The Williamstown 4×8 team opened the 108th annual West Virginia State Meet with a bang here in Charleston on Friday. The quartet, from left, of Brianna Winsett, Lexi Wynn, Alyssa Sauro and Ava Lightfritz finished in 9:42.46 to beat the previous state record of 9:48.85 held by 2012 Ali Johnson, Olivia Taylor, Beverly Knight and St. Marys. Maggie Drazba. (Photo provided)
CHARLESTON — The Williamstown girls track program, seeking a fourth straight Class A crown, opened the 108th annual West Virginia State Meet here Friday at Laidley Field with a bang.
“We’re here on business,” joked Yellowjacket head coach Zach Hall about his 4×8 team of Ava Lightfritz, Brianna Winsett, Lexi Wynn and Alyssa Sauro running a record 9:42.46, which broke the mark of 9:48.85 that had since 2012 the quartet of St. Marys. by Ali Johnson, Olivia Taylor, Beverly Knight and Maggie Drazba.
Sauro won the 3200 by edging Doddridge County’s Lexi Lamb 10:33.25 to 11:15.41. Virginia Haddox of St. Marys (11:53.70) was fourth, Winsett (12:09.33) was fifth, while Doddridge County’s Katie Cottrill (12:19.59) was seventh.
After the first day, the Williamstown girls hold a 53.5-38 lead over Doddridge County.
They scored 16 points in the shot put. Kyndra Johnson won the all-around with a throw of 35-11.25, while Reagan Corbett (33-6.25) was third. Doddridge County’s A’Kai Williams was runner-up (33-10.25), Gilmer County’s Kiley Richards was fourth (33-5). Ritchie County’s Macy Hilvers (7th, 31-6.5) also qualified.
In the single-A women’s pole vault, Doddridge County’s Abby McDonough cleared 10 feet, 6 inches to claim the gold. Ritchie County’s Sydney Kopshina and Williamstown’s Izzy Zide tied for second after clearing 9 feet. Yellowjacket Grace Boone (8-6) was fourth, Bulldog Nora Sias (8-0) was fifth, while Williamstown’s Remy LeFebure (7-6) finished tied for seventh.
Williamstown’s Shelby Smith and Brookelyn Reynolds finished 1-2 in the 100 prelims. Doddridge County’s Payton Currey placed third. Also running for state spots Saturday are Doddridge County’s Jaycee Lipscomb and Wirt County’s Sarah Sharp.
In the 200 prelims, Smith and Reynolds took the top two spots. Magnolia’s Jenna Blain was third.
Currey was fourth and Gilmer County’s Kadessa Stitt will place as a freshman after placing eighth.
In the 100 hurdles preliminaries, the top three finishers were local, with Blue Eagle’s Blain followed by Ritchie County’s Marissa Scott and Bulldog McDonough.
Paden City’s Mady Still will also emcee the event.
The Magnolia quartet of Shaela Holliday, Kaylee Williams, Emma Spitzer and Reese Hale placed second in the shuttles. Paden City (Jocelyn Sawinski, Katie Householder, Haven Anderson, Still) placed third. Tyler Consolidated (Bridget Doak, Taylor Donaldson, Trinity Kanz, Bella Garuccio) and St. Marys (Ryleigh Haught, Anna Kimball, Caleigh Campbell, Kamryn Armstrong) will also place in the top eight.
Also scoring in the 4×8 were Doddridge County (3rd, Cassie Cumberledge, Bailey Holden, Emily Gola, Katie Cottrill, 10:16.74), Ritchie County (4th, Andrea Davis, Kaitlyn Sullivan, Chesnee Williams, Bentlee Williams, 10:31.39) . ) and fifth place St. Marys, who ran a 10:38.04 with Natalie Bartrug, Sophie Greenleaf, Armstrong and Virginia Haddox.
The Parkersburg girls continued to dominate the shuttlers in Charleston. Daysha Hastings, Claire Tatterson, Lily Wharton and Addison Gherke topped the field by more than 3 seconds after clocking in at 1:02.06.
Head coach Lia Fleek’s red and white quartet not only earned 10 points, but broke the school record of 1:03.43 set in 2016.
Also, Gherke and Wharton finished two-three in the 100 prelims behind Hurricane’s Lily Haught.
The Big Reds finished seventh in the 4×8 with a time of 10:21.54 thanks to Aubrey Lantz, Katie Rutherford, Olivia Perkins and Ellie Hines.
Parkersburg South’s Lucie Cline got the Patriots on the board with a pair of points after going 32-5.75 to finish seventh in the shot put.
Ripley’s Frankie Winter, who was not expected to win, took home the Class AAA discus title in Jackson County. The Viking had a heave of 165 feet, 9 inches to easily best runner-up Isaiah Hagley of Cabell Midland’s 153 feet, 4 inches.
Viking teammate Connor Casto, who cleared 6-2 in the pole vault to finish fifth, placed fourth in the 110 hurdles preliminaries.
The Parkersburg South boys took fifth in the shot put with a time of 59.88 thanks to Miciah Jones, Jordan Foster, Kyle Wheeler and Triston Walker.
In Class A boys action, Williamstown’s 4×8 team of Frank Conner, Julian Johnson, Chase Trembly and Zach Cannon clocked 8:27.45 to finish second behind Buffalo.
Cannon, a senior, also posted a 9:58.83 to edge Wheeling Central’s Aidan Scott (10:00.84) for the 3200 title. Johnson finished third with a time of 10:02.65. Magnolia’s Laden Davis (4th, 10:03.06) and Doddridge County’s Carter Sias (5th, 10:03.45) also qualified.
The ‘Jackets currently lead a tight top five with 34 points and are followed by Doddridge County (27), Ritchie County (24), Wahama (18) and Buffalo (15).
Area programs Doddridge County (4th, Gunner Kimball, Josh Berke, Krystian Eidel, Carter Sias, 8:36.68), Ritchie County (5th, Heath Knight, Cayden Moore, Dalton Settle, Dylan Malolepsey, 8:42.45), St. Marys (6th, Sam Tagliarini, Reece Westfall, Preston Lawhon, Logan Eddy, 8:44.5) and Magnolia (7th, Lucas Zombotti, Jordan Davis, Shiv Patel, Landen Davis, 8:44.46) also scored in the 4×8.
Braden Hashman of St. Marys was followed by Brayden Wise and Wood County Christian Blue Devil teammate Peyton Girard as the first three to cross the finish line in the 110 hurdles preliminaries.
In the shot put, Girard and Hashman joined teammates Brayden Hall and Jake Delancey to make the podium after clocking 59.82. Doddridge County (2nd, Riley Curran, Brandon Hileman, Seth Cass, Seth Richards, 1:01.74), Ritchie County (3rd, Ethan Haught, Rowan Mallery, Jonah Hamilton, Bruce Moyer, 1:01.88), Williamstown (7th, Brogan Law). , Carter Montgomery, Cooper Billingsley, Malachi Stewart, 1:05.59) and Paden City (8th, Mickey Guerra, Oskar Lehtonen, Adri Lila, Logan Smith, 1:05.99).
Three local thinclads will qualify in the 100 after qualifying: Wood County Christian’s Christian Erlandson, Ravenswood’s Wyatt Milhoan and Wahama’s Gavin Hieronymus. Milhoan and Erlandson also qualified for the 200 final.
White hawk Rowen Gerlach was unable to defend his title in the shot put. Gerlach threw 53 feet, 4 inches, but it wasn’t enough to clear East Hardy’s Miles Kidwell and his 53-7.75. Ritchie County’s Austin Bartlett took third (48-6.5), Williamstown’s Aiden Corbett was fourth (47-10) and Doddridge County’s Braden Murphy (46-3.5) was fifth.
Gerlach was able to defend his discus title after edging Bartlett by 5 feet (148-5 to 143-5). Magnolia’s Matthew Anderson was third (140-2), Bulldog Adam Burnside was fourth (136-1), Tyler Consolidated’s Tristen Tuttle was fifth (135-0), Yellowjacket Jett Nestor was sixth (133-3) and Bulldog Jayden Underwood earned a point for eighth (124-9).
In Class AA, Roane County’s Hope Mason was fifth in the high jump and fellow Raider Maddie Hall was sixth. Each cleared 4 feet 10 inches.
The Raider boys placed third in the shot put with a time of 1:00.22. Lane Watson, who was fourth in the 110 hurdles preliminaries, was joined on the team by Skyler Delk, Cobun Cottrell and Luke Watson. In the pole vault, John Bowen scored six points for the Raiders by clearing 12 feet, 6 inches, good for third.
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