Just as it has in years past, the Kanawha Valley produced its fair share of sports stories throughout 2024.
Here’s a look back at the top 10 stories from the valley during the past calendar year.
10. NCAA runner-up
UC men’s soccer
Behind leading scorer João Belmudes and head coach Daniel Smee, the Golden Eagles stormed into the Division II national championship, but fell to Lynn, 3-2.
That denied Smee his first national championship at UC while the program itself finished second nationally for the fourth time in 11 years.
The Golden Eagles finished the season 22-2-1, captured the regular-season and tournament titles in the Mountain East Conference and were NCAA Atlantic Region champions.
9. Herbert Hoover football completes a 10-0 regular season, state runner-up
Behind Dane Hatfield, Blake Fisher, Sam Kee and a stifling defense, the Huskies finished the regular season with a 10-0 record.
Under head coach Joey Fields, Hoover translated that successful season into a No. 4 seed in the Class AAA playoffs earning the school its first home playoff games.
In the postseason, the Huskies beat Elkins and Oak Hill at home. Then they beat top seed Princeton in Mercer County to earn a spot in the program’s second state championship game, where they finished as runner-up to Bridgeport.
Along the way, Hatfield earned All-Kanawha Valley first team honors as well as Player of the Year.
8. Harrington slaying rocks
West Virginia State campus
Hailed by his school as a community and campus leader, West Virginia State University football player Jyilek Harrington was shot and killed at his ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä apartment on Sept. 11, one day before the Yellow Jackets were to play their home opener.
Harrington’s death received attention from media across the nation, including Charlotte, North Carolina, where the 21-year-old was from before transferring to WVSU for his senior season.
A former player at Carson-Newman, the Yellow Jackets’ first home opponent of the 2024 season, Harrington’s death and the resulting impact on both teams forced the game to be postponed to later in the week.
Prior to the game on Sept. 13, Harrington was honored with a moment of silence. Additionally, WVSU painted the 22-yard lines — the number he wore for each team — on each end of the field in the school colors of both the Yellow Jackets and Carson-Newman.
To date, no arrests have been made in what police said they were investigating as a home invasion.
7. Wright leads Golden Eagles
to undefeated regular season
University of ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä running back Chavon Wright powered the offense for head coach Quinn Sanders in helping UC to an 11-0 regular-season record and the Mountain East Conference title.
Wright, a redshirt junior from Opa Locka, Florida, led Division II in rushing this season with 2,233 yards, was first in rushing yards per game with 186.1 and set a Division II record with 38 rushing TDs on the season.
Yet, Wright finished second in the voting for the Harlon Hill Award — Division II’s version of the Heisman Trophy — behind Zach Zebrowski, quarterback from Central Missouri.
Wright had 226 yards rushing and one touchdown in UC’s lone loss of the season — a 40-38 loss to Ashland (Ohio) University in the first round of the playoffs.
6. Kanawha Valley teams
play for soccer state titles
The WVSSAC boys and girls soccer championships had a Kanawha Valley feel to them in 2024 with at least one of its teams earning a spot in each their respective class finals.
The ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Catholic boys captured the Class A-AA state championship with a 1-0 win over East Fairmont at Beckley’s Paul Cline Memorial Soccer Complex.
The Irish had been runner-up the year before at Carter Stadium, but Ethan Bastin’s goal gave head coach Joe Johns’ team the title in 2024.
That win was somewhat of a redemption for the school after the Catholic girls’ streak of five straight titles in the class came to an end with a 3-1 loss to the Bees in the girls final. A sixth straight win would have given head coach Amy Mullen’s program a state record.
In the girls Class AAA state final, George Washington was unable to get an equalizing goal against Washington goalkeeper Erica Schnable who helped her Patriots to a 2-1 victory over the GW team.
Hurricane’s boys, trying for the program’s third state championship, fell short of that title by one goal and 3.8 seconds. Woodrow Wilson hit the game winner with that much time remaining for a 2-1 win over HHS.
5. Winfield softball, Catholic baseball earn championships
A 5-2 win over Keyser helped Winfield repeat as softball state champions on May 23 at Little Creek Park in South ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä.
Head coach Steve Hensley’s Generals won their second straight championship after starting the regular season 3-8 before closing out the 2024 campaign with 24 wins over their final 26 games.
Maddie Carroll pitched each game of Winfield’s state tournament run including seven innings of four-hit ball in the final.
Hensley was named All-Kanawha Valley Coach of the Year for leading the Generals to the title.
In baseball, five Kanawha Valley teams qualified for the state tournament at GoMart Ballpark, but the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Catholic Irish were the only team to claim a state championship.
Head coach Will Bobinger’s team led by underclassmen Jonah DiCocco, Zaden Ranson and Connor Jarvis defeated Williamstown 6-3 for the Class A state championship.
The Irish finished 31-5 in 2024 including two regular-season losses to the Yellowjackets.
4. Catholic boys, Nitro girls
ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Catholic boys were one of four No. 2 seeds to capture state championships in March after Hunter Moles’ Irish defeated Bluefield 42-39 for the Class AA title.
Tournament MVP Jayallen Turner scored 12 points and four steals to help Catholic overcome a 10-0 deficit to open the game and rally for the win. Forward Zaden Ranson had 13 points and nine rebounds to help the Irish.
The championship was the first for Moles, who was in his fifth season for the Irish, and the first for Catholic since 2012.
That win came one week after the No. 3 seed Nitro girls basketball team defeated Lewis County 47-39 for the Wildcats’ second state championship.
Nitro finished the season 25-3 with Natalie Smith scoring 17 points to take home MVP honors. Smith also grabbed seven rebounds in helping head coach Pat Jones’ team earn the win.
3. Randy Moss has surgery, treatment for cancer
Former DuPont High School, Marshall University and NFL star wide receiver Randy Moss revealed in December that he was fighting cancer.
Moss revealed via social media that a mass had been detected in his bile duct between his liver and pancreas. Surgery in November and again in early December to remove the cancer and he would begin both chemotherapy and radiation, according to the Associated Press.
After helping DuPont win the 1992 and 1993 Class AAA football titles, Moss went on to play college football for the Thundering Herd beginning in 1996 where he helped MU win the Division 1-AA national championship, a Mid-American Conference championship in 1997 and was a Heisman Trophy finalist.
Moss was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the 1998 NFL draft and helped the team to within one win of the Super Bowl his rookie season.
The 47-year-old was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
2. Football state championships return to ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä
After a three-decade run in Wheeling, the WVSSAC announced in February that a committee representing ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä had successfully won its bid to have the state’s high school championship games return to the capital city.
Laidley Field had not been the host site for the championships since the 1993 season. The following year, the games moved to Wheeling Island Stadium where they remained through the 2023 season.
ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä became the first city to host the title games for four, instead of three, classifications as well.
Those championships were held Dec. 13 and 14 with Martinsburg claiming the first Class AAAA championship while Bridgeport won Class AAA, Frankfort Class AA and Wahama in Class A.
ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä’s bid was chosen over those of Morgantown/Huntington, Bluefield and Wheeling. The bid will keep the championships at Laidley Field through the 2026 season.
1. Basketball great
One of West Virginia’s most famous sons, Jerry West died on June 12 with news of his passing drawing reactions from around the nation as well as in West Virginia.
A native of Chelyan, West led East Bank to the 1956 basketball state championship before moving on to play college ball for WVU.
West helped lead Team USA to a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics.
Only the third player to reach 25,000 career points, West became a 14-time All-Star, a 12-time All-NBA selection and was honored as a member of the league’s 75th anniversary team.
Under West’s play, the Los Angeles Lakers won the 1972 NBA championship, but he was also the 1969 Finals MVP as a member of the losing team. West’s 29.1 points per game during the playoffs remains one of the NBA’s highest postseason scoring averages.
After retiring as a player, West later coached and then became general manager of the Lakers where he helped the team win eight NBA Finals. West was instrumental in creating the “Showtime†dynasty for the Lakers during the 1980s and ’90s.
West’s passing drew tributes from across the sports world, including baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers.
