Track season is in full swing and Friday night teams will congregate at Van Meter Stadium for the Pete Culicerto Invitational hosted by the Beckley boy’s track and field team.
“(Beckley boy’s track head) coach Steve Kidd is hosting the event Friday and it will be a regular format for a high school meet,” Beckley girls track head coach George Barbera said. “There are several schools coming, so it it will be a great meet.”
The Beckley girls team is coming off a third-place finish at the state meet last year and has a strong squad again this season.
“I have eight seniors on the team,” Barbera said. “We had 13 athletes on the team earn all-state last year and we only graduated one. They earned it on game day. It was the first time in school history that we scored in every single relay. We had one state champion and two runner-up finishes.”
The Flying Eagles have several girls inside the top-10 best performances across the state this year.
Ama Ackon-Annan has a top-10 time in both the 100 meter dash and the 200 meter dash. The senior speedster is only a half-second off the top time in both events.
Nevaiah Simmons has a top-10 time in the 300 meter low hurdles and the long jump, while Cadence Reid (shot put) and Leiloni Manns (discus) are also in the top-10 in the Mountain State. Simmons was fifth at the state meet in the long jump last year.
Somalia Nelson is two inches off the best time in the high jump and was runner-up last year in Charleston.
“Each week there are two or three girls that are earning (personal records) in different events,” Barbera said. “Our throwers will do it and so does our sprinters, hurdlers and our distance runners. We just keep improving.”
With the regional meet less than a month out, Barbera has been stepping up preparation for what he hopes is another strong run at states.
“Last week we did four races in seven days,” Barbera said. “They came through it like champs. We went to Cabell Midland Saturday (Carol Akers & Doc Hale Memorial Invitational) and the PikeView (Invitational) Tuesday. Friday night we sent 10 girls down to Laidley Field (Patriot Classic) and missed winning it by a point-and-a-half. Then they ran the next day at Concord (Concord University HS Open Invite).”
“The Tudor’s (Biscuit World Charleston Relays) is a two-day meet and states is a two-day meet,” Barbera went on to say. “We used last week as training for that. I sent most of our varsity (team) down there to run in two or three events and then they came back to run in two or three the next day. They handled it well.”
The Beckley girls are also strong once again in the relays with top-five times in the 4X100, 4X200 and the shuttle hurdles. They ladies have a top-10 time in the 4×800 as well.
“We are moving up. Our shuttle (hurdle) team just had a top-three time the first time we ran it all year,” Barbera said. “Our 300 (hurdle) girls are moving up. Ama, Kyndall (Ince) and Salia (Harris) are moving up and our relays are in the top four or five. These kids rise up and game day.”
Senior Ryan Mukhtar has been a standout once again for the Beckley boys.
After finishing third last year at the state meet, Mukhtar has the second best jump so far statewide, just three inches from the top spot. Mukhtar also has the fourth best time in the 110 meter hurdles.
Beckley has top-10 times on the boy’s side in the 4×100 relay, the 4×200 relay and the shuttle hurdle relay.
The field events start Friday at 4:30 p.m. and the running events will start at 5 p.m.
