes of
Doddridge claimed the third spot.
110 Meter High Hurdles
Jon Huffman just missed setting a state record in the trials and came up short
in the finals as well, but still claimed an easy victory in the 110 Highs. Kirk
Wilson of Magnolia edges Tyler's Doug Dillaman for second.
300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles
Jon Huffman set a new state record in establishing a 1.77 second gap between
himself and the 2nd place finisher, Kirk Wilson of Magnolia. Huffman's record
setting time was 38.33.
4 X 100 Meter Relay
Magnolia continued the meets onslaught against the recordbooks by setting a new
record in the 4 X 100. Magnolia's time of 43.51 was four tenths better than Winfield's
runner-up time.
4 X 200 Meter Relay
Magnolia dominated the race with a time of 1:30.92. Winfield finished a solid
second place with a time of 1:32.33.
4 X 400 Meter Relay
Williamstown continued their dominance of the 4 X 400 Meter Relay by winning the
closing event by over 4 seconds over second place Magnolia, who edged Sissonville
at the line to gain the second spot.
4 X 800 Meter Relay
Williamstown charged to victory with a winning time of 8:17.85. Magnolia claimed
the runner-up spot.
Shuttle Hurdle Relay
Oak Glen stormed to a convicing victory with a winning time of 57.98 seconds.
Ritchie county finished in 2nd place, and Tucker County finished third, running
in the "slow" heat.
Long Jump
Magnolia's Jamie Long hadn't jumped 20 feet all year, but he launched himself
20'10 1/2 at the state meet to nip favored Chris Claudio of Ravenswood by 1/2
inch. Three other competitors eclipsed the 20 foot barrier.
High Jump
Oak Glen's Rich Shilling and Ritchie's Jon Huffman both cleared 6'6, but Shilling
did it with fewer misses to claim the state title. Jared Davis of St. Marys
was the only other competitor to clear 6'4.
Discus
Charles Legg and Cavin Mollahan of Liberty Raleigh came through on their coach's
mid-season prediction that they would finish 1-2 in the state meet. The pair
threw nearly 7 feet further than third place Sam Dooley of Mount Hope. Legg
threw 150'6, and Mollahan threw 148'1.
Shot Put
East Bank's Chris Nunn won the event by nearly a foot over runner-up Eric Bibb
of Mount Hope. Nunn's winning throw was 52'7 1/2 and Bibb's throw measured 51'7 3/4.
Winfield's Scott Cunningham also broke the 50 foot barrier and finished 3rd.
Pole Vault
Winfield's Robert Tant and Williamstown's Andrew Fenton each bettered the state
record by vaulting 14'6. Fenton cleared 14'6 with ease, and Tant brushed the bar
on his vault, but the bar stayed on. Neither competitor could clear 15'0 with Tant
coming much closer on his vaults than Fenton. A jump-off was forced due to the
inability to break the tie, and Tant cleared 14'6 once again on the jump-off
after Fenton had missed to claim the victory.
AAA Boys
100 Meter Dash
Capital's Derrick Johnson won an extremely close final that saw only 0.06 seconds
seperate 1st from 4th place. Jefferson's Carleton Wilcox claimed the second spot
over Wheeling Park's Marcus Gordon and Huntington's Talbolt McMurray.
200 Meter Dash
Jemmel Pursoo of Cabell Midland found an extra gear in the last 40 meters to surge
to the victory in a blazing 22.11 seconds. South Charleston's Eddie Whitehead
came out on top of the 4 way race for second, edging out Capital's Derrick Johnson,
Parkersburg South's Chris Spencer, and Jefferson's Carleton Wilcox.
400 Meter Dash
Cabell Midland's Jemmel Pursoo clocked a 49.57 in the "slow" heat, which proved to
be a time that none of the "fast" heat competitors could match. Ben Shamblin of
Herbert Hoover dove/fell (depending on who you ask) across the line to finish second.
Shamblin edged Woodrow Wilson's Jason Walker claimed third place. Each of the
top three ran under 50 seconds. Princeton's Tyrone Gilliard had run to a second
place finish but was disqualified for reasons that were not learned by RunWV.
800 Meter Run
Woodrow Wilson's Jason Walker used a strong finish to claim first place in one
of the best 800 Meter races in recent memory. Walker's time was 1:55.66. Brent
Garrett of Capital kicked his way into second place with a time of 1:56.34, edging
out Herbert Hoover's Ben Shamblin's 1:56.47. Seth Crislip of George Washington,
Brian Bergstrom of Buckhannon-Upshur, and Brandon Staten of Morgantown each run
under 2:00 to round out the top 6.
1600 Meter Run
Huntington's Larry Atkins surges his way to victory in the last lap. Atkins' time
of 4:21.06 was over 2 seconds faster than runner-up Billy Shedd of Parkersburg
South (4:23.28). Jason Pyles of Point Pleasant held onto third place after pushing
the pace and holding the lead for most of the first 3 laps. The first 7 finishers
ran under 4:30.
3200 Meter Run
Wheeling Park's Ricky Moore used a furious 100 Meter kick to unseat defending
champion Kevin Batey of Cabell Midland. The race was much closer than the difference
in times would indicate as Batey coasted in upon realizing that Moore's kick
would be too much to overcome. Moore's winning time was 9:37.14 and Batey finished
in 9:45.87. Mikey Guinn of St. Albans and Huntington's Larry Atkins also finished
under 10:00.
110 Meter High Hurdles
David Conley of Buckhannon-Upshur bolted to an easy win in the 110 Highs with
a time of 14.88 seconds. Adam Acord of Nicholas County claimed the second spot,
followed closely by Justin McDonie of Cabell Midland.
300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles
Buckhannon-Upshur's David Conley ran to victory with a time of 39.16 seconds.
Nathan Fields of Elkins also ran under 40 seconds in his second place effort.
4 X 100 Meter Relay
This year Jefferson avoided the poor hand-offs that have cost them state titles
in the past as they edges Capital 43.17 to 43.23. South Charleston finished a
solid third.
4 X 200 Meter Relay
Jefferson claimed the 4 X 200 meter title with a blistering time of 1:29.30.
Capital finished close behind in 1:29.62 and South Charleston again 3rd with a
time of 1:30.09.
4 X 400 Meter Relay
Cabell Midland used a strong first two legs (the second being 400 Meter individual
champion Jemmel Pursoo) to build an insurmountable lead in winning the 4 X 400
Meter Relay in 3:27.89. Brooke passed Capital with approximately 10 meters to
go to take 2nd place. Brooke's time was 3:28.61 and Capital finished in 3:28.85.
4 X 800 Meter Relay
Buckhannon-Upshur pulled a switch on us by running David Conley in the 4 X 800
instead of the 4 X 400. The move paid off for Buckhannon-Upshur after a 1:56
anchor leg by Brian Bergstrom gave them the victory in a time of 8:05.76. Cabell
Midland finished a very close second with a time of 8:06.74. Capital also finished
under 8:10.
Shuttle Hurdle Relay
Buckhannon-Upshur claimed their second relay victory with an impressive time of
56.99. St. Albans barely edged Woodrow Wilson at the line for second place (57.83
to 57.84).
Long Jump
Luca Deluca of Hedgesville leaped 22'1 1/4 to win the long jump by over a foot.
His closest competitor? Teammate Hickory Dean. Eddie Logan of Oak Hill rounded
out the top 3.
High Jump
Elkins' Nathan Fields was unable to recreate the magic of the 1998 high jump,
but his leap of 6'8 was good enough to again claim the state high jumping crown.
Woodrow Wilson's Tony Giles cleared 6'6 to take second place.
Discus
Ben Frye of Musselman had a toss of 156'7 to outdistance runner-up Chad Elschlager
of Parkersburg South who threw 152'2. No other competitors reached 150 feet.
Shot Put
Erik Shuma of Wheeling Park demolished the field with a herculian throw of 57'2.
Teammate Sam Ames claimed second place with a toss of 50'8.
Pole Vault
Ripley's Justin Southall set a personal best with his vault of 13'6, and it was
good enough to garner him a state championship. Andrew Kessler of Nitro also cleared
13'6, and Arlan Sheets of Hedgesville cleared 13'0.