Class A Girls
100 Meter Dash
Moorefield's Jackie Riggleman made it two years in a row in the 100 Meter Dash. St. Marys'
Brittany Wilson finished in the front of a very tight pack for 2nd. 2nd through 5th were
only separated by 0.04.
RunWV's Current Score: 5 of 6.
200 Meter Dash
East Hardy's Randi Jenkins proved she's the real deal with a convincing 0.3 second victory
over Charleston Catholic's Kirsten Mullins. The pair were the only two to go under 27
seconds.
RunWV's Current Score: 11 of 12.
400 Meter Dash
St. Marys' Lydia Powell powered down the stretch to overtake two-time defending champion
Adrienne Nottingham with less than 20 meters remaining. Notthingham made one last-ditch
effort to try to take the spot back, but her legs wouldn't go and she collapsed just meters shy
of the finish line. Powell crossed the line at 1:00.43. South Harrison's Gretchen Lantz
held off St. Marys' Ali Johnson for 2nd as they both came in under 1:01.5.
RunWV's Current Score: 15 of 18.
800 Meter Run
St. Marys' Jennifer McFarland ran away from the field on the 2nd lap to take the win by
over 3.5 seconds. Teammate Beverly Knight just held off the late charges by Doddridge's
Bethany Carroll and Wheeling Central's Maddie Dean as the front four came in under
2:30. No one else was under 2:34. One of my predicted placers did not run the event. McFarland's
2:25.15 gave her the 6th Best Class A State Meet Performance this Decade.
RunWV's Current Score: 18 of 24.
1600 Meter Run
Williamstown's Annie LaCour took out hard and went through the first lap in 1:16. Moorefield's
Blayke Hall followed closely in 1:17. After two laps, LaCour remained in the lead, coming
through in 2:45. Coming through in 2:47 were St. Marys' Jennifer McFarland and Beverly
Knight, Wheeling Central's Kelley Mortakis, and Doddridge's Bethany Carroll. After
three laps, it was McFarland, Knight, Mortakis, and Carroll coming through in 4:13. LaCour was
holding 5th in 4:17. On the final lap, the finishing kick of McFarland proved to be too much for
the field as she pulled away by over a second ahead of Knight. Knight was over 2 seconds ahead of
Carroll, and Carroll finished 3 seconds ahead of Mortakis. Williamstown's Emily Kittle used
a strong last lap to move into 5th and Wheeling Central's Jesse John used a strong kick to
move up to 6th.
RunWV's Current Score: 23 of 30.
3200 Meter Run
St. Marys' Beverly Knight, Wheeling Central's Kelley Mortakis, and Doddridge's Bethany
Carroll led the pack through in 1:21. Moorefield's Blayke Hall was close behind in 1:22.
The front three remained the same on lap two, coming through in 2:54. After three laps, the front
three were still together coming through in 4:25. At the 1600, Knight and Mortakis had opened a small
gap on Carroll, coming through in 5:56 to Carroll's 5:57. A second pack consisting of Wheeling
Central's Jesse John, Hall, Williamstown's Emily Kittle, and St. Marys' Micalyn
Miller came through between 6:07 and 6:08. After five laps, Knight and Mortakis were still
together at 7:28, and they had opened the gap on Carroll to 4 seconds. Kittle, Miller, and John
were together with Hall just two seconds behind. After six laps, Knight and Mortakis continued to
run together, but the pace slowed to a 1:38. Carroll was now 7 seconds behind. John was running
in 4th with Kittle and Miller coming through in 1 second increments. Hall was two seconds back,
and Doddridge's Adalia Trudgeon had closed to within 3 seconds of Hall. After 7 laps, it was
still Knight and Mortakis coming through together. Carroll was now 11 seconds back. John led Kittle
by just a second. Trudgeon had moved into 6th just two seconds back. Miller and Hall were just three
seconds behind Trudgeon. On the final lap, in the final 100 Meters, Mortakis pulled away from Knight
for the 2 second victory. Carroll cruised in for 3rd. John outkicked Kittle for 4th, and Trudgeon
held off Hall for 6th. Miller also came through under 13:00.
RunWV's Current Score: 28 of 36.
100 Meter High Hurdles
Bishop Donahue's Lacey Hampton eased past the field, winning by over half a second and crossing
the line in under 16 seconds. She also clocked a 15.90 in the trials which is good enough to stand
as the 5th Best Class A State Meet Performance this Decade. Paden City's Amanda Sellers
also came in under 16.5. One of my predicted placers did not run.
RunWV's Current Score: 33 of 42.
300 Meter Low Hurdles
The front three girls outclassed the field as they each run under 48 seconds, and no one else was under
51. St. Marys' Ali Johnson took the win in 47.08 which is the 2nd Best Class A State Meet
Performance this Decade. South Harrison's Gretchen Lantz crossed in 47.46, which is good
enough to be the 4th Best Class A State Meet Performance this Decade. Paden City's Amanda
Sellers crossed in 47.85. One of my predicted placers did not run.
RunWV's Current Score: 37 of 48.
4x100 Meter Relay
Williamstown knocked off St. Marys by just 0.1 seconds, and St. Marys got by Paden City by just 0.06
as the front three were well out ahead of the field.
RunWV's Current Score: 42 of 54.
4x200 Meter Relay
St. Marys took the win over Williamstown by less than a second as the front two were over 2 seconds
ahead of the rest of the field. Williamson was a very solid 3rd.
RunWV's Current Score: 47 of 60.
4x400 Meter Relay
St. Marys led pretty much from start-to-finish in taking the win by over 3 seconds and setting the
State Meet Record in the process. The foursome of Katie Taylor, Lydia Powell, Rebecca Miller, and
Jennifer McFarland ran a 4:18.15 to give them the 4th Best Class A State Meet Performance
this Decade. Doddridge ran a very strong race for 2nd. Williamstown made a late charge, but
couldn't get to Doddridge. Charleston Catholic held 4th as the top four came in under 4:24.
RunWV's Current Score: 53 of 66.
4x800 Meter Relay
St. Marys opened with a 2:25 led from Beverly Knight and continued to extend the lead on every
leg thereafter. Wheeling Central got a 2:29 opening leg from Maddie Dean and ran in 2nd place
the rest of the way, extending their gap on each subsequent leg. Williamstown moved into 3rd on the
2nd leg and stayed there the rest of the way. Charleston Catholic moved into 4th on the 3rd leg and
was able to hold off Doddridge for the spot. Wirt just edged past Cameron for the final spot as the
front 7 teams all ran 10:51 or better. The St. Marys squad of Beverly Knight, Micalyn Miller, Ali
Johnson, and Jennifer McFarland covered the distance in 9:53.72 which was good enough to be the
3rd Best Class A State Meet Performance this Decade
RunWV's Current Score: 58 of 72.
Shuttle Hurdle Relay
Williamstown was just able to hold off Bishop Donahue by 0.15. Williamstown's unit of Madison
Postlewaite, Kayla Semon, Kylie Hammer, and Keeper Gray clocked a 1:08.93, good enough for the
3rd Best Class A State Meet Performance this Decade. Bishop Donahue's 1:09.08 gave the
foursome of Lauren Chandler, Samantha Burciaga, Ciara Kobasko, and Lacey Hampton the 5th
Best Class A State Meet Performance this Decade.. St. Marys almost joined them in going under
1:10, missing the mark by less than 2 tenths of a second.
RunWV's Current Score: 63 of 78.
Long Jump
St. Marys' Ali Johnson sailed 16'2.50 to take the win by 6 inches and go down as the 4th
Best Class A State Meet Performance this Decade. Gilmer's Catherine Butcher, South
Harrison's Gretchen Lantz, Paden City's Sasha Newson, and Wheeling Central's Kerri
Kaminski all went beyond 15'.
RunWV's Current Score: 68 of 84.
High Jump
Bishop Donahue's Lacey Hampton defended her title in the High Jump and tied the State Meet
Record with her jump of 5'2. That jump along with a previous State Meet jump of 5'0 gave her the
3rd Best Class A State Meet Performance this Decade. Gilmer's Catherine Butcher was
the only other jumper to clear 5'0.
RunWV's Current Score: 73 of 90.
Shot Put
Mount Hope's Cindy Hillberry tossed her shot over 4 feet further than anyone else to win in
dominating fashion. Her throw of 40'3 stands as the 7th Best Class A-AA State Meet Performance
and the 2nd Best Class A State Meet Performance this Decade. Union's Melanie Reynolds
and St. Marys' Tiffany Sigler each topped 35'.
RunWV's Current Score: 78 of 96.
Discus
Mount Hope's Cindy Hillberry threw 113'6 to give her the win by over 14'. She was the only
thrower to top 100'. That toss stands as the 5th Best Class A State Meet Performance this Decade.
St. Marys' Ashley Sigler topped 99' in easily taking 2nd. Williamstown's Ali Flowers
and Doddridge's Heather Brown were the only other throwers over 90'.
RunWV's Current Score: 84 of 102.
Pole Vault
Williamstown's Madison Postlewaite was the only vaulter to clear 9'0 in taking that title. That
vault along with previous State Meet vaults of 9'6 and 9'0 gave her the 5th Best Class A State Meet
Performance this Decade. Charleston Catholic's Emily Sherrard was the only other vaulter
to clear 8'6, and Williamtown's Liz Flowers was the only other vaulter to clear 8'0.
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.
Bethany Carroll, Doddridge -- 800 M (picked 6th, got 3rd)
Maddie Dean, Wheeling Central -- 800 M (not picked, got 4th)
Hattie Hutson, Doddridge -- 300 LH (not picked, got 4th)
Paden City -- 4x200 M (not picked, got 4th)
(Sasha Newson, Shauna Durant, Amanda Tallman, Allison Bertozzi)
Doddridge -- 4x400 M (picked 5th, got 2nd)
(Hunter Holland, Bethany Carroll, Hattie Hutson, Elizabeth Dean)
Emily Moore, Buffalo -- Pole Vault (not picked, tied for 4th)
The following teams deserve kudos for scoring seven points or more higher than I predicted.
Class A Girls Doddridge + 8 St. Marys + 7.50