CHARLESTON — Day one of the 2023 WVSSAC state track and field meet took place Friday evening at Laidley Field in Charleston.
Local area schools all saw athletes hit the track and the field for various events, with some notable finishes coming for many.
To open the meet, the Morgantown girls’ 4×800 meter relay team of juniors Anna Lester and Madeline Gump, sophomore Sophie Renner and senior Amelia Summer earned the first state championship awarded for Class AAA on the day. They ran a time of 9:35.12 to win first in the race, but not without a close finish from none other than rival University High, who ran a time of 9:35.78 to capture second.
Junior Haley Kramer, sophomore Claire von Boetticher, junior Helen Honecker and sophomore Adelyn Tager were close to the leaders for the entire race before falling just short of the top spot. Preston County took fourth overall in the relay with a time of 9:56.12
On the boys’ side for the 4×800 relay, the Hawks would complete a comeback over the final two legs that propelled them to their second consecutive state title in the race. Junior anchor Drew Zundell ran a 1:57 that allowed him to overtake the leader and finish first with an overall time of 7:53.54, just over a second ahead of second-place Jefferson.
“We didn’t come here to lose, that’s for sure,” Zundell said after the race. “We came out and had a great race, I trust in my guys a lot. I just kept telling them to stay relaxed and go to the line with a smile on your face. This is a great place to be with all the people here and it’s a great atmosphere.”
After crossing the finish line, Zundell celebrated by using the baton like he was swinging a golf club and hitting the ball off of a tee, signaling that he and his guys had done the job.
“I was out playing golf yesterday, so I just thought why not,” he said. “I’m not very good at golf though.”
After the fast start, the Mohigans also capped off the night with an impressive showing in the girls’ 3200-meter run. The trio of Irene Riggs, Amelia Summers, and Madeline Gump, finished in the top three spots of the two-mile race.
Riggs broke her own state meet record that she set last year in 2022 of 10:14.16 with a time this year of 10:10.02. She finished 46 seconds ahead of second place to capture her first state title of the 2023 meet.
“Anything under 10:14 was kind of the goal for me, I just wanted to break the meet record,” she said after the race. “I think going in, I wanted to push the first mile but the mental thoughts started to creep in a bit going into the second mile and I slowed down a little, but I’m not mad about it.”
Summer and Gump finished close in second and third. Summer with a time of 10:56.58 to take second place and Gump with a time of 10:58.98 for third overall.
The MHS girls sit in second place overall in the team standings with 34 points, five points behind Jefferson who has 39 points. Preston County sits in fourth with 18 points, and UHS is in fifth with 15 points in Class AAA.
In girls’ Class A, Clay-Battelle is in sixth overall with 8.5 points and Trinity are in a three-way tie for ninth with five points.
For the boys in Class AAA, MHS sits in third overall with 46 points, with UHS in sixth with 35 points. TCS and C-B have yet to earn points for the boys’ standings but have multiple races tomorrow with chances to put themselves in the mix.
Events will begin Saturday morning with field events at 9:00 a.m. and races at 10:00 a.m.
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