CHARLESTON – On Thursday at Laidley Field in Charleston, the WVSSAC Class AAA state track and field meet began, and University High made it a day to remember with championships by Colin McBee, Daminn Cunningham and Josh Edwards.
First up was McBee, a senior, in the discus throw. McBee qualified for states at a distance of 148 feet. In the finals, all 16 throwers had three attempts, with the top 8 throwers moving on for an additional three attempts in order to determine the winner. All six throws, however, are considered for the winning distance.
The first throw for the UHS senior was a distance of 138-11, much shorter than his qualifying. His second throw improved by nearly 12 feet to 150-10. That distance proved good enough to progress McBee through to the top 8 throwers. His fourth throw proved to be the difference maker. He wound up, spun around once and chuck the disc in a perfect spiral that seemed to float for an extra second before crashing to the grass.
As the referee looked at the distance that was measured, and silent “wow” came across their lips before announcing a throw of 156 feet. It would hold strong, earning the Hawks their first title of the meet.
Next in the long jump, Cunningham, a West Liberty signee, looked to take home a title of his own. After jumping a distance of 22 feet, 9.5 inches, he earned the second title for UHS in the field.
“It means everything going out senior year and winning a state title,” he said. “This year, we have a chance to win the team title as well and being able to do my part means a lot.”
Finally, the boys, 3,200-meter race was on the schedule with the Hawks being heavily represented by three racers — Edwards, Rocco DeVincent and Drew Zundell.
Zundell, a sophomore, earned fourth place in the state while DeVincent took third. It was Edwards who took first place, however, finishing with a time of 9:07.75, about five seconds ahead of second place. Edwards said going into the race he wanted to remain comfortable.
“Feels good to pull off the win,” Edwards, an Oregon signee, said. “The weather felt good at first but after lap three I felt like I was swimming in the humidity. I get another state title which is great, they always mean a lot. We have a chance for the team also and hopefully tomorrow we can continue the success.”
UHS head coach Ed Frohnaphel praised all the performances by his team.
“Awesome performances by Daminn and Colin, season bests for each of them,” he said. “Josh won the 3,200 with Rocco and Drew finishing 3-4 with excellent times. UHS has a team score of 40 points which is excellent for the first day.”
The Hawks boys are in first in the team standings with 40 points, 22 ahead of second-place Morgantown.
The Preston girls are in fourth with 14 points, thanks in large part to a second-place finish in the 3,200 by Allie Martin.
All UHS qualifiers for finals on Friday are listed below:
Sierra Lanham – 100M, 200M
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