CHARLESTON — After crushing the state record in the 3,200-meter run at the Mountaineer Showcase, University’s Larry Josh Edwards snapped the state meet record — held by Cabell Midland’s Jacob Burcham since 2012 — en route to a Class AAA race title.
His time of 8:52.82 was well ahead of second-place finisher Keegan Barnette (Parkersburg) at 9:18.72 and five seconds faster than Burcham at 8:57.73. Still, Edwards wanted to break his own record — the one he set just weeks ago.
“I was worried about the weather,” Edwards said. “Freshman year we ran this event at 12:30. It threw everything off and was not fun. As long as the rain went away I was OK with the humidity and the little bit of heat we had. The mindset going in was to take the 8:57.53 that books had here before. I want to leave my legacy here in West Virginia and not just be the best in my four years but go down as the best all-time.”
Despite not breaking his own state record (8:49), Edwards noted he was happy with the time he had.
“I was wanting to do that before I got down here at states,” he said of breaking the state record. “Running that fast at states meant I’d wake up and not feel great at all. I felt really controlled today, slow my breathing and keep my arms down, and, yeah, it worked. I was happy with the way I closed the race and stoked for tomorrow [Saturday].”
Other local top 10 finishers in the 3,200m were Rocco DeVincent (UHS, 3rd), Quinn Jacquez (MHS, 5th), Jordan Thomas (UHS, 6th) and Jackson Snyder (MHS, 7th).
Additionally, Morgantown’s John Michael Saldanha took seventh in the 400-meter dash after winning his heat at 51.36. The 400m title winner at 48.45 , Wheeling Park’s Torrence Walker, was less than one second shy of breaking Jefferson alumni and former WVU and NFL star wide receiver James Jett’s record. Jett, who was also an Olympic sprinter, set the state meet record in 1989
at 47.74.
Edwards next takes the track for the 800- and 1,600-meter races Saturday.
Heading into the final day of the Class AAA state meet, Parkersburg holds first place with 18 points, while UHS is in second with 17. Jefferson (12), Wheeling Park (10), Morgantown (2), Washington (2), and Buckhannon-Upshur (1) fill out the remaining spots.
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