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PHS boys win Kim Nutter Classic

Parkersburg’s Abby Tanner, left, takes the baton from teammate Alexa Kotarski during Saturday’s 4x100 at the Kim Nutter Classic. The duo joined lead leg Samantha Williams and second leg Megan Kupfner to finish with a winning time of 53.50. Photo by Jay W. Bennett

PARKERSBURG — Perfect weather conditions for Saturday’s Kim Nutter Classic at Stadium Field provided plenty of opportunities for great results and the thinclads didn’t disappoint.

On a day where Ripley High School’s girls won the team title and the Vikings swept high-point honors, the host Big Red boys topped the field while PHS’ Madison Trippett obliterated a school record in the 800, yet didn’t win the event.

Laurel Miller won high-point honors with 36 and was one of three girls who finished as a double-winner. Miller not only captured the high jump (5-4) and the 100 hurdles (15.90), but she also was runner-up in the 200 to teammate Allison Fields (26.67 to 27.20) and second in the long jump to Roane County’s Josie Raines (17-4.25). Fields held off Wheeling Park’s Abigail Snedeker (13.19 to 13.38) to win the 100.

Ripley’s girls, who finished ahead of PHS by a score of 131 to 126 with Wheeling Park in third (113.5), also had the other double-winner courtesy of Tori Starcher. The freshman Viking won the 2-mile with a time of 11:51.28 and then nipped the Big Red Trippett to take gold in the 800 (2:13.79 to 2:14.57). Trippett’s time, which would’ve won the Class AAA state meet last year by more than two seconds, erased ex-Big Red Dawn Nease’s 1983 school record of 2:20.74.

“It was about a five or six second PR, which I didn’t expect but I was really happy with it,” Starcher said of her new personal best 800 effort. “I definitely want to be really competitive during states and win a title. I’ll just be working a lot from here out.”

The PHS boys of head man Rod O’Donnell did plenty of work and had double-winners thanks to Scott Barker (800, 2:04.9; 1600, 4:35.91) and Ben McFarland, who won the shot put (47-11.5) and the discus (155-7). Belpre’s Logan Racy was runner-up to McFarland in both events.

“We always base our success or failure on how many PRs, and we had probably all-time bests, maybe 18 all-time bests in terms of their career,” said the coach, who watched his Big Reds finish with 161 points to top runner-up Ripley (103) and Tyler Consolidated (78). “We made some major improvements.

“We’ve got a long ways to go, but the first thing is to improve every week and don’t get complacent because it’s a long time until May. Some very encouraging things happened, but we are not there by any means.”

The lone triple-winner on Saturday for the boys was high-point champ Ridge Dalrymple, who finished with 32.5 points thanks in large part to victories in the 200, where he beat Tyler Consolidated’s Trent Shepherd (23.02 to 23.27), and in both hurdles events. In the 100 high hurdles, he went 15.30 to best Parkersburg South’s Chris Elschlager (16.45) and his time of 41.64 in the 300 hurdles edged South’s Jimmy Kemp (42.37).

Parkersburg’s boys also had first-place individual efforts in the 400 from Graham Nesselrode, who beat teammate DeShaun Akers (53.37 to 53.42), and in the 3200 from Evan Wooten, whose clocking of 10:28.82 edged fellow Big Red Benjamin Lake (10.30.73).

Tyler Consolidated’s Trent Shepherd (100, 11.57), Wheeling Park’s Quamaezius Mosby (long jump, 21-0) and Roane County teammates Austin McGinnis and Haden Coon won the other individual events. Coon went 12-6 to win the pole vault and best Tyler’s Jarrett LeMasters. McGinnis, who was suffering from a bout with the flu, went 6-2 to win the high jump, although South’s Dominic Collins and JM’s Brennen Wright also attained the same height.

PHS picked up 20 points thanks to the boys winning both the 4×400 (Akers, Barker, Nesselrode, Logan Wooddell in 3:34.51) and the 4×800 (Wooten, Will LeMaster, Lake, Anthony Bradford in 8:40.61).

Dalrymple picked up his other 2.5 points as he anchored the Vikings’ 58.57 winning shuttles squad with teammates Samuel Pierson, Steven Carte and Garrett Robertson. Collins, Elschlager and fellow South runners Kyle Carpenter and Tye Gibson went 44.94 to win the 4×100. Tyler’s Mark Rucker, Shepherd, Cameron Ramsey and Tyler Anderson won the 4×200 with an effort of 1:36.93.

“They did superb being as young as they are. We had a lot of good times,” said Big Red girls head coach Leah Fleak, who also watched Trippett win the 400 over Starcher (59.16 to 59.40) and Sophie Thompson dominate the field with a first-place effort of 8-6 in the pole vault.

Also capturing individual triumphs for the girls were John Marshall’s Meghan Byrd (discus, 88-7) along with Wheeling Park’s Beighley Ayers (1600, 5:26.86), Aubrey Wiethe (300 hurdles, 49.42) and Khaliah Carter, whose 29-4 showing in the shot put topped Ripley’s Maggy Criser (28-10) and Belpre’s Madelyn Roby (28-7).

The only area relay winners were Parkersburg’s 4×100 (Samantha Williams, Megan Kupfner, Alexa Kotarski, Abby Tanner; 53.50) and shuttles team, which finished in 1:11.56 thanks to the efforts of Emily Kupfner, Kaycee Kiser, Megan Kupfner and Delaney Cox.

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