Published: May 15, 2008 11:17 pm         

Red Devils chasing history

The Oak Hill girls team is looking to carve its own little notch of history this weekend at the state track meet at Laidley Field in Charleston.

The Red Devils are positioned to be the first girls squad to place among the top teams at the state meet in the history of the school.

While Winfield has been predicted to be a runaway winner in the Class AA girls field, Oak Hill has a solid shot at finishing second. With only eight girls on the team, that’s quite an accomplishment.

“I don’t want to get the girls too hyped up, but I did tell them that’s what the predictions were,” Oak Hill coach George Smith said. “Hopefully, we can make some history.”

Topping the Red Devils’ effort are sprinters Deja Jones and Shakilya “Kiy Kiy” Cosby.

Jones is the odds-on favorite in the 100-meter dash. She has the best time in the field and her top five runs are better than anyone else’s top finish.

“Deja is the girl to beat,” Smith said. “She is ready. She’s going to be fresh, so hopefully she can come out and live up to the expectations.”

Cosby is expected to be a challenger for the top spot in both the 200 and 400.

“Kiy Kiy is ready to go,” Smith said. “She says she’s going to repeat the same performance she had at Gazettes. She’s got to go below 60 (seconds) in the 400.

With the girl from Winfield pushing her, she should be able to do it.

“In the 200, she’s going to come out pretty strong. I don’t know how well she’ll do because (Winfield’s Emily Stewart) has beaten everybody by a pretty substantial margin.”

Brittney Thomas is another contender for the Red Devils. Thomas is the favorite in the discus and first-year thrower Quartney Settle could place as well.

The wild card for Oak Hill is middle distance runner Neaire Miller. Miller figures to place in the 800 and 1600, but she could go anywhere from third to sixth in either event.

“She’s definitely the wild card,” Smith said. “Because she’s sporadic. Sometimes she’ll run really good and then other times she’ll fall behind. I truly think that she can pull off top three finishes in both the 800 and 1600.”

Add in Savannah Robertson in the pole vault and the 4x200 and 4x400 relay squads and the Red Devils could rack up a lot of points today and Saturday.

“Between Kiy Kiy, Deja, Neaire Miller and Brittney Thomas, there’s going to be some serious points there,” Smith said. “You know, if everyone is running up to their potential, there should be some good points.”

Along with the girls competing in individual events, Shanice McCain qualified on the 4x200 relay squad and Amber Koch on the 4x400 team.

Ideal conditions are not predicted for this year’s event, but Smith doesn’t believe weather will be a factor to his team.

“Warm and rainy, we can handle,” he said. “I think we’ll be all right. Of course, when it rains, I don’t take them in. We practice in it. Shoot, they’re used to it.”

Other area Class AA girls contenders could be Shady Spring’s Chelsea Callaway in the 800, 1600 and 3200 and Independence’s Morgan Bryant in the long jump.

Top Class AA boys competitors are Oak Hill’s Tim Patterson in the 200, Shady Spring’s Nick Lucento in the 1600 and 3200, Liberty’s Dominick Cangemi in the discus and Webster County’s Skyler McCoy (800, 1600, 3200), Chance McCoy (300 hurdles) and Timmy Miller (high jump).

In Class A, Mount Hope’s Cindy Hillberry looks to place first in both the shot put and discus. Other top girls challengers include Meadow Bridge’s Chandra Church in the 100, Pocahontas County’s Adrienne Nottingham in the 100, 200, 400 and 800 and Richwood’s Morgan Mullins in the high jump.

Richwood’s Shawn Murphy heads the field of local Class A boys competitors. Murphy should be a favorite in both the shot and discus. Greenbrier West’s David Martin (200, 400) and Robbie Peters (800,1600), Mount Hope’s Davon Marion (long jump) and Kyle James (800, 3200, high jump), Pocahontas County’s Eric Rose (200) and Jeff Fertig (long jump, high jump) and Richwood’s Dustin Wood (3200) are also top contenders.

The state track meet begins at 2 p.m. today and 9 a.m. Saturday.

— E-mail:

rjett@register-herald.com