Published: May 16, 2008 11:38 pm         

Giving it their best shot

Hillberry and Murphy come up big at state meet

CHARLESTON — It was a field day for two of the area’s athletes Friday at the state track meet at Laidley Field.

Richwood’s Shawn Murphy and Mount Hope’s Cindy Hillberry shined despite the rainy conditions.

Murphy became the first dual winner of the state meet, winning the Class A shot put and discus titles, while Hillberry captured her second straight Class A shot put championship.

Murphy earned his title in the shot put on his final throw of the preliminary round with a throw of 50 feet, 9 inches.

“I’ve been chasing 50 feet all year, trying to break it,” he said. “I finally peaked out and broke 50 feet.”

Murphy followed that up a couple of hours later with a win in the discus. The Lumberjack senior hit his winning mark on his second throw with a toss of 141 feet, 3 inches.

“This was what I was hoping for,” Murphy said. “I wasn’t wanting to say I was going to win and then jinx myself. I was just hopeful that I would win and that I would do my best. In the conditions that we had, I think I have done as well as I could have.”

Murphy’s titles were equally impressive because Richwood has no track and field facilities.

“That’s been a big factor — not being able to practice at home,” he said. “On top of that, we don’t have any form coaches. We’ve had to learn just from watching other people, so it’s kind of difficult, but we’ve still managed.”

Last year, he placed fourth in the shot and third in the discus.

“I’ve improved a lot,” Murphy said. “I’m not sure if it was just maturing in the weight room or just speed development. I’m not sure, but I took a big jump.”

Hillberry locked up her championship with a throw of 37 feet, 1 1/2 inches to best East Hardy’s Angelica King. While winning the title was nice, it wasn’t necessarily what Hillberry was looking for.

“I don’t care about what place I get,” Hillberry said. “I care about how far it goes.”

Despite the win, the Mount Hope junior was disappointed with her performance.

“I’ve worked on it,” she said. “I’ve been working on it for a good while, but I don’t think I did my best today. Everybody else did really well.”

Still, Hillberry was pleased to win the shot for the second consecutive time.

“I couldn’t have done it without coach Spadaro,” Hillberry said. “He told me when I was a freshman that I would win the shot and I didn’t believe him.”

Other noteworthy performances included Shady Spring’s Chelsea Callaway in the girls Class AA 3200, Woodrow Wilson’s Michelle Oye in the Class AAA long jump, Webster County’s Skyler McCoy in the boys Class AA 3200 and Mount Hope’s Kyle James in the Class A 3200.

Callaway and McCoy placed second in their respective events, while Oye and James each placed third.

Oak Hill’s Deja Jones and Woodrow Wilson’s Marquel Ali locked up spots in their respective 100-meter dash finals with strong performances.

After starting in the sixth lane in the preliminary round, Jones posted the second-fastest time in the Class AA girls to sew up a preferred lane for today.

“It was real important to me,” she said. “I always like to post a good time. At regionals, I didn’t really post my fastest time. That kinda got me down. I just wanted to come out here and post a good time and, hopefully, get first this year.”

The final day of the state meet begins at 9 a.m. today.

— E-mail:

rjett@register-herald.com