By Carl Holcomb
The Yellow Jackets swarmed to both team championships honoring all 18 seniors with dynamic finishes for a final home meet bow.
The best highlight of the meet was Moorefield junior Chernet Ansani shattering the all-time 800 meter run school record with a time of 2:08.1, which had stood for over 25 years held by Julian Whiteman.
The Yellow Jackets seniors contributed a dozen personal best performances complementing Ansani’s record breaking run to glory.
“The record is on the board outside the locker room at the track. When Chernet was a freshman, he went to state for the 4×800 relay. They didn’t medal. He saw then that he was going up against kids who ran all year. Last year was hard because we didn’t have a track. He still ran all year. This year, I had people telling me that they saw Chernet running during the summer, fall, and winter. They said he was determined to break Julian Whiteman’s record in the 800. The kids on the team even refer to him as Coach Chernet because they look up to him so much. I’ll even tell you that Chernet has given his 4×800 teammates a goal to help bring their relay time down. I even had one person call Chernet while away with DECA to ask if it was okay for them to scratch the open 800 at the last meet. They respect him and know how dedicated he is. I don’t focus on breaking records. I want them to improve themselves at each meet. That doesn’t mean I’m not proud of Chernet. On the contrary, I’m so proud of the person he is and the effort he puts into everything he does. That’s why he’s in Atlanta competing for DECA now. If everyone put forth the same attitude towards track, we would not only break records, we would win at state track,” Moorefield Boys Track coach Linda Wright commented.
Moorefield Boys Track seniors bid farewell to the home crowd with a plethora of personal best performances: Carter Sherman (110m High Hurdles 16.1, Shuttle Hurdles 1:03.1, Discus 77’0.5”), Wyatt Shirk (Shot Put 35’4”), Jhon Paul (110m High Hurdles 16.4, Shuttle Hurdles 1:03.1) Marcus Cremann, Matthew McDonald (200m 23.6, 4×400 3:59.9, 4×800 10:07.9), Jake Lumia, Luke Combs (Discus 67’6”), Josiah Howard (4×100 45.8, 4×200 1:39.6), Kevin Aleman (Shot Put 26’2”) and Lawrence Sherman (Long Jump 15’11”).
Moorefield Boys Track won the team title with101 points, followed by East Hardy 52.5, Pocahontas County 38.5, Union 19.5 and Petersburg 16.5.
The Yellow Jackets Boys secured nine gold medals: 200 (McDonald), 400 (McDonald), 800 (Ansani), 4×100 (Howard, Javier Acosta, Jordan Fields, Bill Lewis-Nieves), 4×200 (same as 4×100), 4×400 (Fields, Acosta, McDonald, Ansani), 4×800 (McDonald, Ansani, Hector Luna-Davy, Nathan Crites), Shuttle Hurdles (Carter Sherman, Acosta, Jhon Paul, Jackson Kerns), Shot Put (Levi Davis 39’4” PB).
East Hardy Boys claimed four top honors: 100 (Nehemiah Graham 11.5), 1600m (Jonathan Montgomery 5:39.7), 3200m (Montgomery 12:15.8), High Jump (Gideon Good 5’6”).
The Yellow Jackets Girls Track squad snatched top team honors with 65 points, edging Petersburg at 64.5, East Hardy 61, Pocahontas County 23 and Harman 10.
Moorefield Girls Track seniors rung the final bell with stellar finishes: Elizabeth Williams (2nd 4×800 14:54.4, 5th 400m 1:25.9), LeeAnne Coon (1st 4×200 1:56.7, 2nd 4×100 53.9), Veronica Carr (7th Discus 72’3”, 8th Shot Put 23’4”) Omayeris Ortiz-Martinez (1st 4×400 5:17.4, 2nd Long Jump 12’3”, 8th 100m 14.5), Faith Snyder (T-4th High Jump 4’2”, 5th Long Jump 11’1”) Elroe Baye, Alexis Campbell (2nd 4×800 14:54.4, 4th 800m 3:45.9) and Keira Cornett (PR Discus 54’4”).
Moorefield Girls Track sophomore Parvatee Snyder won the 100 meter dash in a person best time of 12.7.
Chloe Leroux won a title for the Yellow Jackets in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:57.9.
Moorefield Girls 4×200 quartet won the gold medal and same squad took silver in the 4×100 (LeeAnne Coon, Parvatee Snyder, Sydney Lancaster, Jocelyn Wagner)
East Hardy Girls Track completed the long distance championship sweep as freshman Shaye Barb won the 1600m 7:02.2 and 3200m 15:42.6.
Barb helped the 4×800 relay earn the championship joining senior Madison Cowgill, junior Brianna Hamilton and sophomore Jaiden Gordon for a time of 13:54.5.
Cowgill, Gordon and Hamilton accompanied senior Alexis McKinney in earning a silver medal in the 4×400 relay 5:49.8.
The Cougars took bronze medals in the 4×100 (Miller, Kerr, Xavia Barber, Madilyn Funk, and 4×200 (Miller, McKinney, Funk, Barber) relays.
East Hardy Girls Track junior Madison Kerr won the gold medal in the 100m hurdles with a season best time of 15.7.
East Hardy Girls Track senior Morganne Miller finished with top honors for the 300m hurdles in a season best time of 53.2.
