Bruce McKean
Contributing Writer
The first RunWV Power Rankings of the 2019 track season – calculated by using results from meets held by March 30 and received by April 1 – have been released on runwv.com
The Lady Warriors, who compete in Region III, were ranked #8 in West Virginia Class A with 25.08 points. Region IV Williamstown was ranked #1 with 122.17 points followed by PCHS Region III rival #2 Charl-eston Catholic – 68 points. No other Region III squads were ranked.
The Region I Ritchie County boys were ranked #1 with 90 points followed closely by #2 Doddridge County of Region II with 87.33. Region III’s only ranked team was #5 Webster County – 43. Region II’s Tucker County ranked #8 with 26 points.
The following PCHS girls’ performances at the Keyser Meet were ranked in the first Class A Best Performances rankings: 100m – #9 Chey-lin Woodruff, 1600m – #7 Macaden Taylor, 100m and 300m hurdles – #2 and #6 Laila Calhoun, 4x200m – #4, 4x400m – #7, 4x800m – #3, shuttle hurdles -– #3, and high jump – #6 tie Cloey Sharp. The PCHS boys state-ranked events were: 110m hurdles – #8 Elijah Robertson, 300m hurdles – #4 tie Jacob Jones, and shuttle hurdles – #9.
Coach Abe Rittenhouse reported that Laila Calhoun broke her record in the 100m hurdles a second time, with a time of 16.84 after breaking Sarah Weadon’s record with a 16.99 effort last season. The girls shuttle hurdle team (Kira Bircher, Calhoun, Tessa Kiner, and Savannah McMillion) broke the record they set last year as well with a time of 1:13.01
“The girls are off to a good start but we have a lot of work to do,” Rittenhouse said.
PCHS did not compete at the April 2 Buckhannon-Upshur Meet due to the number of our athletes who were ill. Some athletes were still not 100 percent by the April 4 Richwood Invitational. Nine teams competed at Richwood on April 4, and the PCHS girls finished first with 177 points. The other top-five teams were: #2 – Class AA Nicholas County – 133, #3 Greenbrier West – 55, #4 Richwood – 34, and #5 Webster County – 33. The first five boys teams were: #1 Nicholas – 132, #2 Webster – 112, #3 PCHS – 77, #4 Richwood – 57.5, and #5 Greenbrier West – 54.5.
Woodruff placed second in both the girls 100m and 200m at Richwood and third in the 400m and improved her times in the last two events. Sage McLaughlin placed second in a faster time in the 400m. Taylor placed second in the 1600m and improved her time. The girls did not run in the 4x100m, but they took gold in the other four relays again. Calhoun won gold in both the 100m and 300m hurdles with a faster time in the second. Bircher and Kiner also took faster times finishing 2-3 in the 300m hurdles. Top finishers in the field events were: long jump – #1 Sharp and #3 Simmons, high jump – #2 Simmons and #3 Sharp, shot put – #2 Sharp, and discus – #2 Sharp.
Jones took first in the 800m in a faster time. The boys relay teams’ top finishes were: 4x400m – #3 in a faster time, 4x800m – #2, and shuttle hurdles – #2. Robertson took gold in the 100m hurdles in a faster time, and Jone grabbed gold in the 300m hurdles. Top finishers in the field events were: shot put and discus – #1 and #3 Smith.
The next two PCHS track meets will be held at Independence Senior Friday, April 12, and at Liberty (Raleigh) April 16. Both meets start at 3 p.m.