Cardinal Conference Championships Track Preview

Competition will be fierce among local track athletes as the annual Cardinal Conference Championships will be held today at Poca, where I'll be covering for The Daily Mail.

I'll do my best to give a run-down of those expected to contend among the conference's best. Please keep in mind I used rankings from www.runwv.com, which were last updated April 23, and I also used results from those teams and athletes who competed at the Gazette/Friends of Coal Relays on Friday and Saturday. Therefore, it's a fairly good picture, but it's not 100 percent complete and I may miss a few names. Some athletes may not run in their top events, too, as some coaches prefer to rest them for regionals next week.

So, here we go.

competition is thick on the boys side. The Poca boys rank seventh and Scott ninth, respectively, while no Cardinal Conference girls squads rank in the state's top 10. Though the Wayne, Herbert Hoover and Chapmanville boys teams do not rank among the state's top 10, each school boasts plenty of talented runners.

Here's my best breakdown, for the boys, of each events for the Cardinal Conference Championships.

100: Wayne's Kade Sebastian, Devin Wiley and Ethan Thompson, both of Chapmanville, and Poca's A.J. Keys will be among contenders. Sebastian ranks first in AA boys for the event and edged Wiley for second place at Gazette Relays.

200: Chapmanville's Thompson and Andrew Workman, and Wayne's Kurt Langdon-Arthur look to be among the favorites.

400: Herbert Hoover's Josh Gurski ranks second in AA; He'll contend with Langdon-Arthur, and Nick Weeks and Wade McComas, both of Scott.

800: Scott's strength lies within the middle distance and distance events, led by Will Shaffer, who ranks second in the state in this event. Shaffer won the 800 at Gazette Relays, while teammate Zack Marcum finished seventh

1600: Shaffer is the favorite as he is second-best in the state. Other top performances expected from Wyatt Harvey, of Scott.

3200: Shaffer, No. 1 in the state, again is the favorite with Harvey among top finishers, too.

110H: Poca's Josh Crites (seventh-best in state) and Austin McNeely will battle Hoover's Tyler Hagewood (eighth in state) and Scott's Ricahrd Pratt.

300H: Crites, McNeely, and Chad Maynard, of Chapmanville, will contend. Crites and McNeely each rank in the state's top 10.

4x100: Hoover (seventh) and Chapmanville (10th) in AA.

4x200: Wayne sixth and Chapmanville 10th in AA.

4x400: Scott 10th in AA.

4x800: Unsure here.

Shuttle hurdles: Poca ranks ninth in AA.

High jump: No Cardinal Conference athletes rank within the state's top 10.

Long jump: Unsure here.

Pole Vault: No Cardinal Conference athletes rank within the state's top 10.

Shot put: No one will contend with Poca sophomore Christian Buckley as he leads the state by a wide margin. Buckley's older brother Quentin Buckley, along with Dots teammates Jacob Hickman and Corey McClure should make good marks, too.

Discus: Poca's crew will be led by Christian Buckley, who ranks first in AA.

Here's a breakdown of the girls action:

100 & 200: Herbert Hoover's Emiliee Henry will be the favorite as she ranks fifth and second in the respective events for Class AA.

400: No Cardinal Conference relays rank within the state's top 10.

800: Wayne's Kylie Rutherford lists fifth-best in AA, with Scott's Samantha Graffius sixth and Grace Montgomery, of Sissonville, ninth.

1600: Rutherford ranks sixth in the state, with Scott's Sheena Chambers 10th.

3200: Rutherford ranks fifth in the state.

100H: No Cardinal Conference relays rank within the state's top 10.

300H: Scott's Haylie Damron ranks fifth in the state, with Montgomery seventh.

4x100: Hoover is seventh in AA.

4x200: No Cardinal Conference relays rank within the state's top 10.

4x400 & 4x800: Scott ranks ninth and fourth, respectively, in AA.

Shuttle hurdles: Scott ranks ninth in the state.

High jump: No Cardinal Conference athletes rank within the state's top 10.

Long jump: Damron, of Scott, ranks fifth in AA.

Pole vault: Hoover's Taylor Marsh is tied for fourth in AA.

Shot put: Wayne's Lexy Beckett ranks fourth in the state for AA, with Poca's Kristen Boughman fifth

Discus: Beckett ranks third in the state.

Again, these rankings and listings are by no means a prediction of finishes as some athletes switch events or elect not to run at all. Also, some meet times do not get reported, therefore athletes are not ranked by www.runwv.com. And, you must consider that athletes perform their best and dig deep in times of postseason, so it would be no surprise to see an unknown or underdog win any number of events.