Parkersburg’s Daysha Hastings competes in the high jump earlier this year during the Mountain State Athletic Conference championships at Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

PARKERSBURG — It’s nearly go-time for the state track meet set for Friday and Saturday at the University of Charleston’s Laidley Field, which for the first time will see four classifications competing for individual and team glory.

The Parkersburg boys of head coach Rod O’Donnell, who are vying for a top five finish in Class AAAA, took a hit at last week’s regional when Javel Chandler didn’t qualify in the 110 high hurdles.

“He got impeded. It wasn’t his fault,” said O’Donnell, who added “they didn’t have officials at every hurdle, which they should’ve and so they didn’t see it, and you can’t prove on a parent’s video what’s going on. I mean you can prove it. It was totally not his fault. It is (a bummer), but track meets are like any sport.

“You are going to have things that go wrong and you just have to adjust to them. He’s on the 4×2 team, which won and made it. It doesn’t erase the problem of not having him in the high hurdles because he’s ranked second in the state, but that’s just part of sports.”

Chandler, who is predicted to finish fourth by runwv.com in the 300 intermediate hurdles, had his fastest 110 time of 14.68 earlier this month. Huntington’s Mason Little is the expected champ and registered his quickest clocking of 14.61 on March 27.

Ripley's Tiffany Fisher, pictured here earlier this month competing in the high jump at the Erickson Invitational, is expected to medal at the Class AAA state track and field championships. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“Of the 18 events, we had six regional champions (AJ Payne, 400; Carter Thorpe, 1600; 4×2 – Chandler, Landen Deuley, Gavin Bowman, Payne; 4×4 – Deuley, Bowman, Anthony Herrera, Payne; Alex Greer, pole vault; Drey Grinter, shot put),” noted O’Donnell. “That’s really good. A third of all the races or events you won, but we don’t have that super depth.

“I think we’re ranked fifth or sixth (on runwv.com). I think that’s realistic and they’re usually pretty close on it. All six of the people that are going have chances to win. All the champions do. If that happens then we can maybe do some damage on some other events, but I think runwv’s analysis, year in and year out, is pretty accurate.”

During last year’s Class AAA state meet the red and white 4×2 ran a 3:22.53 to set a state record thanks to Payne, then seniors Christian Rutherford and Jackson Wharton, along with the anchor Deuley.

At last week’s regional, Deuley joined Bowman, Herrera and the anchor Payne for a winning effort of 3:26.97.

“There are three teams ahead of them (University, Musselman, Morgantown) right now, but we also kept one person (Rogan Mincks) off the team in the regional and still won, so that’s going to knock several seconds,” O’Donnell said.

“They can definitely defend it, but it’s certainly going to be, there’s going to be more teams closer to them than there were last year, which should force them to run faster. They are definitely right where they should be and they haven’t lost this season. Hopefully that can continue.”

Grinter has the top throw in quad-A in the shot put at 52 feet, 3 inches, while Payne has the quickest 400 at 48.72 with Deuley being tied for the sixth fastest.

In the 800, only three runners have posted a better effort than Mincks. Thorpe has the seventh and ninth fastest times in the 1600 and 3200, respectively, while Connor George has the 10th fastest in the 1600.

Greer has cleared 13 feet, 6 inches along with three others. That mark is tied for second behind Hurricane’s Nathan O’Dell, who cleared 14 feet. The Big Reds also are expected to have Chandler, who is tied for the fourth-best distance, place in the high jump.

“The team is mostly sophomores and juniors, and of course the sophomore class is the strong class, but they’ve all been there before so it’s not something they aren’t used to,” added O’Donnell. “They are veterans already. I’m really optimistic that we’ll run a very good meet, but again you know how any sport is, track especially because there are so many different things that go on.

“University and Morgantown are loaded and Huntington’s had a great year, too, but I do think if our quality comes through we’ll be OK. They’ve got to come through because we don’t have depth. It’s going to be a long one because it’s four classes. It’s going to be very interesting to see how it goes and what it bodes for the future. It’s just a long, long two days and I just see it being two long days. Again, you just adjust to whatever happens.”

It’s been an interesting season for the PHS girls of head coach Lia Fleek, who are eyeing a top 10 finish.

“We are predicted to get ninth, but I think we can possibly score in the top five if we show up and compete at our best,” admitted Fleek, who has former two-time state high jump champ Mya Baruwa (previously at Parkersburg South) predicted to finish runner-up to 2025 Class AAA victor Jada Ward of Riverside.

“This has been a great season. Our coaching staff has really enjoyed coaching this very competitive and hard-working team. We feel blessed that we got to work with these impeccable athletes for the last few months because they are just great people on and off the field as well as great athletes.”

Big Red Daysha Hastings, who is picked to finish fourth in the 100 hurdles, is slotted third in the high jump.

In the 300 low hurdles, Kelina Utietiang is expected to medal along with Morgan Metz in the 3200 (3rd) and Bella Bowman in the discus (7th).

Relay-wise, the Big Reds will challenge favorite Huntington in the shuttles and are also picked seventh in the 4×8.

“We will have to score from the slower heat (4×1, 4×2, 4×4) and they have the potential to score,” admitted Fleek, who also is hoping for points from Sophia Corbin in the shot put as well as Olivia Carpenter (800/relays).

“With regionals being a little different this year I was not sure how many athletes we would get out. Regionals went better than expected. We will be represented in every event except the 400. The athletes did a great job Friday night and I hope that continues this weekend at the state meet.”

Across the Little Kanawha River at Parkersburg South, head coach Megan Jones has Kymani Prince expected to place in the long jump (7th).

For the Patriot boys, Jordan Foster leads the way having posted the sixth and seventh fastest times in quad-A, respectively, for the 300 and 110 hurdles.

In Class AAA, the Ripley girls are projected just outside of the top 10 while the boys should challenge for a top 15 team finish.

Kyndyll Butler leads the way for the Vikings and is expected to place in three events. Although she’s predicted to finish behind Elkins’ Marissa Brenwalt in the long jump, Butler is the only athlete to leap more than 17 feet.

Butler is also expected to medal in the 200 (6th) and 400 (7th). Dezzie Steele is slotted third in the pole vault and Tiffany Fisher is fifth in the high jump.

Runwv.com also has pegged Viking Mason Casto to medal in the 100 (4th) and 200 (6th) as well as Cooper Eastman in the high jump (5th).

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com