Class A Girls

4x800 Meter Relay
This was supposed to be a showdown between Doddridge and Wheeling Central, but somebody forgot to tell Charleston Catholic. They used a 2:27 anchor leg from Kim Abcouwer to reel in and pass Doddridge for the win. Wheeling Central was well back in 3rd. St. Marys was very solidly in 4th. Tygarts Valley slipped past Williamstown on the last leg to move into 5th.
RunWV's Current Score: 6 of 6.

High Jump
Tygarts Valley's Ciara Riggleman was the only jumper that was able to clear 4'8. Six others managed to clear 4'6 to take the remaining places. During this event was when the heaviest rains came on Friday making jumping conditions less than ideal for a lot of the jumpers at 4'6. Valley Fayette's Heather Tolley, Williamstown's Erica Seman and St. Marys' Cassie Shreves each cleared 4'6 on their first attemtp to tie for 2nd. Gilmer's BethAnn Moyers cleared the height on her 2nd attempt to take 5th. Pocahontas' Christine Shinaberry and Wheeling Central's Lauren Chmel cleared on their third attempt to tie for 6th.
RunWV's Current Score: 9 of 12.

Pole Vault
There weren't many surprises in the Pole Vault. The Williamstown duo of Kate Billups and Madison Postlewait were well above the field, clearing 9'6 and 9'0 respectively. Billups' vault is good enough for the 3rd best mark this decade for Class A Girls. Postlewaite's mark will put her in a tie for 6th. Buffalo's Emily Lewis and the Doddridge pair of Jordan Coffman and KayCee Hill all cleared 8'0 with the places decided by misses. Doddridge's Stephanie Myer picked a good time to clear 7'0 for the first time to round out the scoring.
RunWV's Current Score: 14 of 18.

Shuttle Hurdle Relay
Another fun-filled year of the Shuttle Hurdle Relay saw several teams stumble and fall. Gilmer ended up running away with the event by over two seconds with a clean run. Their time of 1:09.35 ties them for the 6th Best Time this decade for Class A Girls. Doddridge didn't have any colossal blunders either to secure a very solid second place. South Harrison ran clean for 3rd. Wirt came through in 4th. Charleston Catholic ran well and was a beneficiary of the miscues to snag 5th by 0.01 over Paden City, who overcame a fall to take the final spot.
RunWV's Current Score: 18 of 24.

3200 Meter Run
Wheeling Central's Stephanie Caruso has a stated goal of taking the 3200 record, and did so with ease. She was ahead by 3 seconds after the first lap, 10 seconds after the second lap, and the lead grew every lap thereafter, to a final margin of victory of over a minute. Her time of 11:16.77 stands as the 5th Best All-Time Class A-AA 3200 State Meet Performance and the 2nd best this decade by a Class A girl. The Doddridge pair of Naomi Hyde and Brandi Bowen started to pull away from the rest of the field at the end of lap two and were never threatened. Williamstown's Nici Rea pulled away from Union's Carrie Kitzmiller during laps 5 and 6 to secure 4th. Kitzmiller was never threatened by the rest of the field. Tygarts Valley's Megan Lewis ran a very disciplined race (6:32, 6:36) to take the final spot. She did not move into a placing position until the middle of the 6th lap. Predicted scorer Courtney Mullenax of Tucker County did not compete.
RunWV's Current Score: 23 of 30.

Shot Put
The Shot Put started off the Saturday morning session. Doddridge's Alicia Cayton won the event for the 3rd year in a row, winning by over 3 feet this year. Cayton's mark of 39'10 stands as the 8th Best All-Time Class A-AA State Meet Performance and the 2nd best mark this decade for Class A Girls. Mount Hope's Cindy Hillberry edged St. Marys' Amanda Kerns for 2nd by 4 inches. East Hardy's Angelica King was nearly 2 feet behind Kerns but over a foot ahead of everyone else in taking 4th. Charleston Catholic's Mary Beth Peden was 5th, 7 1/2 inches ahead of St. Marys' Tiffany Sigler.
RunWV's Current Score: 28 of 36.

400 Meter Dash
Pocahontas' Adrienne Nottingham ran away from the field, winning by nearly 1.5 seconds in 1:00.50. Wheeling Central's Lauren Bauer was the only other competitor under 1:02. No one else ran under 1:03. South Harrison's Kayla Wright backed up her solid regional run with a solid third place finish. Pocahontas' Nicole Barlow pulled past the Doddridge pair of Megan Kelley and Kylee Boring to take 4th. Two predicted placers elected to scratch from the event to bolster their school's relays.
RunWV's Current Score: 32 of 42.

1600 Meter Run
For some reason, a lot of girls seemed to think this was an 800 and not a 1600. Pretty much the entire field blasted through the first lap way too fast. No harm done for Wheeling Central's Stephanie Caruso who took her 2nd Meet Record of the weekend, finishing in 5:16.65. That time stands as the 3rd best time this decade by a Class A Girl. St. Marys' Jennifer McFarland used a strong last 70 meters to pull into second. Doddridge County scored the next three positions with Brandi Bowen, Emily Coffman, and Naomi Hyde who held off a late charge by Union's Carrie Kitzmiller to take 5th by just 0.04.
RunWV's Current Score: 38 of 48.

Discus
Only two girls topped 100' in an event that proved to be a major turning point in the team race. St. Marys' Amanda Kerns followed up her 3rd place Shot Put finish with a win in the Discus. Doddridge's Sarah Wine had a season-best throw by nearly 8 feet to take 2nd. Teammate Alicia Cayton scored a third for Doddridge. Mount Hope's Cindy Hillberry grabbed 4th. Charelston Catholic's Mary Beth Peden took her second 5th place finish of the day as the only other thrower to top 90 feet. Doddridge then picked up a third placer in the event when Brooke Powell outdistanced the remainder of the field.
RunWV's Current Score: 43 of 54.

300 Meter Low Hurdles
This was a great race that saw pretty much all 8 girls in the fast heat heading into the homestretch with a chance to win. Two fell over the next-to-last hurdle, leaving the remaining six to sort themselves out. In the end, South Harrison's Kayla Wright was able to pull away for the win. Teammate Andrea Lambert just edged Paden City's Amanda Sellers for 2nd by 0.03. Charleston Catholic's Kim Abcouwer edged Richwood's Laura Spencer by the same margin for 4th. Gilmer's Brianna Lowther was just 0.08 back in 6th.
RunWV's Current Score: 48 of 60.

100 Meter High Hurdles
South Harrison's Olivia Lambert blasted through the Highs in Record Time, finishing in 15.67, nearly a full second ahead of second place finisher Kayla Maxwell of Gilmer. Lambert's time is the 2nd fastest this decade by a Class A Girl. Wirt's Jordan Beckett held off Gilmer's Brianna Lowther for 3rd. Madonna's Katherine Maurer was solidly in 5th with Doddridge's Hannah Hutson solidly in 6th.
RunWV's Current Score: 53 of 66.

100 Meter Dash
Madonna's Kristen Saggio pulled off the upset, edging Charleston Catholic's Kirsten Mullins by 0.06. Clay-Battelle's Shalanda Hall capped an outstanding career with a third place finish, just 0.03 ahead of St. Marys' Brittany Wilson. Williamstown's Katie Jones secured fifth, while Paden City's Amanda Sellers grabbed the final spot by just 0.01.
RunWV's Current Score: 59 of 72.

Long Jump
Paden City's Sasha Newson scored this surprise win with her leap of 15'5.75. Gilmer's Kayla Maxwell matched her High Hurdle finish by also taking 2nd in this event. She was the only other jumper over 15'. South Harrison's Marissa Haddix missed that mark bu just 1/2 inch. Wirt's Jordan Beckett was just 1.25 inches behind Haddix. Gilmer's Lindsey Hern edged Moorefield's Joelle Allen one inch for 5th. One of the predicted placers did not compete.
RunWV's Current Score: 63 of 78.

4x200 Meter Relay
Charleston Catholic took advantage of a dropped baton by Pocahontas and held off a charging Madonna team to secure the win. Doddridge was just 0.09 behind Madonna. Williamstown was nearly a second back in 4th. Moorefield was over a second back in 5th, and Gilmer was over a second behind that in 6th, taking that spot by just 0.02.
RunWV's Current Score: 68 of 84.

4x100 Meter Relay
Charleston Catholic captured its second consecutive relay taking the event convincingly by nearly 0.3 seconds. Madonna edged Williamstown by just 0.01 for 2nd. Doddridge was solidly in 4th. Moorefield and Gilmer rounded out the scoring.
RunWV's Current Score: 73 of 90.

800 Meter Run
As expected, the Wheeling Central duo of Lauren Bauer and Stephanie Caruso couldn't be stopped. Bauer ran away with the event, winning by nearly four seconds and just missing the record by 0.13 seconds. Her time of 2:24.45 stands as the 4th best time this decade for Class A Girls. Caruso used a late charge to pull into 2nd. Charleston Catholic's Kim Abcouwer was the only other competitor to go under 2:30. St. Marys' Jennifer McFarland held off Doddridge's Brandi Bowen for 4th, and Charleston Catholic's Sarah Whitsberger also used a strong finish to pull into the final position. One of the predicted placers did not compete in the event.
RunWV's Current Score: 78 of 96.

200 Meter Dash
Charleston Catholic's Kirsten Mullins dominated the event, winning by over 0.8 seconds, finishing in 26.09. That time stands as the 4th best mark this decade for Class A Girls. Pocahontas' Adrienne Nottingham was the only other competitor under 27 seconds. Madonna's Kristen Saggio was close behind Nottingham. The St. Marys pair of Lydia Powell and Brittany Wilson finished just 0.04 apart in taking 4th and 5th. Doddridge's Kayla Mitchell was just 0.10 back in taking 6th.
RunWV's Current Score: 82 of 102.

4x400 Meter Relay
Doddridge (Megan Kelley), St. Marys (Jennifer McFarland), and Charleston Catholic (Kim Abcouwer) raced down the stretch in a wonderfully close finish to the final event. Doddridge and St. Marys pulled away from Charleston Catholic, and Doddridge was just able to hold off St. Marys by 0.01 to take the title. Pocahontas was nearly three seconds behind Charleston Catholic in taking 4th. Williamstown was solidly in 5th, and Richwood grabbed 6th place from the first heat.
RunWV's Current Score: 87 of 108.

The final score of 87 of 108 means that 80.6 % of the people picked to place did indeed place. Congratulations to those that proved me wrong.

Exceeding Predictions
The following athletes exceed the predictions by 3 or more places and deserve special mention.

Lydia Powell, St. Marys -- 200 (not picked, got 4th)
Kayla Wright, South Harrison -- 400 (not picked, got 3rd)
Kayla Wright, South Harrison -- 300 LH (picked 4th, got 1st)
Charleston Catholic -- 4x800 (picked 4th, got 1st)
(Donvan Reed, Nora Sheridan, Sarah Whitsberger, Kim Abcouwer)
South Harrison - Shuttles (not picked, got 3rd)
(Marissa Haddix, Amanda Madurski, Shebly Booth, Olivia Lambert)
Sasha Newson, Paden City -- Long Jump (not picked, got 1st)
Heather Tolley, Valley Fayette -- High Jump (not picked, tied for 2nd)
Ercia Seman, Williamstown -- High Jump (not picked, tied for 2nd)
Cassie Shreves, St. Marys -- High Jump (not picked, tied for 2nd)
Angelica King, East Hardy -- Shot Put (not picked, got 4th)
Sarah Wine, Doddridge -- Discus (picked 6th, got 2nd)

The following teams deserve kudos for scoring seven points or more higher than we predicted.

Class A Girls
South Harrison      +19
St. Marys           +16

Class A Boys

4x800 Meter Relay
As expected, Charleston Catholic ran away from the field, cruising to a seven second victory. Things were much closer after that as the next four teams were separated by less than four seconds. Wheeling Central held off Pocahontas by less than 0.2 seconds for the runner-up spot. Williamstown held off a late charge by Doddridge for fourth. Tucker was well-back in 6th.
RunWV's Current Score: 5 of 6.

Pole Vault
The exceptionally strong Class A Pole Vault field unfortunately had to contend with the rain. The event did get temporarily suspended during the worst of it. Buffalo's Seth Beckner easily secured the win and a new State Record with his vault of 15'. It also gave him the 5th Best All-Time Mark regardless of class and the Best All-Time State Meet performance in Class A-AA, and of course the top Class A performance this decade. Williamstown's Ryan Flowers also eclipsed the old record with his 14' vault. That mark will stand as the 7th Best All-Time Class A-AA State Meet Performance and the 2nd best this decade by a Class A vaulter. Benji Powers gave Williamstown a lift with his 3rd place finish. Powers' 13'0 vault will slide him in as the 6th best performance this decade by a Class A Vaulter. Doddridge's Cuylor Edgell also cleared 13' to take 4th, followed by teammate Jeremy White and his 12'6 vault. Williamstown picked up a third scorer in the event when Cole Fluharty cleared 12'.
RunWV's Current Score: 10 of 12.

Shuttle Hurdle Relay
South Harrison used a massive anchor leg by Andy Nottingham to take the win and a new State Record with their time of 59.14. That time also scored them the best time this decade by a Class A team. Williamstown was also under 60 seconds as the two frontrunners were over three seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Williamstown's time scored them the 5th best time this decade by a Class A team. An early exchange disqualification knocked Richwood out, leaving Valley Wetzel a very solid third, over a second ahead of fourth place Doddridge. Buffalo edged Bishop Donahue by 0.05 for 5th.
RunWV's Current Score: 15 of 18.

Shot Put
Mount Hope's Val Culp launced the shot 50'9 on his last throw to steal the title away from St. Marys' Derek Ludolph by a meager 3 inches. Culp's 50'9 stands as the 3rd best toss this decade by a Class A thrower, while Ludolph's 50'6 is good enough for fourth this decade. East Hardy's Josh Orndorff surprised the field by hitting a season best throw by nearly 4 feet in taking 3rd. St. Marys picked up four more points with Travis Malone's fourth place finish. The top four all exceeded 48 feet. Richwood's Shawn Murphy managed to edge Mount Hope's Desmond Newsom by 2 1/2 inches for 5th.
RunWV's Current Score: 20 of 24.

3200 Meter Run
As expected, St. Marys' Dustin Hall was able to pretty much cruise to victory. He only won by 7 seconds, but was never really threatened. Wheeling Central's Rob Bonenberger held off a furious charge by Tucker's Lucas Warner to take the 2nd spot. Warner passed Cameron's Clifford Arbogast during the charge to move into 3rd. Arbogast was easily fourth as that group was over 10 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Richwood's Dustin Wood scored a 5th, holding off the late surge of Wheeling Central's Sean Droginske.
RunWV's Current Score: 25 of 30.

Discus
Just as in the Shot Put the day before, Mount Hope's Val Culp saved his best for last as he unleasted a 148'0 heave to move into first place. This time, though, Doddridge's Greg Reed had a chance to match it. Reed's final heave was also his best of the day, but it came up 6 inches short. Culp's 148' is the 4th best throw this decade by a Class A thrower, and Reed's 147'6 stands fifth this decade. Richwood's Shawn Murphy also topped 140' on the day but was a full 7 feet behind the other two. Pochontas' Aaron Pugh was the only other thrower over 130' in taking 4th. Williamstown's Matthew Kiger and Valley Wetzel's Justin Slider were the only other throwers over 120' in taking the final two positions.
RunWV's Current Score: 29 of 36.

400 Meter Dash
This was a great race that saw the top 6 finishers separated by only 0.48 seconds, and the top 7 finishers separated by only 0.74 seconds. Tygarts Valley's Keith Currence pulled away in the last few meters to take the win by 0.17 seconds. Greenbrier West's David Martin held off Gilmer's Timmy White by 0.10 for 2nd. South Harrison's Ben Yoke was just 0.05 back in fourth. Gilmer's Ethin Wolfe was just an additional 0.13 behind and just 0.03 ahead of Williamstown's Brandon Roberts.
RunWV's Current Score: 34 of 42.

1600 Meter Run
Paden City's Adam Barker shot by on the inside as Williamstown's Chad Henson and Wheeling Central's Ryan Herron were moving out toward lane three to battle for the win. Neither was able to respond to Barker's kick, he pulled away to nearly a two second victory. Henson held off Herron by 0.10 for 2nd. St. Marys' Dustin Hall held off Charleston Catholic's Eamonn Maher for 4th. Cameron's Clifford Arbogast easily held onto 6th. Like the Class A Girls, most of this group forgot this was a 1600 as well, with the leaders going out in 1:05. Barker closed in 64 seconds.
RunWV's Current Score: 39 of 48.

300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles
South Harrison's Andy Nottingham clubbed about half the hurdles in this race and still came in under 40 seconds and over a second ahead of anyone else. While it wasn't a clean run, it will still stand as the 3rd best effort by a Class A runner this decade. Pocahontas' Billy Kelley was the closest to him in 41.00. Wheeling Central's Christopher Martin was not far behind that, and Williamstown's Benji Powers was not far behind that. Those front four were well ahead of the field as the next finisher was over 1.3 seconds behind. Wirt's Brian Crouser picked up 5th from the first heat, just 0.03 ahead of South Harrison's Stephen Clayton. br>RunWV's Current Score: 43 of 54.

Long Jump
South Harrison's Aaron Lantz popped a record breaking jump, eclipsing the 21' mark in the process. His jump of 21'0.75 was the best of the field by just under a foot. It also gives him the best mark this decade by a Class A jumper. Mount Hope's Da'Von Marion was the only other jumper to pass 20'. His 20'1 was enough to give him the 6th best mark this decade by a Class A jumper. Valley Wetzel's Haden Kocher just missed that mark when he soared 19'11.25 to edge Doddridge's Cuylor Edgell, who shook off a quad strain to still jump 19'10.75. St. Marys Shawn Robinson took 5th by just an inch. Teammate Kyle Davies scored the final point by having a better 2nd best jump than Mount Hope's Bryan Allen.
RunWV's Current Score: 47 of 60.

110 Meter High Hurdles
South Harrison's Andy Nottingham set the meet record in the trials and took the win in the finals by nearly a full second. His trials time of 14.90 will stand as the 2nd best mark this decade by a Class A runner, while his finals time of 15.14 will tie for 4th best (tieing himself of all people). Williamstown's Ross Elder came up big for his team with a second place finish. East Hardy's Donovan Bregg was pretty solidly in third. Pocahontas' Billy Kelley edged South Harrison's Stephen Clayton for fourth. Richwood's Jason Malcomb grabbed the final position by just 0.05.
RunWV's Current Score: 52 of 66.

100 Meter Dash
St. Marys' Matt Hickman easily won the 100, taking the event by over 0.3 seconds. His time of 11.24 ties him for the 6th best this decade by a Class A runner. Gilmer's Timmy White overcame a horrendous start to pull into 2nd, just 0.01 ahead of Tygarts Valley's Keith Currence. Moorefield's Justin Robinson was right on their heels, just 0.04 behind Currence. Pocahontas' Eric Rose and St. Marys' Derek Spitzer scored the final two places as each held their position solidly.
RunWV's Current Score: 58 of 72.

High Jump
Bishop Donahue's Clint Wilson was the only jumper to clear 6'4. His performance landed him as the 3rd best Class A mark this decade. The next three finishers each cleared 6'2, so misses had to dictate the placing. South Harrison's Aaron Lantz came out in 2nd with Williamstown's Ross Elder in 3rd, and Bishop Donahue's Ken Barrows in 4th. Doddridge's Cuylor Edgell claimed 5th, while St. Marys' Brian Dennis took the final spot on misses.
RunWV's Current Score: 64 of 78.

4x200 Meter Relay
A disqualification by St. Marys opened this event up. Moorefield proved to have a litte too much for everyone else and took top honors. Wheeling Central scored 2nd. Doddridge held third ahead of Valley Wetzel, who grabbed 4th from the first heat. Wirt scored a 5th place, while Charleston Catholic also placed from the first heat. One of the predicted placers did not compete.
RunWV's Current Score: 68 of 84.

4x100 Meter Relay
This one held form pretty well. St. Marys simply ran away from the rest of the field, winning by over 0.6 seconds and running the 5th best time this decade by a Class A team. Wheeling Central just edged past Clay-Battelle for 3rd. Moorefield just edged past Williamstown for 4th, and South Harrison grabbed the final spot. The six placers were a full second ahead of the rest of the field.
RunWV's Current Score: 74 of 90.

800 Meter Run
Charleston Catholic's Robbie Sherrard took top honors, pulling away in the last 40 meters. Williamstown's Chad Henson held off Doddridge's Troy Wilsoncroft for 2nd. Wilsoncroft edged past the Greenbrier West pair of Randy Ferrell and Robbie Peters, who claimed 4th and 5th. Wheeling Central's Cameron Koehler was well behind that pair, but well ahead of the rest of the field in taking 6th.
RunWV's Current Score: 79 of 96.

200 Meter Dash
St. Marys' Matt Hickman found another gear late in the race and just edged past Gilmer's Timmy White by 0.03 to take his second title of the day. Hickman's 22.58 in the finals and 22.59 in the trials stand as the 5th and 6th best times this decade for a Class A runner. South Harrison's Andy Nottingham was very solidly in 3rd. Tygarts Valley's Keith Currence grabbed 4th and St. Marys' Shawn Robison finished 5th. St. Marys' Derek Spitzer scored the final spot and gave St. Marys three placers in the event.
RunWV's Current Score: 84 of 102.

4x400 Meter Relay
Williamstown all but had the team title locked up heading into this event. St. Marys was in 2nd and didnt' qualify in this event. South Harrison was four points back, but not expected to place. Williamstown left no doubt, though, winning the event by nearly three seconds and running the 4th best time this decade for a Class A team. Wheeling Central picked up a second place from the first heat. Charleston Catholic scored a third. Greenbrier West held onto 4th. Pocahontas was fifth, and Wirt scored the final point of the meet.
RunWV's Current Score: 89 of 108.

The final score of 89 of 108 means that 82.4 % of the people picked to place did indeed place. Congratulations to those that proved me wrong.

Exceeding Predictions
The following athletes exceed the predictions by 3 or more places and deserve special mention.

Randy Ferrell, Greenbrier West -- 800 M (not picked, got 4th)
Adam Barker, Paden City -- 1600 M (picked 4th, got 1st)
Wheeling Central -- 4x200 M (picked 5th, got 2nd)
(Xavier Whetzel, Adnrew Varlas, Brian Yahn, Chris Martin)
Doddridge -- 4x200 M (picked 6th, got 3rd)
(Greg Reed, Zach Davis, Kevin Zorn, Troy Wilsoncroft)
Valley Wetzel -- 4x200 M (not picked, got 4th)
(Josh Nolan, Clay Dallison, Richard Brisendine, Haden Kocher)
Haden Kocher, Valley Wetzel -- Long Jump (not picked, got 3rd)
Josh Orndorff, East Hardy -- Shot Put (not picked, got 3rd)

The following teams deserve kudos for scoring seven points or more higher than we predicted.

Class A Boys
Williamstown        +13
Wheeling Central    + 7
Greenbrier West     + 7
Valley Wetzel       + 7