Athlete of the Week - Brandon Doughty

The AotW for May 17th to 23rd is Brandon Doughty of Jefferson High School. Brandon ran a 1:56.66/4:14.30/9:23.20 triple, anchored the 2nd place 4x800m team, won the 2010 AAA High Point and helped push his team to a AAA Team Championship. Mr. Doughty is a junior and the defending AAA Cross Country Boys Champion. We've now had three different boys go sub-4:15 at the State Meet from 2005-2010. There were zero from 1979-2004.

Special Tip o' the Cap to just about everyone who was down in Charleston over the weekend. That was a crazy meet. Class A girls 800 and 1600 records were 1.25 combined seconds from both being broken by a freshman. Class A boys saw their 800 record broken by two guys. Class AA girls had 2 girls under 2:20 (one a freshman) and were less than a second away from the 1600 record falling. Class AA boys had some of the tightest finshes of the weekend and two boys under 1:59. Class AAA girls almost saw their 800 record broken and sub-11:00. Class AAA boys finished the record book re-write that started last year with the 800 record getting smashed with authority; saw the one-year-old 3200 record go down in one of the most exciting finishes there's been in a while; and saw three boys sub-4:20 and one of them sub-4:15.

Bring on Cross Country and Foot Locker.

(Photo: www.tristaterunnur.com)

Athlete of the Week - Keri Bland

The AotW for May 10th - 16th is Keri Bland of WVU. Keri ran 4:14.52 and 2:07.04 over the week. The 1500m time is the seventh fastest time in the NCAA, and the second fastest in school history. Unbelievably, Kari Hamric ran 4:15.32 and 2:08.02 this week. WVU is home to two of the top-ten 1500m girls in the NCAA, and both are from West Virginia. Good luck to both through the rest of their seasons.

Tip of the Cap to all the kids that qualified for States, and a Special Tip of the Cap to Andy Bailey of Saint Albans for putting up 1:53.93 in the 800m to win Region IV in stunning fashion.

Athlete of the Week - Josie Crouch

The AotW for May 3rd-9th is Josie Crouch of Hurricane High School. Ms. Crouch wins her AotW via her 2:13.80 800m at the MSAC Championships. Someone is going to need a rocket and rollerskates to beat Josie at States in the 800m. Best of luck to her as she finishes out her senior year.

Athlete of the Week - Jacob Burcham

The AotW for April 26th - May 2nd is Jacob Burcham, a freshman at Cabell Midland High School. Jacob earns his AotW by his 1:56/4:14/9:20 triple. The best way to describe how great his weekend was would be to just say that he topped what was probably one of the best distance weekends in the history of the state. We had three Big East Champions (two WV natives), a dude run 13:41, a 2:15 girl, a 5:04/10:57 girl, 1:53 guy at WVIAC, a 1:55/4:19/9:23 boy, a 4:20/9:33 boy, a girl run 5:10 solo (and no one seem to notice...) and on, and on. Tip 'o the hat to the entire state... unbelievable week.

Athlete of the Week - Jacob Burcham

The AotW for April 19th - 25th is Jacob Burcham of Cabell Midland High School. Jacob, a freshman, ran 4:16.40 at the Eastern Relays in Louisville. This earned him a real thread on LetsRun and it also brought him up to "Where were you when you heard Burcham ran 4:16?" status. (I was in a Subway in Grafton, ordering lunch.) Basically, the game changed for the guys in the state. This is an (obviously) astounding time for a kid this young, and it establishes him as a very, very rare talent.
(Photo: tristaterunnur.com)

Athlete of the Week - Josie Crouch

The AotW for April 11th - 18th is Josie Crouch of Hurricane High School. Ms. Crouch wins her AotW via her 2:16.02 800m at the Russ Parson Invitational. Josie, like always, has a hammer-lock on the 800m within the state. She is headed to WVU next year to run for the Mountaineers.

Athlete of the Week - Keri Bland

The AotW for April 5th - 11th is Keri Bland. Keri ran 4:19.84 for the 1500m at the Sun Devil Invitational in Arizona State. In the same race were teammates Jessica O'Connell (4:22.29), Karly Hamric (4:22.95) and Kaylyn Christopher (4:27.39). Great evening of races for all these girls.