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’Jackets take 3rd at state track meet

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Going into the Class A girls state track and field meet, everyone knew it was going to be a tight race.

When the last event of the season — the 4×400 — finally ended early Saturday evening inside the University of Charleston Stadium, it was Wheeling Central which took gold and that allowed the Maroon Knights to score a 69-67 win against Doddridge County, which held off Williamstown (57), Magnolia (42) and Ritchie County (42).

Ritchie County senior Samantha Kirk blazed to a single-A record in the 300 low hurdles. Her final time of 45.15 erased the old mark of 45.41 set by Doddridge County’s D’Andra Swiger in 2013.

“I woke up and I knew today was the day,” said Kirk, who not only won the 100 high hurdles (15.40), but also finished third in the high-point scoring race (23.5), trailing Huntington St. Joe’s McKenzie Moran (32.5) and Union’s Colleena Burdock (26). “I’ve been chasing that 300 for so long. It was great to finally get it.” Kirk also placed third in the 400.

West Virginia University-bound Ellie Gardner of Williamstown, who suffered an ankle injury about a month ago, still had more than enough to get 11-0 in the pole vault to best the field. Not only was it Gardner’s third straight top of the podium finish, but it stretched Williamstown’s national record of winning the same event at a state meet for the 15th straight season.

“It’s upsetting,” Gardner admitted of putting the poles away for the last time as a Yellowjacket. “I’d been consistently over 12 earlier in the year, but then I had the injury.

“It’s not what I wanted, but I’m still proud of it. I’m really glad that I could finish it off with a three-peat.”

Gilmer County junior Sada Wright, who was victorious in the discus on Friday, added another gold to her collection when she nipped defending shot put champion Bethany Arnold of Williamstown, 35-11.25 to 35-8.

“I mean, I did pretty well. I got that mark on my first throw and I failed almost every single one of them (afterward),” noted the Titan. “My last one was about, probably, 40-plus and it would’ve been a PR. I mean, I got it done so it’s OK.

“I’ve come two years and not got a first place and I came back with two so I’m pretty happy. It was great competition. It was. It was just inches for first, second and third. I had a lot of people come out and support me this year so I really appreciate it. I worked pretty hard to get here.”

The Bulldog girls of head coach Craig Kellar didn’t have an individual champion, but the squad from West Union scored 10 points in the 4×100 on Saturday with a time of 50.62, which tied the record set in 2016 by Wheeling Central. Jasmine Ball ran the lead leg for the Bulldogs and was followed by Jonna Ferrell, Rosa Plaugher and McKenzie Newton.

Entering the 4×400, the Bulldogs led the Maroon Knights by eight points, 67-59. DCHS, which was predicted to finish sixth, needed to cross the line in fifth place to secure a tie, but a dropped baton stymied any hopes.

“We needed a 4:20, I think, to get fifth and I’m not sure if we were going to make it anyway,” admitted Kellar of the 4×400 snafu. “There’s a lot of places in that meet where maybe we could’ve picked up two points, but there were a heckuva lot of places we could’ve lost two if we did it over again.

“We brought it this whole year. These kids, this girls team and the boys, they brought it all year and that’s all you can ask. We just came up two points short.”

The Bulldogs had a runner-up individual effort from Abigail Charles in the 300 low hurdles. DCHS received a trio of third place showings from Ferrell in the 100, Newton in the 200 and Plaugher in the 100 high hurdles. Ball also tied for fourth in the pole vault with Williamstown’s Elaine Freed.

Defending 1600 champ Jordan Delaney of Magnolia finished runner-up to Moran (5:28.99 to 5:27.21). The Blue Eagles also received points from Kristen Massey in the 300 low hurdles (sixth place) as well as a third place by Kyndra Pilant and a sixth by Anna Zills, both in the shot put.

The Yellowjackets of head man Zach Hall got a trio of fifth places — one by Kasey McNamara in the mile, one from Gardner in the 300 low hurdles and the other by Brianna Kendall in the shot put.

Also finding their way to the podium individually from the Little Kanawha Conference were St. Marys’ Marissa Cottrill (sixth, 100) and Parkersburg Catholic teammates Alexis Saunders (fifth, 200) and Maggie Walters (sixth, pole vault).

Following behind the triumphant Bulldogs in the 4×100 were Ritchie County (third), Williamstown (fourth) and St. Marys (sixth). In the 4×200, the Bulldogs were runner-up to Wheeling Central (1:46.90 to 1:48.68), while Ritchie County took third, the Yellowjackets fifth and St. Marys sixth. The Rebels also had to settle for second to Wheeling Central in the 4×400 (4:13.86 to 4:15.14) as Magnolia (fourth) and WHS (sixth) also placed.

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