Charleston – Often it is said there are no locks in sports.
That is unless you are Isaac Agee competing for the Class A 110-meter hurdles title at the state track meet in Charleston.
After blitzing the field with a sprint of 14.92 seconds Friday in the prelims, Agee raced down the steamy track at Laidley Field in 14.76 seconds, besting the field by a full second to earn the title of state champion.
“It feels amazing. Last year I came here as a sophomore and first time running the hurdles. I got humbled,” Agee said. “I still did well finishing in third place. That is good, but I thought I was the best, and I was wrong. That was definitely motivation coming into this year.”
Clearly the overwhelming favorite heading into the finals, Agee kept his focus on that task at hand.
“All that matters for me is to do the best that I can. Whatever happens, happens,” Agee said. “It is all God’s plan. I just know if I lose, there is nothing I can do about it.”
While the junior standout is largely focused on setting a personal best each race, he has also benefited from a quality teammate pushing him throughout the season.
Saturday, fellow Cavalier Colton Dunbar raced in the lane beside Agee. Dunbar finished in third place, just .09 second behind Simon Travis from Trinity.
“I don’t really notice anybody beside me, if they are, but it definitely helps having Dunbar run with me,” Agee said. “He is just a sophomore and he is getting way better. I want to stay as good as I can, until I have graduated, but he definitely gives me a hard time.”
The time recorded by Agee was the third fastest time of the day, behind only Class AAA competitors Dalton Ferguson (14.72) from Spring Valley and Jai’Den Smith (14.75) from Hurricane.
Agee’s state title run also came on the heels of a tight second place finish in the 300-meter hurdles earlier in the day. Agee finished second by .08 second.
“Honestly, I expected to get top three or top four (in the 300). I had a great start to (my heat) and it was great all the way until the last 100 (meters) where I stuttered,” Agee said. “They started catching me, so I just had to run my race and finish strong. It worked out. It was sad to see that both of them fell because they were so close to me. The guy in the first heat still beat me, but that is great for him. I still did as good as I could.”
Saturday’s medals brought Agee’s total to four for the 2024 state meet.
Friday night he was part of the state champion shuttle-hurdles team along with Dunbar, Randy Keener and Benjamin McDaniel.
Agee also finished second in the long jump Friday, 2.25 inches behind Chase Livengood from Trinity. His jump of 21-feet, 8.25 inches broke Tott Mitchell’s Greenbrier West school record which stood for 44 years.
The performance in all four events gave Agee a total of 28.5 points which sets another school record. Ryan Painter held the previous mark at 28 points set in 1997. Mitchell tallied 25.5 in 1981.
The multi-sport standout now has his eyes on the state record for the 110-meter hurdles after missing it by just .13 seconds Saturday.
“The big goal for me is to get the state record in single-A. No certain reason. It is just a goal that I have,” Agee said. “I just like to keep getting better every day.”
