Pointers edge Panthers for OVC
Published 12:00 am Saturday, June 3, 2006
CHESAPEAKE — South Point coach Randy Smith knew it was going to be a photo finish.
It always is when it comes to the Ohio Valley Conference track meet.
The Pointers edged the Chesapeake Panthers 137-134 in another title battle between the two schools.
“It’s been this way for the past six years,” South Point coach Randy Smith said.
“I knew it was going to be close again, especially with Quay Logan hurt. We bring Benji (Smith) back who hasn’t even practiced. I told the guys we were going to struggle for every point we could get. Luckily, this time it panned out for us.”
Fairland was third with 94.5 points followed by Coal Grove with 6, Rock Hill 52.5 and River Valley 38.
Benji Smith, who had not run in the 300 hurdles since last season, finished second in the race and won the 110 hurdles. Smith has had an arthritic knee problem all season.
“The only way it can heal is with rest, so he’s pretty much taken off the whole year,” coach Smith said.
Chris Smith gave his team its usual points by winning the shot put and discus in grand fashion.
His throw of 55-6.5 in the shot put broke John Maynard’s school record, and his toss of 170 feet in the discus not only broke Docky Wells school record but set a new OVC mark.
“We just had so many kids who came through. Cory Garred in the discus, John Crager hasn’t even been running in the 100 and gets third, and Jade Smith in the shot put,” coach Smith said.
“Drew Lynd got second in the long jump and we never expected that with Quay out.”
The title was the third for the Pointers in the past four years.
Chesapeake coach Phil Davis knew the meet would be a toss up.
“I’ve been figuring it to be them by five or us by five depending how things come out. It was fun,” Davis said.
Despite the second place finish, Davis was pleased with a lot of his team’s performances, especially the 4×400 relay team of
Caleb McComas, Adam Slone, Jeffrey Thornburg and Kenny Morgan.
“The 4×4 ran well. We had some really good performances for our first place finishers,” said Davis.
Thornburg and Fairland’s Chuckie Wentz shared meet high points honors with 30.5 points.
Thornburg won the long jump and 300 hurdles and was second in the 110 hurdles to go along with his spot on the 4×400 relay.
Wentz won the 800, 1600 and 3200 and was on the 4×800 relay that finished fifth.
The Division II district meet will be Wednesday and Saturday at Oak Hill. The Division III meet is Tuesday and Friday at Rock Hill.
Ohio Valley Conference
Boys Track Meet
Team Scores
1. South Point 137, 2. Chesapeake 134, 3. Fairland 94.5, 4. Coal Grove 67, 5. Rock Hill 52.5, 6. River Valley 38.
Field Events
Discus - 1. Chris Smith (SP) 170-0 (meet record), 2. Branch (CG), 3. Willis (CG), 4. McWhorter (Ch), 5. Garred (SP), 6. Brown (RV).
Long Jump - 1. Jeffrey Thornburg 20-3.5, 2. Lynd (SP), 3. Moore (RH), 4. Ward (F), 5. Logan (SP), 6. Pemberton (F).
Shot Put - 1. Chris Smith (SP) 55-6.5, 2. Branch (CG), 3. Bare (CG), 4. McWhorter (Ch), 5. J. Smith (SP), 6. Knipp (RH).
Pole Vault - 1. Aaron Ross (Ch) 12-0, 2. Norris (SP), 3. Blankenship (CG), 4. Kincaid (F), 5. Craft (SP), 6. Sifford (F).
High Jump - 1. Brent Ransbottom (Ch) 6-8, 2. Ripley (F), 3. Casey (RH), 4. Lynd (SP), 5. Pemberton (F), 6. Brammer (CG).
Running Events
4×800 Relay _ 1. River Valley 8:39.5, 2. Chesapeake, 3. Coal Grove, 4. South Point, 5. Fairland.
100 M Dash - 1. Kenny Morgan (Ch) 11.3, 2. Massie (RH), 3. Crager (SP), 4. Dean (SP), 5. Jones (F), 6. (tie) Casey (RH), Jackson (F).
110 Hi Hurdles - 1. Benji Smith (SP) 15.0, 2. Thornburg (Ch), 3. Ward (F), 4. Pierson (RH), 5. Jones (SP), 6. Fraley (Ch).
4×200 Relay - 1. South Point (David Absher, Jerrell Dean, Aaron Patterson, John Crager) 1:35.7, 2. Coal Grove, 3. Fairland, 4. Chesapeake, 5. Rock Hill.
1600 M Run - 1. Chuckie Wentz (F) 4:48.3, 2. King (F), 3. Cravens (Ch), 4. Hively (RV), 5. Lester (RV), 6. Nelson (RH).
4×100 Relay - 1. Rock Hill 44.5, 2. South Point, 3. Chesapeake, 4. Coal Grove, 5. Fairland.
400 M Dash — 1. Adam Slone (Ch) 52.2, 2. Norris (SP), 3. Abshire (SP), 4. Morgan (Ch), 5. Jones (F), 6. Robinson (RH).
300 M Hurdles - 1. Jeffrey Thornburg (Ch) 40.2, 2. B. Smith (SP), 3. Jones (SP), 4. Ward (F), 5. Pierson (RH), 6. Fraley (Ch).
800 M Run - 1. Chuckie Wentz (F) 2:02.9, 2. Jenkins (CG), 3. Lester (RV), 4. Burgess (SP), 5. Cravens (Ch), 6. Casto (RV).
200 M Dash - 1. Jared Massie (RH) 22.9, 2. Morgan (Ch), 3. Slone (Ch), 4. Dean (SP), 5. Jones (F), 6. Pierson (RH).
3200 M Run - 1. Chuckie Wentz (F) 10:40.6, 2. King (F), 3. Weatherstein (RV), 4. Hively (RV), 5 Cravens (Ch), 6. Woody (SP).
4×400 Relay - 1. Chesapeake (McComas, Thornburg, Slone, Morgan) 3:32.2, 2. South Point, 3. Coal Grove, 4. River Valley, 5. Fairland.
High Point -Jeffrey Thornburg, Chesapeake, and Chuckie Wentz, Fairland, 30.5 points.