Staviski paces Bath County at state track and field meet

Click to view image

For the second straight year, Bath County’s Evan Staviski set a personal record in the 3200-meter run at the Class A KHSAA State Track & Field Championship by an impressive margin.

Last year, he dropped seven seconds off a time from the prior week’s regional meet that was 15 seconds faster than he had ever previously run.

On Friday at the state meet at the University of Louisville, Staviski one-upped his performance by clocking the second-fastest time in school history in the race with a 10:11.59, nearly 13 seconds faster than last week’s regional finish. That effort earned the junior seventh place to score the team’s only points of the meet.

“I took out harder than I planned and went under five minutes in the first mile,” he said. “I picked out a guy in yellow and targeted him. In the fifth or sixth lap, I went around him and then I really just wanted to push for a medal and that’s why I did as good as I did.”

Staviski also set a personal best in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:47.91, which earned him 15th place. He began the day running a leg of the 4x800-meter relay that finished in 19th. Staviski and his teammates Josh Jones, Dale Curtis and Seth Christopher covered the distance in 9:18.92.

Senior Josh Jones and junior Nathan Dailey placed 15th and 17th, respectively in the pole vault after each clearing 10’00.00”. Jones also qualified for the meet last year, where he finished 12th after surpassing 9’06.00”.

Senior Loretta Robinson made a return trip to the state championships, after missing out on earning a bid last spring. She finished 13th in the long jump with a mark of 14’11.00”.

Back for their third straight state meet, juniors Hali Miller and Hannah Staviski, placed 12th and 22nd, respectively. Miller cleared 7’06.00”, while Staviski leaped 6’06.00”. Last year, Miller went over 6’06.00” to finish 14th, while Staviski surpassed 6’00.00” and was 22nd.

Junior Jared Castle also had a pair of respectable showings in his third trip to the KHSAA championships. He placed 19th in the 300-meter hurdles in 45.38 and 20th in the 110-meter hurdles in 18.32.

Both Lady Cat relays bettered their finishes from a year ago, when the 4x200-meter quartet was 15th in 1:54.69 and the 4x100-meter foursome was 22nd in 55.41. On Friday, Miller, Christina Thompson, Taylor Everman and Robinson placed 13th in the shorter race in 1:53.22; while Miller, Thompson, Everman and Morgan Crouch with 16th in the longer distance in 54.74.

Bath County’s boys also had a pair of entries in the sprint relays. Castle, Dailey, senior Cheyenne Coker and eighth-grader Sam Barker finished 12th in the 4x200m event in 1:36.65. Barker, Coker, Dailey and senior D.J. Darden were 19th in the 4x100m race in 47.19.

Barker also placed 14th in the 100-meter dash in 11.58, despite being one of only two middle schoolers in the event.

Senior Chris Elder bettered his finish by one spot from last year’s state championships. He claimed 21st with a toss of 99’11”, three feet and eight inches farther than his 2011 performance.

“We didn’t get the times or the distances we wanted, but we had set our sights high. We had really focused on (doing well and winning) the region. Evan got a ‘pr’ in the 3200 (meter run), which was the second-best ever (time) in school history. Our vaulters (Josh Jones and Nathan Dailey) did well, and the 4x1 (00-meter relay) and 4x2 (00-meter relay) ran season ‘pr’s. Sam Barker ran a ‘pr’ in the 100 (meter dash) and anchored both (sprint) relays. He had a really good day and Evan got a ‘pr’ in the mile,” Wildcat coach Tim Bailey said.

Sophomore Seth Christopher added a 17th-place finish in the 800-meter run in 2:11.89, while Everman was 18th in the high jump with a leap of 4’06” and eighth-grader Trey Ratliff placed 22nd in the long jump with a mark of 17’05.50”. Sophomore Breion Hodge also qualified for the meet in the high jump, but did not clear a height.

“They all did really well. They know where they are on the (pre-meet performance) list, so we knew what to expect. Hali Miller got a ‘pr’ in the pole vault and was our most improved athlete for the day. Our 4x2 (00-meter relay) looks like it set another school record, but we are still checking the history books. Taylor Everman has only high jumped in four meets before coming to state. It was a wonderful experience for her and she did a good job. Loretta Robinson our (only) senior worked through an injury to get here. She was disappointed,” said Lady Cat head coach Robin Tolle. “But, our 4x1 (00-meter relay) did a good job, even though we had one runner who got injured on the starting blocks. But despite that, we did well. We had a really good showing and I am proud of them.”

After three straight years of not tallying a single point in the boys’ meet, the Wildcats scored two points to finish 39th on Friday.