Ritchie County’s Ryley Lattea won the girls high jump during Saturday’s Ryan Jobes Invitational at Williamstown High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

WILLIAMSTOWN – Something unexpected happened at the annual Ryan Jobes Invitational Saturday at Williamstown High School.

No sign of snow. No signs of winter-like temperatures. Instead, ideal spring-type conditions greeted the five schools which participated in the annual event.

“No snow showers – today probably beats the record by 40 degrees,” Williamstown track coach Zach Hall said.

Despite the field of schools considered low, Class AAA program University continued its allegiance to the event and swept both the girls and boys team titles.

“The University coaches were talking about it today, they were here when it was still the Easter Special,” Hall said. “I still love having them come down. Getting them to keep coming just shows people we can run a good meet. I wouldn’t travel two hours for a bad meet. Every year they are here.

Williamstown’s Tyrell Miller placed second in the pole vault. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“They push us, we push them. It’s a good thing, so it works out. They are a good little rival we never really get to see the rest of the year almost.

On the boys side, University set new meet records in four events – the half-mile, mile, two-time and 4×400 relay.

Even with University setting new meet standards, Williamstown’s boys racked up its share of points while placing second at 144. University finished with 197.

For the Yellowjackets, Will Sites and Jackson placed 1-2 in the 100, Carson Brundige won the 200 and Lynken Joy swept the throws while winning both the discus and shot put.

“Last year, I ran a 23.6 and I have just been working my butt off trying to get a 22,” said Brundige, who turned in a 23.28 in the 200. “I did pretty well in the 400 and I was a little tired from that – I just had to build off the first 100 then just kick everything I had in this one. With me able to run that kind of time against a big school like University, I think I can do anything and run against anybody

Williamstown’s Cassie Sites, right, hands the baton to teammate Alexis Wynn during the 4x800 relay Saturday at the Ryan Jobes Invitational, hosted by Williamstown High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“I did some speed training with WVU Medicine in the offseason and that has really paid off.”

On the girls side, the gap between first and second was more decisive as University finished with 239 points compared to 153 for runner-up Williamstown.

University’s Paige Conrad earned high-point honors with 30.5 points. The Hawks occupied six of the top seven places where individual scoring was in consideration. Only Williamstown thrower Reagan Corbettt, who was a winner in both the shot put and discus, prevented University from sweeping the top six individual places.

“I like where we are at,” Hall said. “Everybody seems to be moving in the right direction. We don’t need to show our best stuff yet. We want them to stay healthy so they keep improving every week.

Also attending the Ryan Jobes Invite were Ritchie County, Magnolia and Wirt County. Ritchie County Ryan Malolepszy won both the 400 and high jump, and placed fourth in the 800 while claiming high-point honors on the male side with 26 points.

Williamstown’s Shelby Smith, far right, won the 100 during Saturday’s Ryan Jobes Invitational in Williamstown. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Any lingering effects from a shoulder injury he suffered a month ago didn’t seem to take effect. He turned in a winning time of 51.45 in the 400 despite sitting in sixth place at the halfway point of the rac.

“At the start, I didn’t feel good at all – I thought I wasn’t going to go out fast enough,” Malolepszy said. “I slipped going out. Around the 200 mark, I figured I was close enough so I would keep trying. At about 150 to go, I was third and I thought I could get it so I gave it my all.

“At the end, my legs were tired. They started getting heavy. After a dislocation of the shoulder, I had to show people that things would be different. The doctors were telling me one thing, but I don’t listen to them much. I do what my body allows me to do.”

Ritchie County boys coach Rick Haught explained how a meet like the Ryan Jobes Invite allows him to sort out how his athletes are performing at this of the season.

“Dylan is a really great athlete – he is competitive, so he is the type of kid I really enjoy coaching,” Haught said. “He has aspirations of going to the next level, but we are still looking what the best route is for him.

“As for the others and where we stand on that, I’ll be honest – I’ll take my papers home with all the numbers, compare and work out from there. I know it was a smaller meet today, but it was a nice day. And that is rare.”

Magnolia also brought back a winner with JD Mensore in the long jump.

Joining Corbett as an individual winner for Williamstown was Shelby Smith in the 100 and Grace Boone in the pole vault. The Yellowjackets foursome of Luci Collins, Kadence Bandy, Gracie Montgomery and Ava Lightfritz combined for a win in the 4×400 relay.

Completing the list of individual champions from the local area, Ritchie County’s Ryley Lattea won the high jump and Magnolia’s Bindy Campbell squeezed out a win in the 400.

The 1-2-3 finish of Boone, Izzy Zide and Cate Berdine in the pole vault paralleled Williamstown’s success on the boys side as well when freshman Tyrell Miller placed second after picking up the event less than two weeks ago.

“Coaches came over and asked me if I wanted to do it,” said Miller, who considered himself primarily a long jumper prior to his introduction. “I started getting the hang of it after a week or two,”