Photo by Nick Henthorn
The St. Clairsville Red Devil boys track team, pictured, are the OVAC 4A and overall champions after their performance Saturday at their home track for the OVAC championships. The Red Devils totalled 186 points as a team, more than 60 points ahead of overall second-place Morgantown.
ST. CLAIRSVILLE – Saturday was the culmination of days-long competition as the OVAC crowned its champions on the St. Clairsville track, the hosting Red Devils winning the boys and girls 4A championship, and the boys totalling the highest team score across all classes.
After OVAC qualifying meets on Monday and Tuesday, Saturday’s championship meet was as much a test of endurance as it was a test of performance.
“We hosted four meets this week, so the big thing we had to focus on was just competing hard and putting in solid efforts,” St. Clairsville head coach Darin Wilson said. “We didn’t have to do anything special, just do what we’ve been doing all year. After Monday, Tuesday, junior high on Wednesday, it’s just a testament to the athletes to come back today prepared to do what they need to do to sweep the titles.”
St. Clairsville raised trophies for both their boys and girls squads, while the boys’ 186 points topped the entire conference field by a wide margin.
“On the boys side as a whole we qualified really well, it was just a matter of putting in solid efforts,” Wilson said. “On the girls side we were led by our field events, we scored a lot of points in our field events, definitely long jump and pole vault. All of our relays were here, and that’s a big part of it, on both sides every single relay team ran today.”
The St. C. girls totaled 120 points.
While the Red Devils swept 4A, Steubenville Catholic Central won the girls 1A/2A title with 88 team points, while Shadyside won the boys side with 86 team points. Trinity Christian and Shadyside were co-runners up in girls competition with 72 points each, while Caldwell was boys runner-up with 70 points.
Barnesville’s girls were triumphant in 3A with 84 points, while the Linsly boys won with 102 team points. Shenandoah was the 3A girls runner up with 82 points, and the Barnesville boys were runner-up with 66 points.
St. Clairsville was duel champions in 4A, and Weir was duel runner up, the boys tallying 86 points and the girls 90 points.
Morgantown swept 5A, the boys scoring 120 points and the girls 122. 122 points was tops for all classes in girls competition. Dover’s girls were runner up with 86 team points, while Steubenville boys were runner up with 94 points.
Local athletes threw, ran and jumped their way to the top of the many of the events at the meet, which ran from 10 a.m. to just before 3 p.m. In field events, Union Local’s Johnny Sabinski placed first in the boys discus throw and shot put, Steubenville’s Sabria Jones placed first in the girls long jump, and St. Clairsville’s Ava Crum placed first in the girls pole vault.
In the individual races, Wheeling Central’s JJ White came in firs tin the boys 400-meter dash, Steubenville’s Savier Faulks came in first in the boys 300-meter hurdles, Valley’s Gavin Derby finished first in the boys’ 200-meter dash, and Steubenville Catholic Central’s Andrew Rohde took the gold in the boys 3200-meter run.
In the relay races, Steubenville did well for themselves, winning the girls and the boys 4×200-meter relays, as well as the 4×400-meter relay.
Two OVAC meet records were broken- Dover’s 4×110 meter shuttle hurdle team finished with a new top time of 56.63, and Trinity Christian’s Elecia McCurrie set a new record in the 100-meter dash with an 11.88.
The hosting Red Devils got standout performances from multiple athletes to help them to 4A titles.
“On the boys side, Harison Kazmirski and Colton Westlake were in four events and they both were winners in multiple events,” Wilson said. “Colton Westlake in particular, he finished first in class in all his events. When your seniors step up like that, it’s big for us. On the girls side, Emma Henry, senior for us, she stepped up in both the 100 and 200, she did what we needed her to do as a senior leader.”
Westlake finished first among all 4A boys in the 300 and 110-meter hurdles. Kazmirski finished first in 4A in the boys 400-meter dash. Emma Henry placed second overall and first in 4A in both the girls 200 and 100-meter dash, and placed third in 4A in the girls long jump.
The OVAC meet will be the last stop for many of the attending teams before the postseason. The WVSSAC State Track Meet is set for May 17 and 18, while the OHSAA State Track Meet is set for May 30-June 1.
