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Barrows Brothers Leaving Their Mark at Magnolia

Competitiveness never stops with Jared, Jakob

Magnolia athletes Jared, left, and Jakob Barrows each scored 10 points to help their team take home the West Virginia Class A State Track and Field Championship trophy. The twins are making waves for the Blue Eages.

NEW MARTINSVILLE — It’s no secret that the upper Ohio Valley has been seeing double in many schools these past few years. It just so happens that another pair of twins has been making some noise at Magnolia High School recently.

After last Saturday during the West Virginia state track meet in Charleston, the duo will become a household name if it wasn’t already.

Jakob and Jared Barrows both contributed in a huge way as the Blue Eagles claimed the Class A state championship.

“The Barrow twins are great kids,” Magnolia coach Travis Emch said. “They spend a lot of time at the track by themselves, they go lift all the time by themselves. As a coach a lot of times, it hard to get kids in the weight room. Those are two of the kids that I have to tell when we have a meet coming up that they probably should tone it back for a couple of days until we get done throwing … Not too bad of a problem to have.”

Both Barrows, along with Jay Eller, opened some eyes during the shot put and gave some reason for the Magnolia faithful to cheer. All three placed in the top six which tallied points to the team’s total.

Jakob won the event with a toss of 49-feet, 0.25-inches. Jared threw a solid 42-00.50 while Eller had a toss of 41-06.25.

“When we were throwing shot put, we set the tone for the entire team,” Jakob said. “They came and watched us throw and we put on a show for our entire team. Me placing first, Jay placing fifth and my twin brother placing fourth, that racked up enough points and that set the tone. Our runners got hype off of it. They executed everything they needed too.”

In the other throwing event of the day, Jared placed third in the discus with a haul of 135-02.

It just so happens that even though Jared didn’t win an individual event, the two brothers put the same amount of points on the board for the team. With Jakob winning the shot put, that gave Magnolia 10 points. With Jared placing fourth in shot (four points) and third in discus (six points), it equals out.

There will also be no bragging rights between the two in this case.

“I got two medals and got 10 points, so we’re equal,” Jared said with a laugh.

Jakob, who is older by 58 minutes, couldn’t agree more with his brother.

“Not really, because in a way, he did equally as good as I did,” Jakob said. “I scored 10 points from winning, he scored four in shot and six in discus. So we’re equal in a way.”

Being part of an athletic family will bring out the competitiveness in you. However, when your father holds a record that’s been standing for 21 years, that adds more fuel to the fire.

Jakob and Jared’s father, Mike Barrows, holds the state high jump record. In 1997, he leaped over the bar at 6-10 in the Class AA field.

“My dad was a huge track athlete, a high jumper,” Jared said. “A discus thrower and he threw shot. So it really gave me and Jake numbers to chase after and want to succeed.”

Putting in the hard work and coming from an athletic family, the success will be there. The friendly competition between the brothers is also there.

“Growing up, we’ve always been neck and neck with each other,” Jakob said. “Whether it’s sports, schoolwork or whatever it is. It’s always a battle between me and my brother.”

However, where there’s competition, there will be support. And winning a state championship as a team does not come around often. Winning a state championship with your twin brother, though, that moment is almost something out of a Hollywood script.

“The brother and I … being a twin, it’s a gift,” Jared said. “The competition at the gym, lifting weights … it’s just like, he throws 41-(foot)-5, I’m wanting 41-6. It’s something that we’ll have together and hold together for the rest of our lives. It’s awesome, there’s nothing like it.”

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