Welcome to the home of Preston High Track & Field and Cross Country.  This website will include the schedule, school records, meet results, and other important information for the Knights of Preston High.

Preston High School is located in Kingwood, West Virginia about 25 miles east of Morgantown. Enrollment at P.H.S. for grades 9-12 is just over 1400 students (12th largest school in WV).

The Knights are a member of the North Central Athletic Conference (N.C.A.C.) and in the AAA Classification.

Preston High has won team State Championships in Girls Track & Field in 2007 and 2005 and Boys Cross Country in 2003.  In addition, Preston has finished as State Runners-Up in Girls Cross Country (2004, 2005, 2006), Boys Cross Country (2004), and Boys Track & Field (2004, 2005).     

Below are the Preston High athletes that qualified for the 2008 WV State Track & Field Championship:

Girls State Qualifiers
Jordan Hamric (12) - 1600, 3200, 4 x 800
Meredith Metheny (12) - 4 x 400
Elsie Smith (12) - Shot Put (Regional Champion), Discus
Ashley Teets (12) - 1600, 3200, 4 x 800
Gwen Brand (11) - 4 x 400
Ari Kasprowicz (11) - 1600, 4 x 400, 4 x 800
Andrea Jones (10) - 400, 4 x 400
Heather Koch (10) - High Jump (Regional Champion)
Jennifer Ullman (10) - Shot Put, Discus
Rebecca Verbonitz (10) - 4 x 800
Laura Shaffer (9) - 4 x 400
 
Boys State Qualifiers
Steven Groves (12) - 300 Hurdles
Sean Hanlon (12) - 4 x 200, 4 x 400
Mark James (12) - 4 x 800
David Kover (11) - 4 x 800
Brad Pell (11) - 4 x 200, 4 x 400
Craig Pritt (11) - 4 x 800
Kevin Eisentrout (10) - 400, 4 x 200
Necko Fanning (10) - 100, 4 x 200, 4 x 400
Miles Helmick (10) - 4 x 400, 4 x 800

McKinney Field at Grafton High School was the site of the 1st Annual Bearcat Invitational.  It was sort of a homecoming for Coach Martin as he was the head coach at Grafton from 1999-2002. 

The boys and girls teams swept the team competition.  The Preston Boys racked up 155.5 points and outdistanced 2nd place Philip Barbour by 72.5 points.  Other than the long jump, the Knight scored in every single event.  The following athletes earned first place honors at the Bearcat Invitational:

• 100 Meter Dash (Necko Fanning) - 11.62
• 4 x 200 Meter Relay (Hanlon, Eisentrout, Pell, and Fanning) - 1:34.60
• 1600 Meter Run (Craig Pritt) - 4:42.90
• 4 x 100 Meter Relay (Hanlon, Eisentrout, Pell, and Fanning) - 45.43
• 200 Meter Dash (Kevin Eisentrout) - 23.59
• Discus (Sam Lewis) - 112' 7.5"

The girls were nearly impressive as their male teammates.  The Lady Knights scored 150 points and scored in every event except for the long jump and the 400 meter dash.  The following athletes won individual events or relays:

• 4 x 800 Meter Relay (Kasprowicz, Metheny, Teets, and Hamric) - 10:22.00
• 1600 Meter Run (Ashley Teets) - 5:41.00
• 300 Meter Hurdles (Gwen Brand) - 49.50
• 800 Meter Run (Jordan Hamric) - 2:31.10
• 3200 Meter Run (Jordan Hamric) - 12:54.50
• Shot Put (Elsie Smith) - 33' 0.5"

Images from the Bearcat Invitational can be viewed at www.PrestonPix.com.  The Preston Track teams will host East Fairmont, Fairmont Senior, Mountain Ridge (MD), and North Marion on Tuesday, April 15th. 

The Preston High Track Team traveled to the neighboring county of Fayette County, PA to compete against Uniontown and Brownsville.  The meet was held at Bill Power Stadium at Uniontown High School. 

Because the meet was contested in Pennsylvania, the Knights were introduced to a different order of events and method of scoring.  The meet was scored as a "double dual."  Double duals involve each school running each other, but scored as three separate meetd (Preston vs Uniontown, Preston vs Brownsville, and Uniontown vs Brownsville).

The Preston girls won every running event contested and the shot put and discus.  They did not score in the pole vault, long jump, triple jump, or javelin.  The boys won the short sprints (100, 200), the two long distance events (1600, 3200), and the 4 x 100.  Official scores have not been released but below is a quick rundown of 1st place finishes for the Knights. 

Girls 100, 100 H, 300 H - Gwen Brand

Girls 200 - Emily Radabaugh

Girls 400 - Andrea Jones

Girls 800 - Jordan Hamric

Girls 1600 - Ashley Teets

Girls 3200 - Ari Kasprowicz

Girls 4 x 100 Team of Brand, Jones, Radabaugh, and Wolfe

Girls 4 x 400 Team of Hamric, Jones, Metheny, and Teets

Girls 4 x 800 Team of Teets, Kasprowicz, Metheny, and Hamric

Shot - Elsie Smith

Discus - Jennifer Ullman

Boys 100, 200 - Necko Fanning

Boys 1600 - Sterling Snyder

Boys 3200 - Craig Pritt

4 x 100 Team of Hanlon, Pell, Eisentrout, and Fanning

Top Knights for the Uniontown meet are Gwen Brand (four 1st places in the 100, 100 H, 300 H, and 4 x 100) and Necko Fanning (wins in the 100, 200, and 4 x 100). 

Preston will host the Scott Ford Border Clash Relays on Friday, March 28th. 

The Preston High Track team kicked off the 2008 season at the Kim Nutter / St. Joseph's Invitational at Parkersburg High School.  The sunny skies were deceiving because athletes still had to battle the bitter cold and high powered winds. 

In the girls division, Preston started things off with a bang in the 3200 meter run.  Seniors Jordan Hamric and Ashley Teets shared the lead throughout and finished 1-2 with times of 11:48.06 and 11:48.93.  Ari Kasprowicz picked up the win in the 1600 meter run by running negative splits (5:34.72).   Jordan Hamric doubled back in the 800 and picked up her second victory of the day (2:29.26).  Ashley Teets also finished 3rd overall in a time of 2:34.00. 

In the speed events, Gwen Brand picked up a 3rd place finish in the 100 meter dash (13.30 prelims / 14.10 finals) and a 4th place finish in the 300 hurdles (50.37). 

In the throwing events, Elsie Smith and Jennifer Ullman, showed their versatility by scoring in both the shot put and discus.  Elsie won the shot put (34' 9") and Jennifer was 5th (27' 11").  In the discus, Jennifer finished 2nd (95' 10") and Elsie finished 3rd (91' 1"). 

Also scoring for the Lady Knights were the following individuals and relay teams:

Andrea Jones (400 - 6th), Deborah Loughrie (1600 - 6th), Ashley Shultz (3200 - 6th), 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 teams of Brand, Wolfe, Radabaugh, and Jones (4th in both relays) , 4 x 400 team of Kasprowicz, Teets, Hamric, and Jones (4th), and the 4 x 800 team of Verbonitz, Loughrie, Shultz, and Parker (4th)

The boys team was led by the performances of the sprinters.  Battling a stiff head wind, Kevin Eisentrout finished third in the 100 meter dash (12.24).  In his West Virginia debut, Necko Fanning, won the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.90.  Fanning and Eisentrout together with Sean Hanlon and Brad Pell picked up the win in the 4 x 200 (1:36.55).  Eisentrout also finished 5th in the 400 with a time of 55.19. 

Sam Lewis, in his first ever meet, finished 6th in the shot put (37' 5") and narrowly missed scoring in the discus (7th - 110' 11"). 

In the distance events, Sterling Snyder ran a P.R. in the 3200 with his 3rd place finish of 10:31.75.  Craig Pritt was narrowly defeated in the 1600 with a time of 4:49.85.  Freshman, Clint Bowman, also picked up a point in the 1600 with his effort of 5:07.18.  In the 800 meter run, the trio of Miles Helmick, Craig Pritt, and Sterling Snyder finished 4th through 6th with times of 2:14.32, 2:14.34, and 2:16.09. 

The following relay teams also picked up points for the Knights:

4 x 100 team of Adams, Hanlon, Pell, and Milton - 48.47

4 x 400 team of Pritt, Kover, Helmick, and Eisentrout - 3:49.85

4 x 800 team of L. Bowman, Kover, C. Bowman, and Parker - 9:34.08

Overall, the Lady Knights finished in a tie for 2nd place with Parkersburg.  On the boys side, Preston finished 5th out of 6 teams.  Complete results can be viewed at the above link.   

Top Knights for the meet are Gwen Brand (great time in the 300 Hurdles) and Brad Pell (great effort in the 400).  Preston will next compete in a three team meet at Uniontown High School on Tuesday, March 25th before hosting the Scott Ford Border Clash Relays on Friday, March 28th. 

-Jordan Hamric- 

On Saturday, February 16th Kaylyn Christopher ran in the USA Cross Country Junior National Championship held in San Diego. Kaylyn finished 16th overall. The top six athletes qualified for the World Cross Country Championship in Scotland.

ESPN 2 will air footage of the race on February 24th at 5 p.m.  To the right is a picture of Kaylyn directly behind eventual champion, Jordan Hasay, of California.  Hasay is in the navy and white USA uniform. 

-Jordan Hamric- 

Former Preston High distance runners Karly Hamric, Kaylyn Christopher, and Eric Ryan are mid-way through their indoor seasons. At the Penn State Invitational on Friday 25^th and Saturday 26^th, WVU competed against Penn State and Robert Morris. Karly Hamric competed in the 500 and ran a time of 1:19.48, and she also ran the 800 leg of the distance medley relay. The relay team took a fourth place finish with a time of 11:45.32. Also participating in this meet was Kaylyn Christopher. She ran the 3000 and finished with a time of 10:00.79.

On January 19th, Eric Ryan competed at the Cornell Upstate Challenge. He competed in the 1000 with a time of 2:33.91. He placed 1^st in his heat. Click on this link for video footage of the race.  Congratulations to all of these athletes for their successes.

Kaylyn Harris may only be 9 years old, but she is no stranger to area road and cross country races.  Recently, Kaylyn won the the women's division of the Morgantown Grand Prix Sprint Series.  The Morgantown Grand Prix is a series of races that use an age based scoring system.  Runners receive points for each race they run.  Below is a link to the overall results of the Morgantown Grand Prix Sprint Series:

GRAND PRIX SPRINT SERIES

The Kingwood Elementary fourth grader also competed in the A.A.U. National Cross Country Championship in Virginia Beach, VA.  Wearing the familiar aqua blue, orange, and yellow of the NOTSERP Track Club, she finished 13th overall in the 3000 meter race with a time of 12:43.  Complete results can be viewed at this link: 

A.A.U. NATIONALS 

Kaylyn is the daughter of Tony and Ange Harris of Reedsville.  Ange is a teacher at Preston High School.  Congratulations to Kaylyn on an outstanding performance at A.A.U. Nationals. 

The Preston Girls Cross Country team and individual qualifier, Craig Pritt, ventured to Cabell Midland High School for the 2007 WV State Championship.  This was the ninth year in a row that the Preston girls qualifed for the state meet.  Going in to the state meet, the Preston girls were ranked #4 in the AAA division. 

Though it rained most of week in the Kanawha Valley, the course was in pretty good shape.  With temperatures in the low 50's, conditions were ideal for fast times. 

The girls AAA race was the first event of the State Championship.  The Preston duo of Ari Kasprowicz and Ashley Teets went out with the leaders with Jordan Hamric just a few seconds behind.  Deborah Loughrie and Becky Verbonitz also teamed up as did Ashley Shultz and Katie Parker.  At the finish, Ari Kasprowicz earned her first all-state medal by finishing 5th overall with a time of 19:23.  Ashley Teets earned all-state honors for the third year in a row by finishing in 7th place with a time of 19:34.  Jordan Hamric made a big move over the last mile and earned her first all-state medal by finishing 9th overall (19:49).  Deborah Loughrie and Becky Verbonitz worked together to finish 40th and 42nd (21:38) and (21:40).  In by far her best meet of the year, Ashley Shultz broke 22 minutes with a time of 21:59 (51st).  Rounding out the varsity line-up was Katie Parker in 58th (22:39).  In the team standings, the Preston girls finished third overall behind State Champion, University, and State Runner-Up, Morgantown.  These three N.C.A.C. rivals were only separated by 26 points. 

In the boys race, Craig Pritt had trouble getting out with the leaders.  At the half-way point he was in about 25th place.  With a mile to go, he was in 20th place.  Despite a valiant effort where he picked off numerous runners, he missed out on all-state honors by two places and less than one second.  Craig's 12th place time of 17:07 was significantly faster than his all-state performance from a year ago.

Congratulations to all the Preston High athletes on a fantastic season.   The state championship symbolizes the end of one season, but the start of another.  The days of running around an oval will be here before you know it.  

CHAMPIONS TRAIN...  ...OTHERS COMPLAIN.

For the ninth year in a row, the Preston High girls cross county team qualified for the state championship.  Currently ranked 4th in the state, the girls team includes the following athletes: 

Seniors:  Jordan Hamric and Ashley Teets

Junior:  Ari Kasprowicz

Sophomores:  Deborah Loughrie, Katie Parker, Becky Verbonitz

Freshmen:  Brittinee Ridenour and Ashley Shultz

Junior all-stater, Craig Pritt, is the lone representative for the Knights.  Pritt and the girls team will compete at the West Virginia State Championship on Saturday, October 27th.  The state meet will be held at Cabell Midland High School.   

The N.C.A.C. Conference Championship was contested on Wednesday, October 10th at Apple Valley Golf Course.  With five of the top ten teams in the the state competing in both the girls and boys division, this is undoubtedly one of the toughest conferences in the state.

In the girls division, #1 ranked University was crowned the conference team champions.  The Preston Lady Knights finished 3rd overall behind #2 ranked Morgantown High.  Ari Kasprowicz was again the top runner for Preston.  Her time of 20:12 was good enough for third place overall.  Ashley Teets and Jordan Hamric finished back-to-back in 10th (21:06) and 11th place (21:14).  Sophomore, Becky Verbonitz, ran the best race of her career with a time of 22:52 (25th place).  Katie Parker filled in at the # 5 position with a time of 23:15 (30th place).  Ashley Shultz (36th - 24:23) and Deborah Loughrie (38th - 24:46) were the final varsity runners for Preston.

On the boys side, University made a clean sweep of the conference team honors.  Fairmont Senior was 2nd with 84 points.  Just 12 points behind, were the boys from Preston.  The #1 runner for the Knights was junior, Craig Pritt.  His time of 17:46 was good enough for 6th place.  Running with Pritt most of the race was Wes McKinney.  This meet marked McKinney's "break out" race as he finished 13th overall in a time of 18:16.  Colten Kisner and Sterling Snyder finished back-to-back in 21st (18:43) and 22nd place (18:44).  Mark James was the final scoring runner with a time of 19:11 (30th).  The Bowman brothers were the final two runners for the Knights.  Clint finished 34th (19:22) and older brother Luke finished 39th (19:46). 

The N.C.A.C. may be the only conference in the nation that doesn't determine their all-conference team soley by an athlete's efforts on race day.  The all-conference team is more of a cumulative award determined by a combination of an athlete's performances at the regular season conference meets and the championship.  The top three regular season meets are worth 50% while the championship is worth 50%.  Athletes not competing in at least three regular season meets are ineligible for all-conference honors. 

Preston assistant coach, Paul Sines, tabulated all the statistics and three Preston runners earned all-conference honors.  Craig Pritt, Ari Kasprowicz, and Jordan Hamric earned all-conference honors for the Knights.  Complete statistics can be found at this link:  2007 N.C.A.C. All Conference .

NOTE:  It is unfortunate that the athletes earning all-conference honors were not recognized the day of the event.  For a conference that prides itself on its rich cross country tradition, the N.C.A.C. all-conference athletes were not "showcased" in a proper manner. 

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The Preston Knights traveled east early Saturday morning (5:15 a.m. to be exact) for the Judges Classic in Winchester, VA.  The meet site was the Kernstown Battlefield.  Two separate Civil War battles occurred at this location in 1862 and 1864.    With the temperature in the 50's and a horrendous wind blowing, the girls toed the line at 9:00 a.m.  The trio of Ashley Teets, Ari Kasprowicz, and Jordan Hamric ran the first part of the race together.  After the two mile mark, Ari Kasprowicz separated from her teammates and finished 8th overall in a time of 20:17.  Ashley (20:50) and Jordan (20:52) finished three and four spots back.  Becky Verbonitz, running her best race of the season, finished 88 seconds behind Jordan in 48th place.  Katie Parker (23:06 -77th) and Ashley Shultz (23:34 - 94th) were the final two runners for the Knights.  In the team standings, the Preston girls finished 4th out of 19 teams.   

The boys varsity race was the next event scheduled.  All-Stater, Craig Pritt, was the first across the line for the Knights.  He finished 32nd in a time of 17:56.  Colten Kisner was the number 2 man in a time of 18:28 (50th place).  Preston's next five guys were within 19 seconds of one another.  Sterling Snyder (18:44 - 62nd), Mark James (18:46 - 67th), Clint Bowman (18:48 - 70th), Wes McKinney (18:58 - 82nd), and Luke Bowman (19:03) were the numbers three through seven for the Knights.  Tony Parker was the final varsity competitor in 126th place (19:50).  Team wise, the Preston boys finished 12th out of 21 teams.   Miles Helmick closed out the day with his 4th place finish (19:09) in the junior varsity race. 

Awards were given out on the steps and porch of the recently restored Pritchard House.  The Pritchard House was built prior to the Civil War in 1854.  Special thanks go out to former Kingwood residents, Jerry and Carol Metheny and Mark Bjorkman for cheering on the Knights. 

As always, pictures from the meet can be viewed at www.PrestonPix.com .  Top Knights for the Judges Classic are Becky Verbonitz and Mark James. 

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Preston ventured to North Marion for the 2nd of four N.C.A.C. Conference Meets.  Several Knights stayed back in Kingwood to get in a much needed long run.  In the girls varsity race, Ari Kasprowicz and Jordan Hamric raced to the front of the pack.  Both girls eased up a bit in the latter stages of the race and finished 7th (21:20) and 8th (21:22) overall.  Freshman, Ashley Shultz was the third across the line for Preston.  She finished 34th overall with a time of 26:15.  Fellow freshman, Brittinee Ridenour, was the final finisher for the Knights.  Ridenour battled a sore quad and finished in 41st place (28:38).  

In the boys varsity race, Colten Kisner was the number 1 runner for Preston.  Kisner finished just outside of the top ten with an 11th place finish with a time of 18:27.  Craig Pritt employed a similar strategy as Hamric and Kasprowicz.  He ran with the leaders for the first mile and then dropped back to 13th place in a time of 18:37. The Bowman brothers were the number 3 and 4 runners.  Younger brother, Clint Bowman, finished in a time of 19:21 (28th place).  Older brother, Luke Bowman, finished 22 seconds behind his brother in 33rd place.  Sterling Snyder battled abdominal cramping and cruised in easy with a time of 19:54 (33rd place).  The final varsity athlete for Preston was Miles Helmick with a time of 20:10 (37th place).

Top Knights for the N.C.A.C. Meet at North Marion are Colten Kisner and Brittinee Ridenour. 

Tiki torches, fireworks, and fire trucks are not the norm during traditional cross country meets.  However, the "Knight Night Relays" is not a typical meet.  The event is a four by 1.5 mile cross country relay run after dark.  The course is illuminated by the lights from the football stadium, portable lights run by generators, and a variety of other light sources such as tiki torches and lights from the Kingwood Volunteer Fire Department. 

The first event of the evening was an open race.  Athletes from all six of Preston County's middle schools participated.  The first male and female finishers from Preston County were Wesley Scott (9:50.81) and Kristin Lantz of Central Preston Middle School (10:49.84).  Complete results from the open race can be viewed at this link: OPEN RACE RESULTS     

The high school girls race was the next event contested.  Teams from East Fairmont, Jefferson, Morgantown, Preston, Tucker County, University, and Webster County competed in the inaugural event.  University High's girls team was the overall winner of the girls division.  Preston's "A Team" of Jordan Hamric (9:08.6), Ari Kasprowicz (9:05.1), Ashley Teets (9:26.2), and Katie Parker (10:22.2) finished 30 seconds behind University in 2nd place overall (38:02.1).  Preston's "B Team" finished 8th overall with a time of 44:50.8.  The "B team" was made up of Rebecca Verbonitz (10:18.9), Kyrsten Slaubaugh (11:38.3), Ashley Shultz (11:13.1), and Brittinee Ridenour (11:40.6).  Complete results from the girls high school division can be viewd at this link:  GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL RESULTS 

Former Preston High standout, Kaylyn Christopher, will be running at the NIKE Outdoor Nationals at Greensboro, NC on Saturday, June 16th.  She will be wearing the teal, orange, and yellow colors of the NOTSERP Track Club.  Kaylyn will run in the unseeded 800 at approximately 2:35 p.m. and the seeded 1 mile run at approximately 6:35 p.m. 

Thanks to the generosity of the Mile Split Network (www.milesplit.com), a live webcast of NIKE Outdoor Nationals will be provided at this link:  http://www.milesplit.com/nonlive.php .   You will need to have Real Player installed to view the race.  Check out Kaylyn competing against the nation's best at 2:35 and 6:35 p.m. on Saturday, June 16th. 

The first event of the second day of the state meet was the one that was probably most anticipated for the Knights.  The 1600 competition in both the girls and boys race was going to be fierce.  On the girls side, could Preston score three athletes in the top six in order to add to their point total?  On the boys side, could Josh Feather defend his state championship from a year ago?  The answer to both questions was YES!!! 

Kaylyn Christopher took the lead on the 2nd lap and never looked back.  Her time of 4:55.85 broke her state record by almost 5 seconds.  Due to a blistering final lap of 1:11, Jordan Hamric finished in third overall in a new P.R. Time of 5:11.80.  Ari Kasprowicz also finished strong on the last lap to finish in 6th place with a time of 5:22.30.  Josh Feather defended his title in the 1600 with a new personal record time of 4:24.68.  Craig Pritt ran with the leaders for most the race, but faded on the last lap.  His time of 4:36.98 was also a personal record.  The tradition of "Mile High" lives on the with Preston winning the girls 1600 (3rd year in a row) and the boys 1600 (4th year in a row).  Video of the girls AAA 1600 race can be viewed at this link:  Girls 1600 Video Link .  Video of the boys AAA 1600 race can be viewed at this link:  Boys 1600 Video Link .  Both videos are courtesy of Darrell Cavey at www.tristaterunnur.com .

Freshman Heather Koch was the next Preston athlete to compete at the state meet.  Just like at the regional championship, she cleared 4 ft. 8 inches to finish 11th. 

Sophomore Gwen Brand, the sprinter turned hurdler, nearly won her heat in the 300 hurdles.  She cracked the 50 second mark with a time of 49.20 (9th place).  This effort is a new personal best and only .92 of a second off the Preston High school record.

Senior Alisha Aronhalt was unable to clear opening height in the pole vault.  Aronhalt closed out her high school career as one of the most versatile field event athletes in PHS history.  She has been a state qualifier in the shot put and pole vault.

The 4 x 200 team of Gwen Brand, Paula Wolfe, Andrea Jones, and Meredith Metheny . . . 

. . . to be continued.   

STATE QUALIFIERS - GIRLS
Kaylyn Christopher (12) - 800, 1600, 4 x 400, 4 x 800
Jordan Hamric (11) – 800, 1600, 3200, 4 x 400
Ashley Teets (11) – 3200, 4 x 800
Ari Kasprowicz (10) – 1600, 3200
Hilary McConnell (12) – 4 x 400, 4 x 800
Elsie Smith (11) – Shot Put
Alisha Aronhalt (12) – Pole Vault
Heather Koch (9) – High Jump
Gwen Brand (10) – 300 H, 4 x 200, Shuttles
Meredith Metheny (11) – 4 x 200, 4 x 400
Andrea Jones (9) – 4 x 200, Shuttles
Rebecca Verbonitz (9) – 4 x 800
Rachael Murray (11) – Shuttles
Rebecca Browning (11) – Shuttles
Paula Wolfe (11) – 4 x 200

STATE QUALIFIERS – BOYS
Josh Feather (12) – 800, 1600, 3200, 4 x 800
Craig Pritt (10) – 1600, 4 x 400, 4 x 800
Miles Helmick (9) – 4 x 400, 4 x 800
Mark James (11) – 4 x 800
Kevin Eisentrout (9) – 4 x 400
Steven Groves (11) – 4 x 400