Jefferson Boys Show Strength at Battlefield Blast

Frankfort’s Welker Puts on a Show in the Girl’s Events

The Jefferson High School boys track team posted a dominating performance at Saturday’s Dwight Scott Battlefield Blast in Boonsboro, MD.  Competing in a twenty team field, Jefferson posted the team victory by a score of 104 to 56 over second place Mt. Hebron High School.   Jefferson rode to victory on the strength of their sprinters and distance runners, scoring first place finishes in six events and second place finishes in two other events.  Along the way, Jefferson set meet records in three events including the 200 M Dash (Dante Price, 22.24 seconds into a brisk wind), the 4 X 100 Relay (Dante Price, Ashton Lai-Fang, Tyler Lambert and Ashton Hyler, 43.49) and the 4 X 200 Relay (Dante Price, Ashton Lai-Fang, Tyler Lambert and Ashton Hyler, 1:31.70, breaking the previous meet record by 1.6 seconds).  Dante Price also won in the 100 M Dash (11.38).  Other Jefferson highlights included the 1600 M Run as Andrew Milliron and Ryan Graf battled to the line with Milliron nipping Graf at the finish by 0.25 seconds with a winning time of 4:32.83.  The 1600 was one of six races where Jefferson had multiple runners score including the 110 M and 300 M Hurdles.  Lane Simpson scored in both Hurdles races supported by Warren Gray in the 110 M Hurdles and Curtis Chiswell in the 300. 

Dante Price and Ashton Hyler in record setting 4 X 100 - Rollie Jacobs Photo

Andrew Milliron and Ryan Graf finished 1st and 2nd in the 1600 - Rollie Jacobs Photo

Tyler Lambert scored big for Jefferson - Rollie Jacobs Photo

Eric Graf’s MileSplit National Elite performance took the victory in the 3200 M Run (9:30.03) followed by Sam Munnis in 4^th in 9:54.32.  Tyler Lambert contributed significantly to Jefferson’s success on the day with fifth place finishes in the 100 M Dash and 200 M Dash in addition to his first-place performances in the relays noted above.  

Eric Graf leads Sam Munnis in the 3200 - Rollie Jacobs Photo

Washington, Martinsburg, and Hedgesville also made the trip up from West Virginia to compete in the Blast.  Washington’s Roland Rush had a significant highlight as he shattered the meet record by soaring 14’0” in the boys’ pole vault.  Hedgesville’s Hunter Weaver (11’6”) placed second to Rush.  They were joined in the scoring by Hedgesville’s Mike Higginbotham (10’6”) and Jefferson’s Dunkan Ward (10’0”) in fifth and sixth place respectively.  Other West Virginia highlights in the boys’ events included the High Jump where Hedgesville’s Aaron Snider (3^rd, 6’0”), Martinsburg’s Lamaj Cooper (4^th, 5’10”) and Washington’s Martinez Grant (6^th 5’8”).  Grant also finished sixth in the Long Jump (19’6.50”).  In the Discus Throw, Martinsburg’s Logan Jenkins finished fifth (132’9”) while Nick Pusatori of Hedgesville finished just behind in sixth with a throw of 132’8”. 

In the final team scoring Jefferson finished first as noted above with 104 points followed by Hedgesville (11^th, 19 points), Washington (15^th, 12 points) and Martinsburg (17^th, 10 points).

Frankfort’s Bria Welker Wows the Crowd

Frankfort’s Bria Welker wowed the crowd by recording a MileSpilt National Elite time of 57.18 to break the new meet record by over two seconds in the 400 M Dash.  Welker added third place finishes in the 100 M Dash (13.21), the 200 M Dash (26.61) and the Long Jump (17’1”) to score 28 points and singlehandedly carry Frankfort to 8^th place in the meet.

Bria Welker runs to victory - Rollie Jacobs Photo

Overall, the host Boonsboro High School girls were led by Sara Zielinski and Abby Duncan’s two victories each to score a significant win over second place Liberty High School, 81.5 points to 58.  Sara Zielinski’s smooth stride carried her to victories in the 1600 M Run (5:24.78) and the 3200 M Run (11:31.39).  Duncan dashed to victory in the 100 M Dash (12.79) over Martinsburg’s Jasmin Hosby (13.03) and set a new meet record (25.91) in the 200 M Dash to secure the win.  Duncan also added second place (4 X 100 M Relay) and fourth place (4 X 200 M Relay) to add to her outstanding performance on the day. 

Jasmin Hosby’s second place finish in the 100 was part of notably strong performance on the day.  Hosby added a team victory in the 4 X 100 M Relay (50.55) with teammates Kala Ames, Breayun Days, and Mykera Days.  She also placed fourth in the 400 M Dash (1:00.98) and fifth in the 200 M Dash

. 

Jasmin Hosby anchored Martinsburg's 4 X 100 win - Rollie Jacobs Photo

In addition to Welker and Hosby, other West Virginia girls also turned in outstanding performances.  Washington freshman Rhonda Rogombe jumped 5’4” to score a Milesplit National Elite performance and finish second to Catoctiin’s Hannah Stone (5’6”) in the High Jump.  Rogombe also added a fifth place finish in the 400 M Dash (1:01.03) to her day.  In the Shot Put, Martinsburg’s Jaida Walker put the shot 34’5” to secure the win.  Hedgesville’ Victoria Reid took the victory in the Discus Throw with a toss of 105”11”.  She added a third place finish in the Shot Put with a throw of 33”01.75”.  Washington’s Caysie Irving cleared 10’6” to take second in the Pole Vault.

In team scoring, West Virginia was well represented in the top ten with Martinsburg securing seventh place with 39 points, followed by Frankfort in eighth with 28 points (all scored by Bria Welker), Washington 9^th with 25 points and Hedgesville in 10^th with 23.20 points.