West Stanly places in regional meet; Starnes breaks 50-year-old record held by Hall of Famer

Published 9:51 am Monday, May 15, 2023

In Saturday’s NCHSAA 2A Midwest Regional meet at Mt. Pleasant High School, the West Stanly boys and girls track teams took second and third place, respectively.

North Stanly’s boys participated, but did not score. The Comet girls, however, posted 26 points, good for 12th place.

Boys

Despite posting no first-place finishes, the Colt boys tallied 60.5 points, good for the second-place berth, but well behind champion T.W. Andrews High School’s 131 points.

Junior runners Stephen Martin and Carson Wells tied for the highest event finishes on the Colts squad. Martin took second place in the 800-meter run, clocking in at 2:03.58, while Wells posted a time of 4:41.36 in the 1,600 meter run, also good for second place.

Sophomore Owen Grismer earned a third-place finish in the shot-put event with a toss of 46-foot-7.

Jacob Starnes also posted a third-place finish in the discus throw with a toss of 148-foot-3. The junior athlete’s heave set a new West Stanly High School record, breaking a mark set 50 years earlier of 145-foot-2 by Colt standout and Stanly County Sports Hall of Fame member Rod Broadway.

Girls

Freshman runner Kelsey Burleson, who streaked to first-place finishes in the 800-meter, 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs, in addition to running one leg of the 4×800-meter relay team (along with Danica Hann, Makaly Morton and Caroline White) paced the West Stanly squad. The Colts, whose 59 points were good for third place, finished behind Salisbury (76.5) and Anson County (65).

North Stanly sophomore Shalyn Bell posted third-place finishes in High Jump (5 feet) and Triple Jump (34-foot-0.25) to lead the Comet effort.

Boys Scores
1 T.W. Andrews 131
2 West Stanly 60.5
3 West Stokes 58
4 Monroe 57
5 North Forsyth 40
5 Walkertown 40
7 Salisbury 37
8 Jay M Robinson 35
9 Forest Hills 33
10 Wilkes Central 31
11 North Surry 21
12 Surry Central 20
13 Trinity High 19
14 East Surry 18
15 West Davidson 14.5
16 West Wilkes 13

17 East Davidson 12
17 Randleman 12
19 Reidsville 11
20 Wheatmore 9
21 Morehead 8
21 North Wilkes 8
23 McMichael 5
24 Anson 3
24 Providence Grove 3
26 Forbush 1
26 Southwestern Randolph 1

Girls Scores
1 Salisbury 76.5
2 Anson 65
3 West Stanly 59
4 East Davidson 55
5 West Davidson 38.5
6 Jay M Robinson 32
6 West Stokes 32
8 North Surry 30
9 Forbush 29
10 T.W. Andrews 28
11 West Wilkes 27
12 North Stanly 26
12 Randleman 26
14 Reidsville 22
14 North Wilkes 22
16 Walkertown 21
16 Surry Central 21
18 Wilkes Central 20
19 Forest Hills 14
20 East Surry 13
21 Wheatmore High School 8
22 Mount Pleasant 7
22 Providence Grove 7
24 Southwestern Randolp 6
25 North Forsyth 5
26 Monroe 3
26 McMichael 3