MORGANTOWN — Morgantown High senior Alajuan Robinson is extremely accomplished on the track, but there is still one goal he has yet to achieve: A state championship.
“A state championship would mean everything to me,” he said. “Coming so close last year made me want it that much more.”
Robinson — who placed second at the WVSSAC Class AAA state championships as a member of the MHS 4×100 meter relay and fourth individually in the 100 meter dash — will look to secure the gold on his final go-around this spring, as he paces a senior-laden boys’ squad for the Mohigans.
“We’ve got about 30 senior boys,” MHS coach Steven Blinco said. “And 80 total on the team.”
Blinco hopes that Robinson, backed by a strong group of distance runners that secured the Class AAA cross-country state championship in October, will build on a fourth-place team finish last spring, which he called the school’s best finish on the boys’ side in 50 years.
“Our heavy hitter on the sprints side is Alajuan Robinson, and the big strength on the boys’ side is distance,” Blinco said. “They had a big year in cross-country, and we have it pretty much locked down from the 400 meter dash to the 3200 meter run.”
For Robinson, it was an honor to help bring the boys’ squad back to a competitive caliber, and his expectations both individually and for the team are as high as ever heading into the season.
“It really meant a lot to be able to bring MHS back to that level,” Robinson said. “This year, I think we’re very capable of a state title, and individually I’m trying to be a state champion in all of my events.”
GIRLS
They boys’ squad is not the only place where Blinco expects success in distance running, as MHS will return its entire defending state-champion 4×800 meter relay squad, made up of seniors Amber Dombrowski, Myah McAlister, Aleena McDaniel and Samantha Hatcher.
Hatcher, who finished fourth in the Class AAA cross-country championships, will lead a group who look to defend their Class AAA track and field state titles.
With 11 seniors and 70 total athletes, Blinco believes that his girls’ squad has the right mix of depth and experience to run the table once again.
“We lost a few girls, but the core of the team returned this year. We have 11 returning seniors that played a key role in winning the state championship across all events,” he said. “That’s really what it takes to win a state championship, is balance across events, and we think we can do it again this year.”
The girls’ squad also returns two of four runners from the defending state champions in the 4×100 meter relay, and one of the toughest throwing line-ups in the state.
“The biggest thing we’ll be looking at this year is a carry-over from the shot put and discus last year,” Blinco said. “Last year, we had a really good day at Charleston in the field events, and it basically won us the state championship.”
