PHS boys track takes early lead at state meet
Parkersburg South’s Mo Akita, pictured here at the regional meet, finished in fifth place with a time of 1:01.03 in the 400 to earn the Patriots two points at Friday’s Class AAA state track championships. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Parkersburg’s Franklin Angelos, front, leads Big Red teammate Keegan Barnette during a race at last week’s regional meet. Barnette finished runner-up and Angelos placed fourth in the 3200 at Friday’s Class AAA state track championships. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Parkersburg South’s Mo Akita, pictured here at the regional meet, finished in fifth place with a time of 1:01.03 in the 400 to earn the Patriots two points at Friday’s Class AAA state track championships. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Parkersburg’s Franklin Angelos, front, leads Big Red teammate Keegan Barnette during a race at last week’s regional meet. Barnette finished runner-up and Angelos placed fourth in the 3200 at Friday’s Class AAA state track championships. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
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CHARLESTON -- Following two events held here Friday at Laidley Field, the Parkersburg High School boys' track team had an 18-17 lead on University.
Both the 400 and the 3200 were contested on Friday evening and the Big Reds got a runner-up effort from Keegan Barnette in the 2-mile with a time of 9:18.72. University's Josh Edwards established a new state record when the Hawk crossed in 8:52.82 to break the old mark of 8:57.73 set in 2012 by Cabell Midland's Jacob Burcham.
Big Red Franklin Angelos clocked in at 9:23.07, which was good for fourth. Also for the red and white, Ethan Rutherford ran a 50.23 in the 400, which placed him in third.
"They didn't have him placing," admitted Big Red boys' head coach Rod O'Donnell of Angelos on the final runwv.com predictions. "That was a 21-second PR by Franklin. That's his best ever, and Keegan, he did exactly what we told him to do because we knew we weren't going to beat Josh. We got to have three more races like that tomorrow."
Rutherford, who was picked third, also set a PR. Big Red senior Gabe Ray ran 52.57 in the 400 and finished 12th.
The Parkersburg South girls picked up two points on Friday thanks to Mo Akita's fifth-place time of 1:01.03 in the 400. Ripley freshman Opal Huffman just missed a podium finish and had to settle for eighth with a time of 1:02.23.
Also in the 3200 for Ripley, junior Haleigh McCune competed and crossed in 12:59.31 and placed 14th.
During the Class AA state meet, Roane County teammates Josh Bowen and Luke Watson each scored in the pole vault. Bowen cleared 11 feet to place fourth and Watson tied for fifth with a best effort of 9 feet, 6 inches.
The lone points for the Raider girls came in the long jump where Kaitlyn Clarkson placed sixth after leaping 14 feet, 11 inches.