Cabell MidlandÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Michael Lunsford begins his wind up to throw the shot put 65 feet, 3 inches during the West Virginia State Track Meet at Laidley Field in Charleston Saturday, May 18, 2024.
Cabell MidlandÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Michael Lunsford begins his wind up to throw the shot put 65 feet, 3 inches during the West Virginia State Track Meet at Laidley Field in Charleston Saturday, May 18, 2024.
CHARLESTON ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” A team that hadnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t won a high school track meet all season and finished second to its arch-rival in the regional took home a state championship.
How did Cabell MidlandÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s boys do it? A full roster and strategic use of it was key in the Knights winning their 10th Class AAA title and first since 2016.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œDuring the season, weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™d have Michael at the Penn Relays,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Parsons said of shot putter and discus thrower Michael Lunsford, who occasionally missed a local meet to compete in a national one. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œTristan (Blatt) and Aidan (Kneeland), our top athletes, would be in Louisville at a meet. We did what was best for them, then and for us, in the end instead of staying back here and throwing them in races trying to win meets locally. When you have a team like this, weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve been strategically all season. When they get here, you stick them all in and get what you can out of them. They all came through.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Cabell Midland trailed Hurricane most of the meet, but in the last six event blew past the Redskins and finished with 108 points. Hurricane finished second with 76, one point more than Region IV champion Huntington High in the 23-team field.
Cabell MidlandÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s depth showed out. The Knights qualified performers in 13 events and scored in all to emerge victorious for the first time in 15 meets this season.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œAs the meet unfolded, we were doing everything we could, but Hurricane was going above and beyond,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Parsons said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWhen we hit those last six events, we really closed the gap and pulled away.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
ParsonsÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ plan worked, even if it left him bleary eyed.
We had everybody back from last year and we picked up some additional kids for this year,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Parsons said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œFriday night I got home and couldnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t sleep. IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m sitting there trying to plot and figure.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Parsons said the championship is satisfying.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œTheyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re all good,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Parsons said.
Jordan said he was confident Cabell Midland would win, but didnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t take victory for granted.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe came in ranked No. 1,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Jordan said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIt was pretty cool to win it.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Tim Stephens is a sports writer with The Herald-Dispatch.
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