Bruce McKean
Contributing Writer
The Pocahontas Coun-ty High School track teams traveled to the Nicholas County High School Stadium in Summerville April 24 to compete in the Grizzly Invitational versus five other schools. All 13 teams, six boys and seven girls, were from Class A schools except the three teams from host Class AA NCHS that included A and B girls squads. The NCHS A girls team placed first with 177 points followed closely by PCHS with 152. The rest of the girls scoring was: Richwood – 89, Braxton Coun-ty – 27, NCHS B – 21, Webster County – 20 and Fayetteville – 8. The NCHS boys also took first place with 141 points, while Webster placed second with 119.33. The rest of the boys teams scoring was: RHS – 97, PCHS – 77.33, BCHS – 51.33 and FHS – 26. Athletes who placed in the first six positions in all events were awarded 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 points respectively.
The PCHS girls left the meet with 5 firsts, 8 seconds, 4 thirds, 2 fourths, 3 fifths, and 3 sixths for a total of 25 placements. The girls were entered in every event except the shuttle hurdle relay, and they placed in all of their events. The Warriors took home 1 first, 4 seconds, 3 thirds, 2 fourths, 3 fifths, and 4 sixths for a total of 17.
Freshman Cheylin Wood-ruff finished in first place in two individual events: 100m – 13.71 and 200m – 28.50. There were 21 runners in the 100m dash. Another freshman, Tessa Ki- ner, placed in three individual events: #1 in 300m hurdles – 58.07, #5 in 100m hurdles – 19.69, and #6 in 400m – 1:15.75. Sophomore Laila Calhoun also placed in two individual events: #2 in 200m – 28.55 and #2 in 100m hurdles – 18.28. Other girls placing in two individual events were: junior Bridget Carroll #1 in discus – 98-00 and #5 in shot – 25-10, senior Cora Hedrick #3 in 1600m – 6:07.42 and #4 in 800m – 2:45.40, sophomore Charity Warder #3 in discus – 77-08 and #3 in shot – 28-06, junior Irish Simmons #3 in 3200m – 15:36.32 and #2 tie in high jump – 4-06, and sophomore Cloey Sharp #2 tie in high jump – 4-06 and #4 tie in long jump – 11-06. Girls placing in one individual event were: senior Kaitlyn Lester #5 in discus – 75-01, freshman Kiara Davis #6 in 200m – 31.09, and sophomore Sierra Rodriguez #6 in 100m hurdles – 20.19.
The girls 4x100m relay team brought home gold in a time of 56.09. The girls 4x200m – 1:58.96, 4x400m – 4:41.12 and 4x800m – 11:18 all placed second. Nicholas County did not report to RunWV.com the names of the athletes who ran in the relay events, so they could not be reported. The girls 4x800m was ranked #10 in West Virginia this past week for a 12:03.14 previous time, so this new time would have ranked #8 this past week. The girls 4x400m relay team was ranked #8 also for a slower 4:47.14 previous time, but this new faster time would also have been ranked #8 this past week.
Juniors Elijah Robertson in the 110m high hurdles – 18.02 and Jacob Jones in the 300m high hurdles – 43.75 both brought home silver in their individual events. Jacob’s previous slower time of 44.14 was ranked #8 in West Virginia this past week. Junior Cody Kiner placed in three individual events: #3 in high jump – 16-01, #5 in 100m – 12.62, and #6 tie in long jump – 5-00. Sophomore Thomas Smith placed in two individual events: #3 shot put – 36-01 and #6 discus – 80-05. Boys placing in one individual event were: junior Kyle Cohenour #3 in 800m – 2:15.69, senior Gus Foe #4 in 3200m – 11:26.03, junior Logan Woodruff #5 in 400m – 58.06, senior Walker Shinaberry #6 in shot put – 33-00, and freshman Silas Riely #6 in 800m.
The PCHS boys 440m shuttle hurdle relay team, currently #7 West Virginia Class A ranked, placed first in a time of 1:09.80, slower than their 1:07.14 ranked time. The boys 4x400m – 3:52 and 4x800m – 9:02 both placed second. The boys 4x100m – 52.78 and 4x200m – 1:44.62 placed fourth and fifth respectively.
The PCHS girls team roster shows a very young team with seven sophomores, six freshmen, three juniors and two seniors. The boys team shows seven juniors, seven freshmen, five sophomores and three seniors. It is obvious that some of the youngest athletes are now starting to make a big contribution to their team at just the right time.
The last regular season meet and a big test before the regional and state meet is the Lions Club Meet at Oak Hill High School on Wednesday, May 11, at Oak Hill beginning at 3 p.m. Plan ahead for the Region III Meet in Charleston at Laidley Field on Friday, May 11, beginning at 10 a.m. (note the earlier start time).
