Thunderstorms caused the meet to be cut short but not before the Jefferson boys again proved they are a force to be reckoned in the region. Jefferson lapped the six team field at the 17th annual Journal/Hedgesville Invitational scoring 189 points to second place Martinsburg with 79 points. Musselman (67 points), host Hedgesville (55.5), Washington (46.5) and Hampshire (30) rounded out the field. In the girl’s results, Martinsburg scored 117 points and held off Hampshire (104) and Washington (100) for the Invitational title. Steadily improving Jefferson (87.7), Hedgesville (53) and Musselman rounded out the girl’s results.
The day was highlighted by two sprinters, one male and one female, who each led their teams to victory. Jefferson junior Dante’ Price stormed to victory in the 100 M Dash in a blazing 10.52 seconds pushed hard by Musselman’s Josh Ferguson in an impressive 10.78 and Jefferson’s Tyler Lambert in 11.12. Price later added the 200 M Dash title (22.15 seconds) and anchored Jefferson’s victories in the 4 X 100 (43.56 seconds) and 4 X 200 M Relays (1:29.33). The 4 X 200 M Relay time established a new meet record besting the previous record set in 2000 by over 1.5 seconds.
In the Girls’ events, Jasmyn Hosby led the charge for the Martinsburg Bulldogs sweeping the sprint events with victories in the 100 M Dash (12.14), the 200 M Dash (25.38) and the 400 M Dash (58.09) and securing the Bulldogs wins in the 4 X 100 Relay (50.01) and the 4 X 200 M Relay (1:49.90). In the 100 M Dash, the victory was hotly contested as Hosby’s time of 12.14 was just enough to beat hard charging teammate Mykera Days (12.15) and cousin Devyn Hosby of Washington (12.16). All three times met the National Elite standard. Simply a stellar performance and race in this marquee event.
Girls 100 M Dash Goes to the Finish - Rollie Jacobs Photo
In the Boys’ meet, the rain-shortened day belonged to Jefferson. Eric Graf posted Jefferson’s other meet record performance as he cruised to victory in the 3200 M Run in 9:24.41 followed by two other teammates coming in under 10 minutes, Ryan Graf (9:45.89) and Sam Munnis (9:56.00). Travis Miller of Jefferson took the meet Shot Put crown with a heave of 47’6.5”, a new personal best. And in perhaps the most interesting and novel victory, Jefferson’s Ashton Hyler somersaulted to victory in the 300 M Hurdles in 41.43 after stumbling over the last hurdle with teammate Warren Gray close behind in 41.58.
Jefferson Boys Take Top Spots in 3200 - Rollie Jacobs Photo
In the 800 M Run, Martinsburg’s Nick Bauer broke through Jefferson’s recent dominance in the distance events to win in a new meet record time of 1:58.12. Jefferson’s Eric Graf (1:59.33), Ryan Graf (2:03.35) and Andrew Milliron (2:03.44) took the next three spots. The 1600 M Run was not completed due to lightning in the area and the cancellation of the remaining events.
Other victories in the boy’s events went to Hampshire’s Levi Moreland in the Discus Throw with a National Elite toss of 151’07” to best Martinsburg’s Levi Moreland (145’09”) and Jefferson’s Andrew Buckler (118’10”). Roland Rush of Washington also turned in another strong performance, winning the Pole Vault by clearing 13’00” to defeat Jefferson’s Jimmy Meyer and Hedgesville’s Hunter Weaver, each of whom cleared 12’00”. Rush later turned around and won the 400 M Dash in 51.68, just nipping out Hedgesville’s Aaron Lloyd (51.69) by a hundredth of a second. Jefferson sprinters Leon Waldron and Warren Goode took third and fourth in 52.18 and 52.30 respectively. In the 4 x 800 M Relay, Hedgesville set a team season’s best time of 8:28.23 seconds to easily outpace Martinsburg (8:38.77) and Musselman (8:42.38) for the win.
For the girls, it was not all Jasmyn Hosby for the Martinsburg team as Breayun Days contributed a win in the Long Jump by leaping 15’09” to surpass Jefferson’s Bryanna Doughty (15’04”) and Selena Renteria (15’00.5”). Martinsburg swept the top three spots in the Shot Put as Jaida Walker put the shot 35’00.5” to edge out teammates Ashauna Calder (34’11.5”) and Essence Underwood (31’10”) for the victory. Jefferson’s Emma Albright was fourth with a toss of 31’07”.
Other stellar performances on the day belonged to two Washington Girls as rising star Rhonda Rogombe leapt 5’06” take the win over Jefferson’s Kenya Price (4’08”) in the High Jump. Rogombe also added second place finishes in the 200 M Dash and 400 M Dash to round out her performance on the day. Washington distance runner Vivian Ruiz strode to victory in the 1600 M Run in 5:31.12 followed by Hampshire’s Sarah Burkett (5:37.17) and Washington’s Destiny Harrison (5:40.50). In the 3200 M Run, it was a 1-2 finish for Hampshire as Rachel Lipps raced to a time of 12:04.00 followed by Ashleigh Martin in 12:10.72. Washington’s Ruiz finished third in 12:14.53.
In other highlights, Jefferson pole vaulter Caitlyn Clark cleared a National Elite height of 11’00” to win the Girls’ Pole Vault. Washington’s Caysie Irving took second with a height of 10’00” followed by Hedgesville’s Courtney Hanshew and Tameisha McBrearty and Washington’s Sara Pifer who all tied for third with a height of 8’00”. Hedgesville’s Victoria Reid continued her winning ways in the Discus with a throw of 94’10”. Martinsburg’s Keisha Nunn (88’04”) and Kayla Bearns (83”02”) rounded out the top three to contribute to a strong performance on the day by Martinsburg in the field events.
On this weather shortened day, it was again the Jefferson boys balance across the events that led to another convincing victory while the Martinsburg girls rode to victory on the performances of their sprinters and perhaps unsung weight throwers. Both teams should be strong as the tests of Regionals and the State Meet await.