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Williamstown’s Lynken Joy competes in discus at Cline Stansberry Invitational, Friday at Doddridge County High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)
WEST UNION – The concept “nobody left behind” resonates with Doddridge County boys track coach Bobby Burnside.
After accepting the championship trophy for Friday’s 43rd annual Cline Stansberry Invitational, Burnside couldn’t narrow down the list as major contributors to the winning cause. It was truly a team effort as DCHS won nine events, set or tied four meet records while finishing with 157.5 points compared to 87 for runner-up Williamstown.
“I almost want to mention everybody,” Burnside said. “If I was picking (an MVP), I would pick the whole team.
“We are just trying to go week to week. Another big thing, we are staying healthy. Tonight we had a couple of guys back that we had set out recently. In a couple of meets we were just trying to be cautious, and staying healthy is a big thing for this last month of the season.”
On the girls side, Williamstown was nearly the mirror image of the DCHS boys after winning eight events, setting one meet record and finishing with 146 points compared to 85 for the runner-up Bulldogs.
Gilmer County’s Kadessa Stitt attempts to clear the bar at 5 feet during the girls high jump during Friday’s Cline Stansberry Invitational at Doddridge County High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)
The Yellowjackets’ highlight of the event didn’t even occur in a final heat. Senior Shelby Smith erased the school record during the prelims of the 200 with a time of 25.30 seconds. The former mark of 25.61 set by Andrea Deem in 2014 was the standard Smith set out to chase since she arrived at Williamstown.
“(Andrea) was actually a coach of mine before she went off to become head coach at Marshall,” Smith said. “She has been a very big inspiration for me. She is just a great coach and a great role model. I learned a lot of things from her. This is a big honor and I think she would be very proud of me.
“This has been a goal of mine since I came to Williamstown. I’m just so excited I finally got the record.”
In the finals of the 200 and rain showers now in play, Smith won in convincing fashion with a time of 25.34.
“I’ve changed my mindset the past few weeks,” Smith said. “Instead of going out there and having a lot of things on my mind while I am running – just trusting the Lord’s plan and knowing He has the best interest in me and for me. No thoughts, just running. I think that has helped me a lot.”
Williamstown’s Kyndra Johnson won the girls shot put event during Friday’s Cline Stansberry Invitational at Doddridge County High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)
Williamstown received first-place finishes in two relays, Alyssa Sauro in the 1600, Grace Boone in the pole vault and from throwers Kyndra Johnson (shot put) and Reagan Corbett (discus). Johnson and Corbett placed 1-2 in the shot put.
Senior Alexis Wynn nearly made it nine champions for Williamstown. Wynn trailed Grafton’s Addison Sole throughout the 3200. WIth one lap remaining, Sole maintained a 20-yard gap when Wynn began her kick over the final 150 meters.
Wynn made up ground in a hurry and fell just shy at the finish line – placing second by a mere 63-hundredths of a second.
“I think I probably should have started my kick around 250 meters, but I’m really happy with my finish,” Wynn said. “I’ve had a really up and down season trying to get my PR. I hit it right after cross country. Tonight, I was like just give it all you have. I gave it everything I had and actually took 10 seconds off my PR, so I am really excited.
“I’ve kind of been in a funk, so to finally get out of it and understand the racing strategy that gets me to it just feels great.”
Doddridge County’s A’Kaia Williams competes in shot put at Cline Stansberry Invitational, Friday at Doddridge County High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)
The field at the Cline Stansberry Invite featured a total of 19 schools. Rounding out the area winners on the girls side, Doddridge County won two relays and received a first-place effort from Payton Trent in the long jump. A second meet record was set in the girls division by Elkins’ Marissa Branwalt, who won her heat in the 100 in a time of 15.30 seconds.
On the boys side, everything DCHS freshman Tommy Walters-Hickman touched turned to gold. Walters-Hickman set both the meet and school records in the 100 (10.91) and 200 (22.17) and competed on the 4×200 relay which followed suit. Walters-Hickman, who competed with a cast on his arm earlier this season, also ran on the 4×100 relay which tied a meet record.
“Tommy started the first six weeks of the track season wearing a cast – he just got it off last week,” Burnside said. “He was running well with it. He works hard and he has bought in the training with the intention of peaking at the end of the season.”
Jerod Trent in the 400 and Tristan Swiger in the pole vault rounded out the list of champions for DCHS.
Williamstown’s Lynken Joy was another individual double winner in the boys division after taking first place in both the shot put and discus.
Doddridge County’s Brooke Burnside competes in shot put at Cline Stansberry Invitational, Friday at Doddridge County High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)
Ritchie County’s Dylan Malolepszy used his win in the 800 to parlay high point individual honors in the boys division at 27 points. For the girls, Grafton’s Hadley Horne took high point honors with 32 points.
The list is endless as to what events Malolepszy excels, according to his coach Rick Haught.
If the decathlon was offered at the high school level, Malolepszy would be the perfect fit.
“It’s been a while since Dylan hasn’t been high point at a meet – he is a unique athlete because he is a really good half-miler, a really good high jumper,” Haught said. “I like how he is coming along in the half-mile. He is running a good quarter-mile.
“He is a talent and a guy who can lead others. He is that type of athlete who could do the decathlon. He is freakishly good at a lot of things.”
Ripley’s Tiffany Fisher placed third in the girls high jump during Friday’s Cline Stansberry Invitational at Doddridge County High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)
Contact Kerry Patrick at [email protected]
Williamstown’s Kyndra Johnson, left, and teammate Reagan Corbett finished 1-2 in the shot put during Friday’s Cline Stansberry Invitational at Doddridge County High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)
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