By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
East Hardy’s Madison Kerr found gold at the end of the rainbow becoming the Class A girls 100 meter high hurdles state champion at the WVSSAC state track meet leading the Cougars to 20 medals and the Yellow Jackets buzzed to 19 medals as Hardy County reigned in the hardware glory in Charleston.
Kerr recorded a personal best time of 15.49 to claim the state gold medal in the 100 meter high hurdles, an increase of 0.16 from the regional meet.
“It was amazing, especially as a sophomore. It felt really smooth and easy. Running with Shayla [Tanouye] gave me confidence. I knew she was the one to beat, so I pushed myself hard because she was there. It feels amazing bringing the gold medal back to East Hardy,” East Hardy sophomore state medalist Madison Kerr remarked.
The individual state medal honors continued for Hardy County as the Cougars Boys Track’s Evan Hamilton snatched a bronze medal in the 100 meter dash and Gideon Good collected two eight place state medals in the 110 meter high hurdles and high jump.
“I am so excited for Madison. Her hard work and dedication have paid off. She’s only a sophomore, so she still has room to grow and improve. All of our athletes did so well today. I’m proud of all of them. East Hardy is bringing home 20 medals,” East Hardy Track Coach Rachel Schetrom noted.
Moorefield Girls Track’s Parvatee Snyder earned a fourth place state medal in the Class A girls 100 meter dash, followed by Yellow Jackets Boys Track’s Caden Fertig with sixth place state medals in the 100 and 200 meter dash races.
Hardy County relay teams collected a plethora of Class A state medals to bring home: Moorefield Girls 4×100 (3rd), East Hardy Boys 4×100 (3rd), East Hardy Boys 4×200 (3rd), Moorefield Girls 4×200 (4th), Moorefield Boys 4×100 (5th), Moorefield Boys 4×2000 (5th), East Hardy Girls Shuttle Hurdles (7th) and East Hardy Boys Shuttle Hurdles (7th).
“I couldn’t be prouder of this group of young men. Competing at the state level is an incredible accomplishment in itself, and to come home with four medals – the most we’ve ever earned – is a testament to their hard work, discipline, and heart. Our 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams both finishing fifth shows the strength of our team chemistry and depth. And for Caden Fertig to medal individually in both the 100m and 200m, on top of running in both relays, is just phenomenal. These athletes represented our school with pride and gave it everything they had. I’m honored to be their coach, and I look forward to seeing where they go from here,” Moorefield Boys Track Coach Linda Wright commented.
It was a rough start to the WVSSAC Class A state track meet for Hardy County with no medals being obtained, until the shuttle hurdles event.
Moorefield Girls Track 4×800 relay team kicked off the state track meet with an 11th place finish in a time of 12:03.68 using the quartet of Madelyn Baker, Sydney Rumer, Molly Molen and Chloe Leroux.
The Yellow Jackets time was over seven seconds faster than their regional time, so that was a positive outcome.
East Hardy Girls Track 4×800 relay team took 14th pace with the quartet of Brianna Hamilton, Aubrey Cowgill, Alexis McKinney and Gracie Heishman.
The team didn’t want their time posted which was 20 seconds slower than regionals, but glad they didn’t finish in last place which was a positive take from the day.
Charleston Catholic took the 4×800 relay gold medal with a time of 10:05.12.
The Class A boys state discus commenced the field events on the Friday session with four throws over 140-feet along with the remaining top-8 medalists surpassing 130-feet and the gold medal toss was from Magnolia’s Matthew Anderson at 161-09.
Moorefield’s Ethan Eye landed the discus a distance of 128’-07” for ninth place, just two feet shy of a Class A state medal opportunity.
East Hardy’s Gideon Good threw the discus 109’-09” for 14th place, but would earn state medals in his three other events during the meet.
East Hardy’s Korbin Miller scratched on all three throws in the state discus, saying he tried giving it his all and just spun out of control.
After the 4×800 relay race, it was time for the 100 and 110 meter high hurdles preliminaries.
East Hardy Girls Track’s Madison Kerr was tied for first place in the 100 meter high hurdles preliminary round with a time of 16.29, while fellow Potomac Valley Conference members Paw Paw’s Shayla Tanouye and Petersburg’s Joelle Boddy also qualified for the finals.
During the Class A Boys 110 high hurdles preliminaries, Potomac Valley Conference members Pendleton County’s Sawyer Apple placed fourth in 15.54, East Hardy’s Gideon Good took eighth place in 16.62 to qualify for the finals and Union’s Braylon Ward crashed over a hurdle and finished 14th overall.
In a show of good sportsmanship, Good helped Ward walk off the track.
Apple was the Class A Region II champion at 15.39, while Union’s Braylon Ward was third at 16.08 and Good took fifth place at large bid at 16.90.
Apple and Good represented the PVC with state medals in the finals on Saturday.
Apple snatched a fifth place state medal in the 110 meter high hurdles at 16.09 and Good rounded out the field with an eighth place state medal in 16.72.
Greenbrier West’s Isaac Agee set a state track meet record with a gold medal finish of 14.57 (110HH).
It was a rewarding sound to hear Hardy County names announced over the state track meet loudspeaker for the participating events and finishes.
The announcements also helped direct athletes to the check-in tents as some were resting on the football field and covered in the tiny bits of tire in the artificial turf when getting back up.
The 100 meter dah preliminaries were the first track event for the second session on Friday.
Moorefield Girls Track’s Schanica Barthelemy took 10th place with a time of 13.94, while fellow PVC competitors Tucker County’s Lela Wright (5th) and Petersburg’s Bella Feaster (6th) qualified for the state finals.
The Class A boys state 100 meter dash preliminary session was lightning fast as three finished in under 11 seconds including East Hardy’s Evan Hamilton (10.87) in second place and the top-8 finals qualifiers were separated by under a second (0.94, 10.64-11.58) with Moorefield’s Caden Feritig rounding out the finalists.
Wahama’s Connor Lambert was the fastest in the prelims at 10.64, followed by Hamilton at 10.87 and Doddridge County’s Tommy Walters-Hickman at 10.93.
East Hardy’s Nehemiah Graham garnered 10th place with a time of 11.60 in the 100 meter dash prelims.
A thrilling encore occurred in the 100 meter dash state finals on Saturday with Wahama’s Connor Lambert setting a new state record for the gold medal at 10.61, followed by Doddridge County’s Tommy Walters-Hickman at 10.65 and East Hardy’s Evan Hamilton collected a bronze state medal with a time of 10.88.
Moorefield’s Caden Fertig improved his time to 11.39 to earn a sixth place state medal in the 100 dash.
Hardy County didn’t have any girls competing in the Class A state shot put, but Potomac Valley Conference representative Paw Paw’s Joselyn Smith notched a sixth place medal.
The Class A shuttle hurdles relay race was about to begin and East Hardy’s Morganne Miller saw the camera and noted the only race she would smile in would be the 4×400 relay which is the final event of the state meet.
Moorefield’s LeeAnne Coon had a huge grin before the shuttle hurdles race stating she knew exactly where the camera was at all times, so she was ready for the moments to be captured.
East Hardy Girls shuttle hurdles team came from behind to gather a seventh place state medal, while Moorefield stumbled over the hurdles ending in 11 place.
East Hardy Girls shuttle hurdles team finished with a time of 1:13.98 featuring the quartet of Madison Kerr, Aubrey Cowgill, Sierra Loulis and Morganne Miller.
“Yes, we both got seventh place medals. Our goal isn’t to be the same as the boys, but to be better. We didn’t get last place, so that is a positive. We wanted to different color ribbon,” East Hardy junior Morganne Miller said.
Moorefield Girls shuttle hurdles team got a time of 1:16.98 with the quartet of Jocelyn Wagner, LeeAnne Coon, Sydney Rumer and LaTanya Redman.
The Yellow Jackets had a lead before an unexpected tumble over the hurdles, but Redman recovered to gather 11th place.
East Hardy Boys shuttle hurdles team collected a seventh place state medal with a time of 1:05.12 (Kristian Bauserman, Chase Rexrode, Angelo Loulis and Gideon Good).
“We’re not smiling. When you lose, you don’t go home with a smile. I am not happy. Sure we left it all out there, but we should have done better,” East Hardy senior Chase Rexrode remarked.
Moorefield Boys shuttle hurdles team garnered 10th place in a time of 1:06.93 (Javier Acosta, Jhon Paul, Jeshua Mazariego and Riley Pillus).
Potomac Valley Conference representative Paw Paw’s Shayla Tanouye shattered her fifth place prediction in leaping for a state gold medal in the long jump, then received a huge embrace from her coach after the win with huge smiles all around.
Hardy County’s last events for Friday’s session was the 200 meter dash preliminaries and boys high jump.
East Hardy Boys Track’s Gideon Good cleared 5’8” in the high jump for an eighth place state medal.
Moorefield Girls Track’s Parvatee Snyder qualified for the state finals with a 200 meter dash prelims time of 26.85 in fourth place, while Union Chanelle Sutton took 12th place and Moorefield’s Barthelemy rounded out the race at 29.58.
Moorefield Boys Track’s Caden Fertig finished in sixth place for the 200 meter dash preliminaries to qualify for the state finals with a time of 23.31 and fellow PVC competitor Pendleton County’s Gabriel Harvey qualified in eighth place, while three fellow Region II rivals from Doddridge County advanced.
The Saturday morning session commenced with the field events and 400 meter run.
Some of the Yellow Jackets had fun with warming up in the morning as Brayden Sackett-Williams and Jordan Fields simulated a football snap for the baton exchange, while McDonald jogged nearby and Coon made funny faces for the camera.
Moorefield Boys Track’s Matthew McDonald earned an 11th place finish in the 400 meter run with a time of 53.70.
After a lunch break, the national anthem was played prior to a graduation ceremony for the state track athletes missing their respective school’s commencement exercises.
The Class A boys shot put and girls 100 meter high hurdles finals were on tab next in the state track meet.
Moorefield’s Trace Pope threw the shot put a distance of 35-08.25 for a 15th place finish in Charleston.
East Hardy’s Madison Kerr won the state gold medal for the 100 meter high hurdles with a time of 15.49.
The Cougars medal count increased as Gideon Good collected an eight place medal in the 110 meter high hurdles in a time of 16.72.
The heralded 100 meter dash finals was nothing short of electric with a dynamic run featuring several sb 11-second finishes once again.
East Hardy’s Evan Hamilton snatched the bronze medal in the 100 meter dash with a time of 10.88.
Potomac State College of WVU Track signee and current Moorefield senior Caden Fertig hauled in a sixth place state medal in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.39.
Moorefield Girls 4×200 relay team garnered the bronze medal with a time of 1:53.30 with Coon, Redman, Rumer and Snyder.
East Hardy Girls 4×200 relay team finished in 16th place in 2:08.02 with Kelly Flynn, Alexis McKinney, Aubrey Cowgill and Sierra Loulis.
The Cougars Boys 4×200 relay squad earned a third place state medal with a time of 1:33.63 featuring the quartet of Khristian Bauserman, Nehemiah Graham, Chase Rexrode and Evan Hamilton.
The team was ready to smile for the camera having captured the bronze medal.
The Yellow Jackets Boys 4×200 relay team finished with a time of 1:3.38 for a fifth place state medal with the quartet of Potomac State College of WVU Track signees Diego Taylor and Caden Fertig along with Jeshua Mazariego and Javier Acosta.
Mazariego mentioned the blue and gold glitter in his hair brought luck to the team and it worked for his teammates gaining state medals, too.
“It feels really good to finally get some medals here. We were close last year and now came back and worked hard to finally get what we wanted. [Relay team] I am so thankful for my teammates. They worked extremely hard to get us to this point. We always encourage each other to be the best we can be. Our exchanges were good. You can’t ask for much more,” Moorefield senior medalist Diego Taylor explained.
Hardy County’s relay success continued with more state medals coming in the 4×100 races.
Moorefield Girls 4×100 relay squad collected a fourth place medal with a time of 53.54 with Coon, Redman, Rumer and Snyder.
Moorefield Boys 4×100 relay team hauled in a fifth place medal with a time of 45.89 with Mazariego, Taylor, Fertig and Camden Laughlin.
East Hardy Boys 4×100 relay quartet grabbed the bronze medal with a time of 44.73 using the speed of Bauserman, Graham, Rexrode and Hamilton.
Moorefield’s Parvatee Snyder snatched a fourth place medal in the girls 200 meter dash with a time of 26.76.
“I feel very honored winning these medals. My favorite event was the 4×100, just because of the rush of it and everything going by so quick. I think I did the best in that event. [200] I definitely underperformed and definitely didn’t do my best, but it is still an honor to place at states as a freshman. Hopefully, next year I can get the title. It is very exciting to bring these medals home,” Moorefield freshman medalist Parvatee Snyder said.
The Yellow Jackets medal run kept rolling as Caden Fertig secured the sixth place medal in the boys 200 meter dash with a time of 23.73.
“I was very thrilled to get these medals. It took me four years, so I am very happy. It feels pretty good. I felt a little ashamed with my 200 meter run, because I got hurt. But at least I am taking home four state medals. I can’t complain. My favorite event was the 4×100. I felt good about my leg and our exchange was really smooth, so we got a decent time,” Moorefield senior medalist Caden Fertig stated.
The sun was shining for the final state track meet event and while Hardy County didn’t obtain more medals on the curtain call, it was still a banner day with 39 state medals including Kerr’s state championship crown.
East Hardy Girls 4×400 relay team took 12th place in the final event with a time of 4:46.41 with Flynn, Kerr, Loulis and Miller.
And yes, Miller did smile during that last race as promised.
Moorefield Girls 4×400 relay team collected a 13th place finish in a time of 4:49.13 with Wagner, Coon, Silmary Ramos-Ortiz and Rumer.
Moorefield Boys 4×400 relay squad earned a 12th place finish with a time of 3:49.80 with Sackett-Williams, Fields, William Wojtowicz and McDonald.
Potomac Valley Conference schools had an impressive outing at the state track meet as Class AA Frankfort boys team was the state runner-up led by three-time state champion Ryan Hughes in the distance events, Class A Paw Paw’s Shayla Tanouye won the gold medal in the long jump and 300 hurdles along with brother Donovan Tanouye earning top honors in the 800 run as the Pirates slashed six medals, Keyser’s Tanner Detrick won the gold medal in the Class AA pole vault leading the Golden Tornado to 15 state medals, Class AA Hampshire won the gold medal in the 4×200 meter relay with 200 meter run state champion Vinnie Greear as the Trojans secured 19 event medals, Class A Pendleton County’s Sawyer Apple won four medals and Gabriel Harvey hauled in three medals as the Wildcats got 10 medals, Class A Tucker County won 13 medals led by Nate Ricottilli and Reid Kisamore with four medals apiece and Union snatched three medals.
Moorefield Boys team placed 14th overall and Moorefield Girls team had a 15th place finish.
East Hardy Boys team finished in 11 place and the East Hardy Girls team notched 18th place overall.
Hardy County Track came home with 39 state medals including a state title as the Cougars and Yellow Jackets cemented a legacy for future student-athletes to aspire towards.
