Well, it’s that time again. The state meet has finally arrived and this coming weekend should be very interesting. Most importantly, the throwing events will hold much excitement.
To start things off, we will have Class A battling in the morning session. On the boy’s side, we have Troy Cooper who has been pretty solid in the shot put all year. He is definitely the clear favorite. Chasing him is Adam Cummings of Paintsville, Josh Smith of Frankfort, and Mr. Kentucky himself, Micah Johnson of Fort Campbell. Last year’s discus champion, Elliot Mattingly will be in the mix as well. Although Troy has dominated the competition the whole year, these guys will try their best to ruin the back to back titles. For the discus, we have an interesting situation. Troy has the best throw out of the Regional meets, but reigning champion, Elliot has thrown 161’ this year. As Elliot looks to win back to back titles, Troy will be attempting a meet double. Also in the mix will be Matt Masterson of Hancock County, and John Scott of Pikeville.
On the girl’s side, we have Michelle Simon who has dominated the discus. She stands as the lone favorite by almost 20’. Not only will she be competing for her third straight discus title, but she will be attempting to break the Class A state record. Her closes competition in this event is Aryn Howland of Bellvue who Michelle has competed against many times. The shot put seems to be a different story as Michelle is listed at the top with 37’ 2”. She is followed closely by Cherrelle Bailey, whose best mark came in the region at 36’ 7.25”. Although the record is a little more than three feet away, I suspect that these two girls will battle with one another while trying to breaking the state record. Could Cherrelle play spoils for Michelle’s double?
In the noon session, we have Class AA rolling up to take the track. On the boy’s side, we will have a battle in the shot put as many new faces have come on the scene. Bryan Hall of Paducah Tilghman is the returning top shot putter. He will be challenged by Curtis Marshall of Newport and teammate Mike Jones of Paducah Tilghman. The girl’s side will be another addition of the Pam Bell/Chinwe Okoro saga. These two have gone at it for the past two years with one win going to each. Pam will try to finish out her impressive high school career with a state record while Chinwe will try to defend her own record. Not to be left on the back burner, Lindi Berry of Webster County has been here many times and could pull off an astonishing upset. In the discus, the boys are in a three way race between Harold Ligon of Paducah Tilghman, Dave Schaffer of Prestonsburg, and Chaz Grider of Casey County. Any of these three could come away with the title on any given throw. On the girl’s side, we will watch with interest as Pam will attempt to break her state record that was set last year. Lindi will give her some competition as well as Chinwe. For the girls, we could see one these ladies double. Can Pam finish with a bang and accomplish double state records?
For the late session, we have the showdown in Class AAA. On the boy’s side in the shot put, we have the favorite Brian Soverns of Grayson County who will be chased by Corey Peters of Central, and Mike Hudson of Covington Catholic. For the girl’s the best mark goes to Sophomore LaShelle Pitney of Manual, while the best regional mark goes to Freshman Amashi Kendall of Owensboro. Also in the mix will be Jayme Blessit of Grayson County. In the discus, we will have much excitement in the boys competition as Matt Guida of Oldham County will attempt to break the AAA record and possibly have a shot at the overall record. He enters the meet at 183’, about 20’ further than his closest opponent Brian. Let’s not forget about Tristan Jones who has thrown really well, and threw really well at the state meet last year. For the girls, there is no clear cut favorite, but Bowling Green senior Stephanie Robinson and Harrison County junior Cherisha Wells will look to battle for the title. It seems that anyone could show up and win this title. Should be a great weekend for the throws and filled with much excitement. I hope to see some records fall and bombs be dropped. Good luck to all athletes on the upcoming weekend.