South’s Watkins a favorite at state meet

South senior seeded first in two events

By JIM BUTTA, jbutta@newsandsentinel.com
PARKERSBURG — A quick perusal of the latest power rankings tell us that one shouldn’t expect the Patriots from Parkersburg South or the Big Reds of Parkersburg to be among those teams challenging for a state championship on the final day of the West Virginia State High School Track and Field Championships at the University of Charleston Stadium.

However, it should also be noted that paper has yet to win an event at the state meet.

Be as it may the Big Reds girls of veteran head coach Susan Gardner find themselves entering the weekend as the No. 6 ranked team in Class AAA while Shawn Shockey’s Patriots are rated just eight hundredths of a point behind them in the No. 7 slot.

Mountain State Conference champion Hurricane is the overwhelming pick to take home the big hardware on Saturday with the Patriots from Wheeling Park picked to out-duel Jefferson, Preston and John Marshall for the runners-up plaque.

The news on the boys side appears to be even more bleak as neither Wood County team is ranked among the state’s Top 10. Cabell Midland is the poll’s choice to beat out last year’s champ Wheeling Park with Jefferson, Martinsburg and Hedgesville lurking in the shadows.

Having said all of that, one just has to look at last week’s regional results to see that both local Class AAA schools will have legitimate shots at bringing a trophy back to Wood County.

A look at the girls’ results finds Parkersburg South senior Kelsey Watkins rated as the girl-to-beat in the 100 meter high hurdles, where she clocked a 15.77 second time in winning her region, and long jump (16-5) and anchors the Patriots’ shuttle hurdle relay team which has posted the fourth fastest time in the division this spring.

Then there is the Big Red duo of senior Caitlin Meeks and freshman Tori Boggs.

Meeks finds herself in the cat bird seat after clearing 10-feet in the pole vault during regional competition while Boggs’ time of 2 minutes, 22.76 seconds is ranked only behind Hurricane’s Josie Crouch (2:18.62) in the 800 meter run.

But, those aren’t the only names worth looking out for when competition opens at 2 p.m. on Friday.

Parkersburg’s Janey Hall is ranked among the Top 10 in both the 100 (12.92) and 200 (27.3) meter dashes and has the Big Reds’ 4 by 800 (9:51.76) ranked second behind Hurricane (9:47.01).

Others to look out for include Ripley’s Parker Winters in the 800 (2:24.87) and Savana Whiting in the pole vault (8-6), Parkersburg South’s Sammy Hicks in the shot put (37-6) and Parkersburg’s Erin Dansey in the high jump (5-2).

In the boys’ division the Big Reds’ Brandon Flint enters the state meet with the longest throw in the shot put (50-0) and the second best toss in the discus (145-0) while Parkersburg South’s Joe Reed enters the weekend ranked just below Wheeling Park’s Eric Ripley (13-6) with a regional vault of 12-feet, 6-inches.

Other names to keep a close lookout for include the Patriots’ Doug Teter and Shawn Coe, Ripley’s Jack Whitney and Parkersburg’s Dustin Meyers and Michael Archer.

Action gets under way at 2 p.m. on Friday with the 4 by 800 meter relay and concludes with the 3200 meter run at approximately 8 p.m. Saturday’s field events begin at 9 a.m. with the first running event—the 400 meter dash—slated to start at 10.

The awards ceremony is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.