Aiken High’s King and Midland Valley’s Coverson-Springs Win State Track And Field Championships

For two local student-athletes who are accustomed to winning, there was no disguising their feelings on Saturday after their victory.

Eliza King of Aiken High was aiming to complete an ideal high school career in the javelin throw. Morgan Coverson-Springs of Midland Valley was all about grinding it out in close-quarters hurdles contests.

With gold medals at the Class AAAA track and field state championships, they both departed Spring Valley High School.

It has never been whether King would win; rather, the questions have been by how much and where she would rank in the country. She strives to throw farther than the previous year every year, and in the process, she has achieved a new state record.

She was aiming to surpass her own record of 156 feet, 2 inches from the previous year. She surpassed that target with a throw of 167 feet, 6 inches, which was about 50 feet further than her nearest rival, 11 feet beyond her previous record, and the top national ranking on MileSplit. In true King manner, she fought back tears after her final throw.

“I’ve never been emotional with javelin that much, but this year was special because all four years my goal has been met,” said King, who finishes her high school career a perfect 4-for-4 at the state meet. “My goal last year, for this year, I set a bible verse as my season bible verse … So I’ve been praying that prayer, and that was my goal. I don’t want to be anxious, just let God know what I want to try to do and work hard to try to achieve it. So I couldn’t be happier. I did a foot further than I prayed for.”

At the state championships, King has improved by ten feet every year since her winning throw of 136 feet in her freshman year. She jumped the highest this year, and as an added bonus, Sandi King, who placed third in the competition and set a new record throw of her own, joined her on the medal podium.

“That is a very, very big blessing, and it’s my senior year, so we couldn’t be more happy to be on it together,” Eliza explained.

“I was very happy when I hit 115. That’s definitely a big PR for me. That’s my goal,” Sandi added. “To God be the glory. We’ve just both been so happy for each other. I could not be happier for her. That’s just amazing. I was glad I got to stand next to her, even though it wasn’t second. God had His plan. But I was still right next to her. So my goal is to hopefully train harder, work harder and get higher up in the ranking.”