West Virginia State Championships 2011

Tyler Consolidated Earns Runner-up Spot   Heading into state meet as many as eight teams had a legitimate shot at winning the AA girls team title.   After the smoke cleared on Saturday afternoon, Berkeley Springs walked away with the championship as they snuck past Tyler Consolidated and Oak Glen. Much like the Doddridge boys and their quest for the team title, Berkeley Springs had just one individual champion as junior thrower  Harlie Stotler captured titles in both shot put and discus. Berkeley Springs’ depth was the deciding factor.

Total Team Effort Gives Bulldogs State Title   Doddridge County winning the 4 x 100m relay.   Heading into the state meet Doddridge County and St. Marys was expected to go head-to-head in several pivotal events that would ultimately decide the state championship between the Little Kanawha Conference rivals.   Doddridge lived up to the expectations as they claimed their second team championship in the last three years. Meanwhile, St. Marys fell back to fourth place as Charleston Catholic claimed state runner-up and Williamstown rounded out the top four.   Doddridge won despite not having a single individual champion. However, Doddridge did claim victories in the 4x100-meter relay and Shuttle Hurdles. They also picked up a pair of second place finishes from Daniel Plaugher in 110-meter high hurdles and 300-meter intermediate hurdles.

Drazba Wins 3 State Championship Titles Breaks 2 Meet Records Magie Drazba winning one of her 3 titles   Over the last two years, a rivalry has seemed to bloom between St. Mary’s Maggie Drazba and Charleston Catholic’s Sami Harris.   After her strong performance at the state meet, Drazba now has five individual state titles--three this year and two last year--to her name, while Harris only has one.   Drazba broke two state records in the 1600-meter and 3200-meter records. She also tied the 800-meter run record with a time of 2:24.32.

Martinsburg runner-up by one point Propst is a triple WV State champion Triple State Champion Godwin   Knabenshue- Double State Champion Led by strong performances from sophomore Emily Godwin and senior Karissa Knabenshue, the Buckhannon-Uphsur girls was able to squeak past Martinsburg by one point for the team title.

Burcham's stellar triple Burcham edges Doughty by .02 to earn the trifecta. (Lance McDaniel photo)   Going into the boys AAA State Track Meet, much hype surrounded the 800-meter, 1600-meter and 3200-meter runs.   It’s safe to say that all three events lived up to that hype.

Franklin Repeats As High Point Champ Brandon Franklin Last year, Liberty Harrison’s Brandon Franklin edged former Sherman star Jake Rollo for the high point by a mere four points. This year--from the beginning--there was little doubt who was going to be high point champ. On Friday night, Franklin won long jump by over a foot.

Jacob Burcham starting the bell lap in the Boys AAA 3200 meter where he finished up with an impressive 57 second last 400 split and took the victory with a 9:11 (his last 800 was 2:00 flat!).  Brandon Doughty (in gold) showed all guts, leading the first 5 laps of the race and pushing Burcham all the way to the tape.  More photos and info to come! Day One results are posted. There were several exciting and closely contested events. We will have complete recaps of each class division and photos after the conclusion of the meet.

  Godwin, B-U look for strong state meet performance Buckhannon-Upshur sophomore Emily Godwin has dominated the state in four events this year--100-meter high hurdles, 300-meter low hurdles, high jump and long jump. As you travel east on Route 33 towards Randolph County, Elkins’ Letitia Propst has had success in four events for this year as well--the 400-meter dash, 800-meter, 1600-meter and 3200-meter runs.

  Cabell Midland, Jefferson enter States as team favorites As the state meet approaches for the top athletes in the state of West Virginia, a possible storyline could be the team and individual battles between Cabell Midland and Jefferson.

  Eight teams in the mix for title at states Fractions of seconds and inches could decide several individual champions and ultimately the team champion in the girls AA races at the state meet.  

  AA boys will see lots of good races As teams travel to Charleston this weekend for the WV State Track Meet, several questions remain in numerous AA boys events. Unlike, in AAA where two or three athletes appear to be favorites in their respective events, that is certainly not the case for AA.  

  Rivalry brewing between sophomores Nearly, two years into their respective high school running careers, St. Mary’s Maggie Drazba and Charleston Catholic’s Sami Harris have seemed to developed a rivalry in the distance events.  

Blue Devils, Bulldogs will battle for team crown Over the years Doddridge County and St. Mary’s have consistently had success at the state track meet. As the 2011 State Meet approaches, the two Little Kanawha Conference schools rank first and second in the state.

Please visit the official West Virginia State Track and Field Championship web site (WVSSAC Track Web Site), or use this handy reference to the links on the WVSSAC site. We plan to have a preview article posted soon.   2011 State Track Meet   State Track Games Committee Report   2011 Order of Events   2011 State Track Meet Qualifiers AAA Boys            AAA Girls AA Boys              AA Girls A Boys                A Girls   2011 Heat Sheets   State Track Records