Herbert Hoover's Fletcher, Wahama's Lambert Named 2026 McCoy Award Winners by State Sports Writers
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on February 05, 2026
Editor's Note: The following two stories are for this year's male and female McCoy Award winners for the top high school track and field performers as selected by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association. The first story is Maysen Fletcher of Herbert Hoover, while the second is of Wahama's Connor Lambert. Both photos are by Craig Allison Photography
By Rick Elmore
Charleston Gazette-Mail
For the West Virginia Sports Writers Association
In her years running track and field and cross country, Marshall University Hall of Famer Sarah Crandall-Fletcher produced some incredible times.
However, none of her times compare to what her daughter, Herbert Hoover sophomore distance star Maysen Fletcher, has done in her short time running for the Huskies.
“Not anywhere close,” said Crandall-Fletcher, a member of the 4x800 meter relay team that set an MU record. “There’s a running joke in the family that she’s the ‘Fastest Fletcher.’”
In her freshman track season in 2025, Maysen Fletcher set records at the WVSSAC state meet in the 3200 meters and 1600 meters while 
also winning the 800 meters. Following in her mother’s footsteps, Fletcher also was a member of the Huskies 4x800 state championship team.
also winning the 800 meters. Following in her mother’s footsteps, Fletcher also was a member of the Huskies 4x800 state championship team.
Those feats have brought plenty of accolades, including most recently her selection by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association as the female winner of the McCoy Award, given to the top high school track and field performer in the state. The time frame for the award also included the 2025 prep cross country season.
“It really means a lot, because not a lot of people get to say they won,” said Fletcher, who has garnered national recognition as well.
Fletcher was the top vote-getter and was followed in voting by the WVSWA by Morgantown’s Elecia McCurrie and Charleston Catholic’s Arabella Boggs.
The McCoy Award is named for former Huntington High and Huntington East track coach Raymie McCoy, who coached for 43 years.
The award was combined for male and female runners until 2008, when separate awards were instituted for each gender.
The award honored state high school and college athletes until changing to high school only in 2012.
Previous winners of the McCoy Award include Alyssa Sauro of Williamstown, who won it last season. Morgantown’s Irene Riggs won three years in a row before that. The list also includes St. Albans High School graduate Randy Barnes, an Olympic silver (1988) and gold medalist (1996). Barnes won the McCoy Award three times when it was given to a single athlete, 1985, 1988 and 1996.
Fletcher’s name will be right beside them in state track and field history.
The two-time cross-country state champion continues to push herself by competing in events such as the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Philadelphia, where she was ninth in the 2-mile with a time of 10:17.0.
Fletcher had a similar finish, ninth, at the Penn Relays.
At November’s Brooks national cross-country qualifier in Charlotte, North Carolina, Fletcher won the South Region. Then at the nationals at Balboa Park in San Diego in December, she posted a time of 18:01.90 that placed her 21st among high school girls.
“That was a hilly course,” Fletcher said.
Not that she needed to do better. Fletcher has already won the Gatorade Player of the Year award three of a possible three times -- once for track and field and twice in cross country.
Fletcher’s accomplishments are a testament to her hard work.
“She’s always running and building,” Herbert Hoover athletic director Richard Parsons said. “I know she’s the only one at Hoover to win the Gatorade [Player of the Year] back-to-back in two different sports. She’s a once-in-a-lifetime athlete.”
Crandall-Fletcher, who coaches her daughter at Herbert Hoover as an assistant, also complimented her daughter’s work ethic, praising her workout routines and meal prep – all things she does on her own.
“She’s very coachable,” Crandall-Fletcher said.
Fletcher also never stops moving. Fletcher said she allows herself a week off after outdoor track season ends in the spring before she begins what will amount to two to three months of training for the next cross-country season.
Of course, there are still national meets to prepare for, too. Fletcher said she will compete in the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in March and will return to Philadelphia in April for the Penn Relays.
Luke Teel, the head coach of Hoover’s running program, has had plenty of time to watch Fletcher as he coaches her during the track and cross-country seasons.
“She works extremely hard all year round to achieve her goals,” Teel said. “Her improvement this year alone has been great to watch. I don’t know anyone as determined or as willing to challenge herself to get better as she is.”
No wonder she’s the Fastest Fletcher.
Fletcher will be honored at the 79th Victory Awards in May, an annual event presented by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
By Colton Jeffries
River Cities News
For the West Virginia Sports Writers Association
To say Connor Lambert had a senior year to remember would be an understatement.
After leading the White Falcons to their first football state championship since 2012 as one of the state's top running backs, Lambert won the 100-meter and 200-meter dash titles at the WVSSAC Class A State Track and Field Meet.
Those two victories propelled the Wahama High School boys track team to a Class A runner-up finish, the best in program history.
Now, the West Virginia Sports Writers Association (WVSWA) has named Lambert the 2025-26 McCoy Male Track Athlete of the Year.
The McCoy Award is given annually to the state’s top male and female track performers.
Ty Steorts of Hurricane finished second in the voting, followed by Amos Kimble of Tyler Consolidated in third.
Lambert said it is an enormous honor to receive the award.
"West Virginia has lots of talented track athletes across all events, so to be voted to win this award is such a privilege," he said.
Remarkably, this was Lambert’s first year running high school track.
"People and coaches have been begging me to run track since my freshman year," he said. "Since I didn't have football to prepare for in the spring, I knew I'd have a few teammates with me and since it was my senior season, I decided to finally join the track team."
Wahama head coach Angie Johnson knew Lambert's speed would benefit the White Falcons, but even she was surprised by his raw pace.
"He blew away the competition in all classes by more than any track athlete I had seen in my 15 years of being around West Virginia high school track," she said. "Nobody was even close to him when he crossed the finish line in both his 100 and 200 and those races are usually down to photo finishes."
Johnson noted the senior demonstrated an immense work ethic, even when an injury briefly sidelined him.
"He pushes and pushes to be the best that he can and that means a lot of times long and grueling workouts unless you force him to stop," she said. "Even when he was injured, he still showed up at practices doing what stretches and exercises he could, until he could work back up to where he could come back at full strength. He never missed a single practice during all this."
Heading into the day of the finals, Lambert admitted the nerves were present following his performance in the preliminaries.
"I had a few events the day before, so I was a little sore. I hoped that wouldn't be a big factor, and thankfully it turned out not to be," he said. "I also knew there would be hungry competition in those other seven lanes."
A primary source of that competition was Doddridge County’s Tommy Walters-Hickman, who finished second behind Lambert in both the 100 and 200 by margins of less than half a second.
"I had to race against him a handful of times during the regular season," he said. "I knew since I had a fast and explosive start he'd be chasing since he is a bit taller and has longer legs and strides. I had to have a great start to have a chance at beating him."
The White Falcon standout secured the starts he needed.
Lambert won the 200-meter dash in 21.84 seconds and the 100-meter dash in 10.61 seconds.
His 100-meter time was the fastest across all three classes, making him the fastest person in the state and breaking the Class A State Meet record.
"When I first crossed that finish line, by biggest concern was if I broke my own personal record," Lambert said. "It took a second for it to hit me that I broke the state meet record."
Johnson said Lambert’s performance proves athletes can achieve anything they set their minds to, even without elite facilities.
"Wahama does not have its own track, so we often run in our school’s parking lot or travel to another team's track and share it with them while they practice," she said. "Connor has shown that with dedication and true grit, you can do anything you set your mind to no matter the circumstances. This state record is a first for Wahama and something that will be talked about for years to come."
Lambert credited his coaches and teammates for his rapid development.
"Considering I had a lot to learn about track in the span of about a month, I needed a lot of help," he said. "From Coach (David) Tennant teaching me block starts, Alan Barnitz teaching me handoffs for the relays, Coach Jacob (Lloyd) for helping me get the relay timings right and head coach Angie Johnson for getting me in shape. I'm really thankful to them for that."
The experience also impacted Johnson’s perspective on her own role.
"I sometimes wondered if I am doing enough for my athletes, and if I was leading them in the right direction, and through athletes like Connor, I learned that I am doing enough," she said. "I learned that their achievements are often times my achievements as well. They teach me the true meaning of winning, even of it is not first place."
After graduating from Wahama, Lambert transitioned to the University of Charleston, where he joined the Golden Eagles football team.
"It went better than expected. Around week three I got called up to play special teams, so I wanted to make the best of it," he said. "Going from Class A to college and thriving is definitely possible, and I hope to prove that soon."
Lambert hopes his story inspires others to try the sport.
"I hope they just decide to give track a chance," he said. "You never know what events you can excel at. You never know unless you give it a try.”
Lambert will be honored at the 79th Victory Awards in May, an annual event presented by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
PHOTO CREDIT for both Fletcher and Lambert: Craig Allison Photography, for the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
