Winter claims state AAA title in discus; places second in shot put

And it didn’t take long.

The Ripley High record-setter for both the discus and shot put claimed a title right out of the gate inside Laidley Field at University of Charleston Stadium on the first of two days at the 108th West Virginia High School State Track and Field Meet.

With the Class AAA discus being part of the first set of field events on Friday, Winter went right to work in the ring.

His best heave of 165-09 was good for the state title.

He fended off two throwing rivals and good friends in Cabell Midland senior Isaiah Hagley and junior Michael Lunsford to claim the discus championship.

It was a great way to start the meet at a venue where Winter will be spending plenty of time the next four years.

The soon-to-be Ripley High graduate will be competing at the collegiate level in track and field for the University of Charleston.

After winning a state title in the discus, an event in which he set Ripley High School’s school record last year and has upped the mark ever since, Winter spent the evening celebrating a bit but also realizing there was more to accomplish before the meet was over.

On Saturday, he returned to the stadium looking to go two-for-two in his specialties.

While he didn’t get crowed champ in the shot put, an event in which he set the new school mark this year, Winter certainly came close to a sweep in the two Class AAA throws.

His best launch of the shot of 55-07.50 earned him a finish of second to Hagley in closing out his outstanding high school career.

Hagley had a winning throw of 57-04.

Lunsford was third at 54-01.

The 18 points by Winter paced Ripley at the State Meet.

While Winter wrapped up his career in grand style, teammate Connor Casto had a nice meet and gained plenty of momentum heading into next season.

The junior came away with two finishes of fifth at the meet.

Casto was fifth in the high jump, clearing the bar 6-2.

On Friday evening, Casto qualified for the finals of the 110 high hurdles with the fifth-best time of 15.81. Casto started as part of a field featuring 16 hurdlers.

On Saturday in the state championship race, he again was fifth with a time of 15.78. Huntington’s Donovan Garrett placed first in a time of 14.97. Jacob Alderson of Riverside was second at 15.10. Tayveon Wilson garnered third at 15.11 and Dominic Brinkley of Martinsburg was fourth in a time of 15.56.

Casto defeated Camden Hess of Bridgeport (15.88) Avonte Crawford of Huntington (16.12) and Eli Calloway of Oak Hill (16.41).

The combined efforts of Winter and Casto gave Ripley 26 team points in the Class AAA boys portion of the State Meet.

Those 26 points were good for 10th place in the team standings.

Huntington High won the state boys AAA title with 98.5 points while Jefferson finished second with 87.

-In the girls Class AAA competition, Ripley finished 16th overall with 13 points.

The bulk of those points came in the pole vault.

Junior Mya Phalen and senior Jazmin Parsons finished third and fourth, respectively.

Phalen sailed over the bar at 10-0.

Parsons also had a clearing of 10-0.

Phalen earned third place due to fewer misses in the allotted attempts.

It was a wonderful way for Parsons to end her career. For Phalen, placing third is a great springboard to her senior season.

Also scoring for the Lady Vikings was distance standout Ellie Hosaflook.

The junior placed seventh in the 800 meters with a time of 2:23.20.

By earning a Top 8 finish, Hosaflook will have momentum heading into her offseason training.

It was quite the battle for the Class AAA girls state championship chase.

By winning the day’s final event – the 4x400 meters – Jefferson earned 10 points, which allowed them to tie Morgantown for the crown.

Both teams finished with 111 points.