By Stephen Smoot
Not long ago, fielding a competitive track team was a dream of a few coaches and determined athletes.
This spring, the program leapt ahead farther than a champion long jumper.
Head coach Christopher Wilburn brought into the season a core of experienced athletes who worked hard and competed harder in both cross-country and track the past two years. The “junior heavy” squad came into the year with only one senior, but with significant leadership and proven ability relative to past years.
Wilburn relied heavily on returnees such as Sawyer Apple, Titus Nulph, Thunder Gill, Gabe Harvey, and others.
Apple, one of the juniors who formed the backbone of the team, earned a medal in the state track tournament held late last month in Charleston. He took sixth place in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.34, improving by .12 over his first place finish in Keyser on April 16.
Apple also earned eighth place in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 43.73. This result showed more than a two second improvement over the 46.10 he ran on March 28 in the team’s first meet at Frankfort.
Also competing in Charleston was the 4×800 meter relay team. The composition of this squad changed over the season from when it placed third at Frankfort in the initial meet of the year. Cayson Armstrong, Logan Fisher, Gabriel Harvey, and Titus Nulph ran for a 9:18 and took 12th place.
Nulph, a junior, put much of his work this year into returning from injuries. A mainstay on the cross-country squad, along with fellow runner Gill, he improved in the 800-meter race from 2:23.66 at Frankfort to a second place finish timed at 2:13.94 in the PVLs just a month later.
Gill brought the thunder much of the year, competing in distance races. He placed fourth at the Frankfort meet in March with a 10.58 but placed first in the same event at PVLs with a 10.57. He also set a personal record in the 1600 at Keyser in April.
Wilburn compared Harvey to a utility infielder in baseball in that he offers the flexibility to compete in a number of different ways. “He’s a sprinter and a jumper,” the head coach explained, “but ended up running in the 4×800 at the state meet.” He added that “I’m excited to see what he does for the football team next fall.”
High praise was also handed to sophomore Fisher who “made a big jump from last year to this year.”
Armstrong, a freshman, worked his way up through the season. Wilburn called him “a good get,” and he competed on both the state qualifying relay team and also in the 1600-meter race at times.
Ryland Copley and Victor Rhodes competed again this year in the throwing events of discus and shot put. “Both of these boys continued to make strides this year. In 2024, Rhodes and Copley finished consistently better in their events than the year prior. I’m hopeful for them next year,” he added.
The progress of the program showed itself at PVLs, held at East Hardy in late April. The team came close to overtaking perennial power Tucker County, only losing in team points 119 to 113.
Junior Isaiah Lockard, one of the team’s sprinters, showed tremendous improvement between Frankfort and the PVLs. Lockard took second place in the 200-meter race at PVLs and set a personal record in the effort. In the same race, Ryan Bruns also set a personal record with a time of 29.65.
Lockard also “PRed” in the 400 meters and took third.
Although he did not set a personal record, Cain Nulph’s PVLs showed him improving approximately one second in time in the 200 meters over his performance a month prior.
Cain Nulph was also part of the 4×100 relay team with Bruns, Dalton Hester, and Marcus Smith that set a record at the same event.
Wilburn reported that the track team’s future looks even brighter next year. In addition to expectations of a squad loaded with talented seniors, the small, but mighty inaugural middle school track squad fared well at the PVLs for their age group.
The team of four, Colton Roberson, Sam Eason, Albert Ramos-Rivera, and Ben Puffenbarger, placed fourth in the competition. Roberson won the 100, the 200, shot put, and high jump while Eason placed second in the 400 and 800.
