The sun was out in full force beaming down rays of success as East Hardy Track squads illuminated the tri-meet in Baker with gold medal prominence, while Moorefield Girls placed second and Moorefield Boys finished in third overall with Pendleton County swapping the placement spots.
East Hardy Girls Track team won with a total of 77 points, followed by Moorefield with 47 and Pendleton County at 39.
East Hardy Boys Track team finished in first place with 74.5 points, followed by Pendleton County with 53.5 and Moorefield at 44.
The East Hardy Track Meet started out with the Lady Wildcats winning the 4×800 relay race in a time of 12:48.25, followed by East Hardy at 13:05.48 with Marina Stotelmyer, Liz Dove, Sydney Vaubel and Mariah Payne, then Moorefield at 13:19.26 with Taylor Tippetts, Shyanne Whetzel, Abigail Eye and Brooke Ketterman.
It was an all-Hardy County battle in the 4×800 boys relay race with the Cougars crossing the finish line in first place in a time of 10:05.77 with Nathan Phillips, Aaron Fishel, Christian Robinson and Bryce Tharp and the Yellow Jackets grabbed the silver in a time of 11:35.09 with Owen Hartman, Aiden Richardson, Matthew Weatherholt and Matthew Wright.
Over in the discus area the girls were competing and Moorefield’s Kaitlyn Orndorff threw a distance of 69’8.5” for the gold medal, followed by East Hardy’s Summer Funkhouser in second place at 65’3” and Moorefield’s Brooke Ketterman took third at 62’0”.
One had to be alert near the discus pit as a scratch could mean the apparatus was flying into foul territory near an observer.
East Hardy’s Adam Larson had a landing technique in the boys long jump which had him landing and rolling through the sand which was unconventional, yet earned a gold medal with a distance of 17’2”.
Larson was in his sweatshirt before returning to normal attire of the uniform and the new earrings stayed intact, but could have sand lingering in the ear lobe.
Moorefield’s Seth Wilson snatched the silver in the long jump with a distance of 16’9” and the only other competitor to go over the 16-foot mark was Moorefield’s Seth Snyder in third place at 16’4”.
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In the boys shot put, Moorefield’s Paul Peters garnered the top honors with a throw of 41’1”, followed by East Hardy’s Phillip Mullin with the silver medal on a distance of 37’7.75 and Logan Neff took the bronze medal at 36’.
In between the football goal post and the scoreboard, the girls high jump featured Cassie Mooney clearing the 4’2” height for the Lady Yellow Jackets in first place.
Wilson won the gold medal in the boys high jump for the Yellow Jackets at 5’2” and East Hardy’s Drew Kelican was second at 5’0”.
The announcer made sure the hurdles were in the correct spots for the upcoming 100 meter intermediate hurdles.
Moorefield Girls hurdler Hope Aristidou claimed the gold medal with a time of 18:36, edging out East Hardy’s Rayne Metzer silver time of 19.12 and Moorefield’s Allyson Loften took the bronze at 19:47.
In the boys 110 high hurdles, East Hardy’s Drew Kelican won with a time of 17.79, just ahead of teammate Adam Larson at 18.39, both of whom were state qualifiers last season, followed by Moorefield’s Jon Paugh in third place at 19.75.
Everyone was excited to see who the fastest Hardy County sprinter was at the track meet and the 100 meter dash was about to commence to show who was the best.
In the girls 100 meter dash, East Hardy’s Emili Flynn grabbed the gold medal in a time of 14.08 with Moorefield’s Cassie Mooney in a close second place at 14.47 and Pendleton County’s Kenya Managua was third overall at 14.86.
Pendleton County’s Draven Roberts and East Hardy’s Phillip Mullin were running step by step in the 100 meter dash, but Roberts took the gold medal by a fraction of a second with a time of 12.09 to Mullin’s 12.10 and Wildcat Keinyn Lockard took third place at 12.60.
Moorefield’s Paul Peters earned the gold medal in the discus with a distance of 117’3”, while East Hardy’s Alex Vance took third at 98’65.” and Casey Connelley was fourth at 91’2”.
In the girls long jump, East Hardy’s Sierra Marie Miller took top honors with a leap of 13’2” and teammate Cheyenna Miller was third at 12’2” and Moorefield’s Desiree Morris was fourth at 11’6.75”.
East Hardy’s Emma Lutz took the gold medal in the shot put with a throw of 27’7”, followed by Moorefield’s Kaitlyn Orndorff at 24’6.5” and East Hardy’s Summer Funkhouser was fourth at 23’10.5”.
In the girls 4×200 relay race, East Hardy claimed the crown with a time of 2:07.17 featuring Holly Williams, Emma Lutz, Rayne Metzer and Marina Stotelmyer.
Moorefield Girls placed second in a time of 2:11.82 with Sydney Gribble, Allyson Loften, Rachel Shaffer and Cassie Mooney.
It was the same placement in the boys 4×200 relay race as East Hardy took top honors at 1:45.02 with Phillip Mullin, Chance Dove, Sky Spell and Jesse Dove; followed by Moorefield in second place at 1:45.88 with Ben Pyles, Jackson Weese, Seth Snyder and Skyler Ratliff.
Pendleton County siblings Halee Apple and Dawson Apple both garnered the gold medal in the one-miler with times of 6:50.69 and 5:12.12, respectively.
East Hardy Girls runner Mariah Payne finished in fourth place with a time of 7:58 and East Hardy Boys runner Nathan Phillips placed second in a time of 5:14.49.
Moorefield Boys runners Tyler Shewbridge took fifth and Allen Hardbarger was sixth place.
East Hardy’s Emili Flynn was a state qualifier in the 400 meter run last season and finished this meet in the gold medal spot in a time of 1:07.02 with improved strides learning from former EHHS track star and Hardy County Deputy Alicia Sanders.
Flynn had her good luck charm in the stands, the giraffe that followed her to Charleston last year.
East Hardy freshman Sierra Marie Miller was in a close second place with a time of 1:07.96.
Pendleton County’s Draven Roberts won the gold medal in the 400 meter run and finished it posing in a Dab motion with a time of 57.12 with teammate Joe Bucher taking second at 1:00.82 just edging East Hardy’s Aaron Fishel in third place at 1:00.97.
In the 300 meter girls hurdles, East Hardy’s Savanna Larson won in a time of 1:05.37, followed by Moorefield’s Isabelle Nesbit at 1:07.99 and East Hardy’s Hannah Fogel was third at 1:08.02.
For the boys 300 meter hurdles, East Hardy’s Bryce Tharp took top honors with a time of 47.60 with Moorefield’s Jon Paugh on his heels at 48.23 and teammate Isaiah Meininger was third at 1:00.49.
East Hardy Girls and Boys snatched the gold medals for the 4×100 meter relay races with times of 59.34 and 49.54, respectively.
East Hardy Boys working for the win were Phillip Mullin, Chance Dove, Drew Kelican and Jesse Dove.
The Lady Cougars representatives were Emili Flynn, Emma Lutz, Holly Williams and Sierra Marie Miller with the first three having state tournament experience.
Moorefield and East Hardy were at the state tournament last season with different runners.
It might become a tradition, but the boys relay teams for East Hardy and Moorefield shook hands in a sign of good sportsmanship for Hardy County prior to the race.
Moorefield Girls and Boys were silver medalists in the 4×100 meter relays in times of 1:01.98 and 51.76, respectively.
Moorefield Girls 4×100 relay runners were Rachel Shaffer, Laila Spitzer, Deeatra Hillard and Cassie Mooney.
Moorefield’s Shyanne Whetzel won the girls 800 meter run in a time of 3:18.75 and East Hardy’s Jasmine Abrell was third at 3:53.43 and Heather Hoover was fourth at 4:21.53.
East Hardy’s Nathan Phillips was second in the boys 800 meter run with a time of 2:24.13, behind Pendleton County’s Dawson Apple at 2:13.42.
East Hardy’s Sierra Marie Miller took the gold medal in the 200 meter dash with a time of :29.26, Marina Stotelmyer was second at :31.54 and Holly Williams finished in fourth place at :33.86.
Pendleton County’s Draven Roberts grabbed the gold medal in the 200 meter dash in a time of :25.26, leaning just ahead of East Hardy’s Jesse Miller at :25.59 and teammate Sky Spell was fourth at :27.17.
Pendleton County’s Halee and Dawson Apple won the gold medals for the 3200 meter run.
Dawson Apple was over a minute and a half ahead of the other competitors, so he turned and ran backwards for part of one lap finishing at 13:05.80.
East Hardy’s Mariah Payne took third overall in the 3200 meter run with a time of 17:39.37.
The girls shuttle hurdles relay was won by East Hardy in a time of 1:20.36 with Summer Funkhouser, Savanna Larson, Hannah Fogel and Rayne Metzer.
The boys shuttle hurdles relay was won by East Hardy with a time of 1:07.07 featuring Drew Kelican, Bryce Tharp, Adam Larson and Chance Dove.
Moorefield Boys took second place with time of 1:19.84 with Matthew Wright, Owen Hartman, Kobey Wyler and Christian Judy.
In the 4×400 meter relay, East Hardy garnered the gold medal in a time of 5:01.53 featuring Emili Flynn, Marina Stotelmyer, Emma Lutz and Sierra Marie Miller.
East Hardy and Moorefield Track teams are preparing everyday to improve times and distances to achieve the goals set for the season including the ultimate trip to Charleston.
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