Polk County High hosted the 2014 Western Highlands Conference Outdoor Track Championships April 9. Polk County Men would score 195.50 points dominating other conference competitors; Owen 112, Hendersonville 105, Mitchell 93.50, Avery 63, Mountain Heritage 57, Madison 48. Athletes are limited to four events and most were called on to compete in four to claim as many points as possible. On Conference Finals day athletes are asked to not run for time, but for place because every finishing position can make a huge difference. It is a day of team effort, not personal record (PR). Top finishers from first to eighth place in each event score team points; 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1.
Senior Matthew Darden claimed four first place medals. Darden won the Men’s 200 Meter Dash in Championship style requiring a photo-finish study of his 23.26 that edged Owen’s Jager Gardner’s 23.27. Darden won the Men’s 400 Meter Dash in 52.44, ran fourth leg anchor in two winning relays 4×200 and 4×400 and was nominated for Most Valuable Runner. Most valuable Male Runner went to Zach Boone of Mitchell who edged Polk’s Sophomore Jacob Wolfe for the win in the Men’s 800 Meter and won the 1600 and 3200 Meter. Wolfe took second in the 800 running a personal best 2:05.33. Wolfe and Darden also met the 2A Regional qualifying standard set by the NCHSAA in the 200, 400 and 800 Meter respectively. Polk was the only school, male or female to clean sweep an event taking first, second and third in two events; Mens’ Shot Put and Men’s Pole Vault.
2014 Conference Champions for Polk County High:
Overall Team Champions
200, 400 – Darden
4×800 Relay – (Sean Doyle, Eli Hall, Wolfe, Caleb Brown) 8:52.
4×200 Relay – (Darden, Gage Stone, Anthony Carson, Reese Schlabach) 1:36.20.
4×400 Relay – (Darden, Stone, Hall, C. Brown) 3:39.
Shot Put – DJ Twitty 45-1.5.
Pole Vault – Anthony Marino 8-6.
Other Polk Male Competitors:
110 Meter Hurdles – Marino third 10.09.
100 Meter Dash – Storm Wheeler sixth 11.93 (PR), Carson 11th 12.33, Chandler Patrick 12.54.
1600 Meter – Jacob Collins third 4:44, Mitchell Brown ninth 4:58.
4×100 Relay – (Schlabach, Carson, Wheeler, Stone) second 46.57.
400 – Darden first 52.44, C. Brown third 54.50, Stone fourth 55.77.
300 Meter Hurdles – Marino tenth 50.88.
800 Meter – Wolfe second 2:05.33, Doyle third 2:08.37, Hall fifth 2:10.74.
200 Meter Dash – Darden first 23.26, Dalvin Littlejohn eighth 25,83.
3200 Meter – Collins third 10:28, M. Brown seventh 10:56.
Shot Put – Twitty first 45-01, JC Suddeth second 41-8, Stephen Stimac third 39-8.
Discus – Suddeth fourth 117-4, Stimac fifth 107-4, Ryan Mollette ninth 97-2.
Long Jump – Will Spencer second 20-7, Schlabach third 18-10.5, Carson fourth 18-0.
Triple Jump – Schlabach second 37-4, Donte Poston third 36-8.5, Spencer fifth 34-9.
High Jump – Littlejohn seventh 4-8.
Pole Vault – Marino first 8-6, Spencer 8-0, Marshall third 7-0.
Polk will host the 2A Regional Finals on May 3, where the top four finishers in each event will advance to State Finals at NCA&T in Greensboro on May 10. The Men’s 4×800 Meter Relay has the number one ranked time in 2A Region competition and is currently ranked second for all 2A State high schools.
– article submitted
by Jenny Wolfe