Post by rainman on May 24, 2010 8:27:23 GMT -5
McVicker breaks state mark in 3,200
Staff and wire reports
CHARLESTON — While qualifying times and past history might say otherwise, the state track meet still boasts its share of surprises every now and then.
And on the first day of competition Friday at Charleston’s Laidley Field, Dayton McVicker pulled perhaps the biggest shocker of all.
The Fairmont Senior distance runner didn’t merely win the 3,200-meter run, he went one step further, breaking the Class AAA state record in the event with a finishing time of 9:14.23.
That beat the mark of 9:14.84 set last year by another local athlete, North Marion’s Zach Tennant. McVicker also managed to chop nearly a minute off his qualifying time from a first-place run at regionals last week.
And he saved his best for last, using a huge push in the final 70 meters to overtake Cabell Midland’s Jacob Burcham, who was the top qualifier and the prohibitive favorite to win the event.
McVicker’s teammate, Patrick Stanton, also ran the 3,200 and took fifth overall in Class AAA with a time of 9:47.28.
The only other area boys’ athlete to place Friday was the Polar Bears’ Marcus Jacquez, who tied Parkersburg South’s Jerrod Buner for fifth in the high jump with a leap of 6-0.
Those performances — with a big boost from McVicker’s record run, of course — have the Fairmont Senior boys’ team in sixth place (13.5 points) at the end of day No. 1.
On the girls’ side, Fairmont Senior’s Chelsea Clark nabbed a fourth-place finish in the 3,200 (11:29.12).
Polar Bear standout Alyssa Scherich also earned top-five finishes in trial runs of two events (100 hurdles, 200 dash) Friday. The top two from each heat plus the four best times will meet in the finals today.
Elsewhere Friday, Bishop Donahue’s Lacey Hampton set a girls’ Class A record in the 100 hurdles preliminaries. Her time of 15.60 broke the mark of 15.67 set by South Harrison’s Olivia Lambert in 2007. Hampton won the event last year and also will go for her second straight state high jump title on Saturday.
St. Marys’ Ashley Sigler won the Class A girls shot put and discus. St. Marys’ Kyle Davies won the long jump, had Friday’s top qualifying time in the 200 and the second-best time in the 100. He’s also the top qualifier for Saturday’s 400 finals.
Buckhannon-Upshur broke the girls Class AAA shuttle-hurdle relay record by five-hundredths of a second and Williamstown broke the girls Class A shuttle-hurdle mark by more than a second. Keeper Gray, who ran Williamstown’s anchor leg, had her appendix removed in an emergency surgery just two weeks ago.
Keyser’s boys won the Class AA shuttle hurdles for the fourth straight year and Hurricane’s girls won the Class AAA 3,200-meter relay for the third straight year.
The girls Class AAA pole vault, the final event of the night, required overtime to determine a champion. John Marshall’s Kiley Defibaugh and Jefferson’s Kaitlyn Clark were deadlocked after clearing 10 feet, 6 inches. Defibaugh then cleared 10-6 in the jumpoff while Clark missed.
Buckhannon-Upshur’s girls and Hedgesville’s boys had the lead in Class AAA team scoring after the first day of events.
Weir’s girls and Ritchie County’s boys were first in Class AA and St. Marys’ girls and Wheeling Central’s boys led in Class A.
Staff and wire reports
CHARLESTON — While qualifying times and past history might say otherwise, the state track meet still boasts its share of surprises every now and then.
And on the first day of competition Friday at Charleston’s Laidley Field, Dayton McVicker pulled perhaps the biggest shocker of all.
The Fairmont Senior distance runner didn’t merely win the 3,200-meter run, he went one step further, breaking the Class AAA state record in the event with a finishing time of 9:14.23.
That beat the mark of 9:14.84 set last year by another local athlete, North Marion’s Zach Tennant. McVicker also managed to chop nearly a minute off his qualifying time from a first-place run at regionals last week.
And he saved his best for last, using a huge push in the final 70 meters to overtake Cabell Midland’s Jacob Burcham, who was the top qualifier and the prohibitive favorite to win the event.
McVicker’s teammate, Patrick Stanton, also ran the 3,200 and took fifth overall in Class AAA with a time of 9:47.28.
The only other area boys’ athlete to place Friday was the Polar Bears’ Marcus Jacquez, who tied Parkersburg South’s Jerrod Buner for fifth in the high jump with a leap of 6-0.
Those performances — with a big boost from McVicker’s record run, of course — have the Fairmont Senior boys’ team in sixth place (13.5 points) at the end of day No. 1.
On the girls’ side, Fairmont Senior’s Chelsea Clark nabbed a fourth-place finish in the 3,200 (11:29.12).
Polar Bear standout Alyssa Scherich also earned top-five finishes in trial runs of two events (100 hurdles, 200 dash) Friday. The top two from each heat plus the four best times will meet in the finals today.
Elsewhere Friday, Bishop Donahue’s Lacey Hampton set a girls’ Class A record in the 100 hurdles preliminaries. Her time of 15.60 broke the mark of 15.67 set by South Harrison’s Olivia Lambert in 2007. Hampton won the event last year and also will go for her second straight state high jump title on Saturday.
St. Marys’ Ashley Sigler won the Class A girls shot put and discus. St. Marys’ Kyle Davies won the long jump, had Friday’s top qualifying time in the 200 and the second-best time in the 100. He’s also the top qualifier for Saturday’s 400 finals.
Buckhannon-Upshur broke the girls Class AAA shuttle-hurdle relay record by five-hundredths of a second and Williamstown broke the girls Class A shuttle-hurdle mark by more than a second. Keeper Gray, who ran Williamstown’s anchor leg, had her appendix removed in an emergency surgery just two weeks ago.
Keyser’s boys won the Class AA shuttle hurdles for the fourth straight year and Hurricane’s girls won the Class AAA 3,200-meter relay for the third straight year.
The girls Class AAA pole vault, the final event of the night, required overtime to determine a champion. John Marshall’s Kiley Defibaugh and Jefferson’s Kaitlyn Clark were deadlocked after clearing 10 feet, 6 inches. Defibaugh then cleared 10-6 in the jumpoff while Clark missed.
Buckhannon-Upshur’s girls and Hedgesville’s boys had the lead in Class AAA team scoring after the first day of events.
Weir’s girls and Ritchie County’s boys were first in Class AA and St. Marys’ girls and Wheeling Central’s boys led in Class A.
