Lydia Fincham and BSHS Boys 4×800 earn All-State Honors
by Jamie Harris
Members of the Berkeley Springs High School Girls and Boys Track Teams went to Charleston to compete in the West Virginia State Track and Field Meet on May 17 and 18. Although small in numbers, the Tribe was able to make some noise and brought back plenty of hardware to Berkeley Springs.
2022 BSHS Boy’s State 4×400 Champions Ben Golden, Tim Develing, Gabe McDonald and Jackson Mundey.
Sophomore Dakota Hamrick got the ball rolling for Berkeley Springs on day one. A returning all state medalist, Hamrick was not quite able to make the podium in his second trip to the state meet, however he was able to improve over his previous personal best from a year ago to clear 12’6 this season. With two years remaining, the pole vault standout figures to be a state contender in the coming years.
Next up, was junior Lydia Fincham who set a new personal best as she cruised around the 400 meter oval in 1:02.2 almost a second faster than her previous best mark. In the process, she finished sixth place which is impressive as she qualified for the state meet in the number eight position. Fincham also competed in the open 800 meter run on Thursday finish- ing in 10th position with a time of 2:37.05.
Sophomore Audrey Helmick wrapped up the evening for the Indians competing in the 3200 meter run. Battling health issues all season that severely hamperedher performance, Helmick finished the race with a time of 13:33.46.
On Thursday, Sarah Veara competed in the discus throw. The Tribe’ s lone senior, Veara entered the state meet with an impressive throw of over 104 feet. Not being able to duplicate her best performance, Veara threw the implement 85’5 inches. The senior will take her talents as a golfer to Shepherd University where she will compete at the collegiate level.
The 4×800 meter relay team of Gabriel McDonald, Jackson Mundey, Wilford Nutter and Deven Stone were next on the track. A fine opening leg ran by McDonald was followed by another strong leg by Mundey, who handed the baton off to Nutter who kept the Indians firmly in second place with the last leg remaining. Stone ran a first lap of 62 seconds and was looking good com- ing into the final 200 when he pulled up with an apparent injury. The Indian sophomore was able to finish the race and limp across the finish line to make the team all state dreams a reality by finishing in sixth place.
After Mundey finished the 800 meter in seventh place with a time of 2:02.89, it was time for the remaining event the contingent of Berkeley Springs fans had been waiting on. The 4×400 relay team came into the last event with the second-best time in the state and the team was trying to defend their state championship from a year ago. In fact, three of the four members (Golden, Develing and McDonald) were on last year’ s state winning team. From the fifth lane, the Indians started on their quest to repeat as 4×400 relay state champions. Ben Golden, a junior got the race started with a blistering split of 52 seconds and put the Tribe in but put the race away, when a great position. Senior Tim Develing took the baton, came around the first turn and simply hit another gear and
ran away from the field to take about a two second lead. Talented senior McDonald ran a beautiful third leg to all but put the race away, when he handed off to Mundey who was able to hold off charges by both Winfield and Point Pleasant to record a three second victory, with an overall time of 3:32.57 which was about two full seconds better than their regional time and successfully defend the relay title.
“The coaching staff would like to congratulate the team on their accomplishments on the season,” stated Berkeley Springs head coach Dave Mundey.
