By Billy G. Baker
Publisher
Columbia — Chaves James is all-things Cross Country and Track and Field at Woodland High and he is one of the best young track and field coaches in the state of South Carolina with over a decade of experience on his resume.
At the annual SCHSL Class AA Track and Field meet held at Spring Valley May, 19, the Wolverines boy’s track team placed second over-all with 60.5 points, to trail state champion Greer Middle College, who won the event with 76.points. The Woodland girls placed third with 60.5 points with Bishop England taking first place.
Coach James is a 2010 graduate of Woodland High where he participated on the football and track teams. After high school he went to CSU where he was a 110 hurdler. He has coached three girl’s track teams at Woodland to three state titles and one runner-up. On the boy’s side he has one boy’s state title and two runners-up.
“I am very proud of both teams,” said Coach James after the meet. “We had a lot of personal bests from a lot of our athletes today. We have a lot of younger athletes on the girl’s team. The boys’ team has a lot more seniors. I enjoy helping develop athletes to be all they can be in Track and Field.”
Each year Coach James totals up all the points each athlete scores during all the meets that season. At the end of the season, he names the Male Track Athlete of the Year at Woodland and also the Male Field Athlete of the Year and he does the exact same thing for the girl’s team. This year the Male Track MVP is Malique Middle and the MVP Field athlete is James Mosely. On the girl’s team the MVP Track performer is Kayla Ferrell and the MVP Field performer is Lyniah Kitt.
The Wolverines qualified 15 boys for the state meet and 11 of them produced points for the team. The girls’ team qualified 16 athletes for the state meet. The top performer for the boy’s team at the AA met was versatile athlete Malique Middleton who won the high jump in 6-4 and he also took gold in the 400 meters with a time of 49.09.
“Malique is a senior and this is first year doing track at Woodland,” said Coach James. “He had focused on being a basketball player until now. He started out thinking he could play soccer and track at the same time but he gave up soccer to focus on track and it paid off or him.”
The boy’s 4X800 relay team placed fourth (8:40.91). This event was run by, The 4X400 relay placed fifth(3:29.28) at the state meet. This group consisted of: 1. Mekhi Brown 2. Jameson Coburn 3. Chance Ross 4. Tyquan Cobbs.
The 4X400 team placed 5th at the state meet (3:29.28). This relay team consisted of 1. Tyquan Cobbs 2. Jameson Coburn 3. Malique Middleton and 4. Lavonte Farray.
Farray was 8th in the 200 meter (22.87). Coburn placed 6th in the pole vault with a clearance of 10-6. JaQuarius Hezekiah was second in the triple jump (43-6). South Carolina football lineman pledge Kam Pringle placed third in the shot put with a heave of 46-1. In the Javelin event Jerrell Sullivan had a toss of 143-3 for sixth place in that event.
On the girl’s side Woodland went 1-2-3 in the triple jump. “This was the first time in my coaching career that I had a one-three finish in any individual event,” said Coach James. “These three young ladies put in the work, and they are very coachable and dedicated to their goals.”
Lyniah Kitt was first in triple jump (27-10.00) followed by Briahanna Simmons (36-03.00) and Adriorria Grayton (35-08.00).
Kitt produced the most points for the girl’s team with 24. She was first in the triple jump, second in the Javelin (105-07.00) and got a third in the long jump (17.00).
Jada Ross earned points with a sixth- place finish in the 400-meter hurdles (1:12.84) while Samya Summers was 4th in the 400 meters (1:00.84). Kayla Ferrell placed 6th in the 200 meters (26.46).
Christina Black placed 7th in both the shot put (30-06.00) and Javelin (30-.,06.75).
The 4X400 team placed second (4:13.04) with a personal best in the event. This relay was run by 1. Ferrell 2. Grayton 3. Lexi Rabon and 4. Summers. The 4X100 relay team placed third (50.45. This relay was run by 1. Grayton 2. Ferrell 3. Ross 4. Alexis Daniels.
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