ONA, W.Va. — North Central West Virginia schools dominated the field at the WVSSAC state cross country championship Saturday at Cabell Midland High School.
The Class AAA girls race opened the schedule in sub-freezing temperatures. Morgantown ended the five-year run of state titles for University. The Mohigans placed first, second and third en route to their eighth state title. Sophomore Lea Hatcher crossed the finish line first in a time of 17 minutes, 24.78 seconds. Hatcher was followed closely by teammates Athena Young and Irene Riggs in second and third respectively.
“Once in a while, I would go around a turn and I would see Athena,” Hatcher said. “It made me really excited. I love having my teammates right there behind my back and pushing me along the way.”
The Hawks finished as the runners-up, with Caroline Kirby leading UHS with a fifth place finish.
The University boys held off a strong challenge from Morgantown to claim their fourth Class AAA state crown. Josh Edwards led the way for the Hawks, holding off Hurricane’s Wyatt Hanshaw to win in a time of 15 minutes, 50.06 seconds.
“It means a lot, not just to me but to my whole team,” Edwards said. “We all worked hard to come down here and prove ourselves.”
The afternoon session began with the combined girls race in Class AA and Class A. Fairmont Senior used top five finishes from Lydia Falkenstein and Carolina Jacquez to win the Polar Bears’ sixth state title and first in 16 years.
East Fairmont junior Erykah Christopher won the individual title in a time of 18:53.4. “I definitely had that goal going into high school and even in middle school,” Christopher said. “It is a great feeling. Once I finished, I couldn’t believe it was real. I was so happy.”
Williamstown used a second place finish from Ella Hesson to win their third consecutive Class A title, and their fourth in school history.
In the final race of the day, the Fairmont Senior boys made it a clean sweep of titles for the Polar Bears, holding off Bridgeport to win by ten points. FSHS successfully defended their 2018 state title and now has seven championships in school history. Polar Bear senior Ethan Kincell capped his high school career by winning in a time of 16:20.88. Doddridge County’s Carter Lipscomb finished less than four seconds behind.
“I definitely knew I would have at least Carter close to me,” said Kincell. “And there were a couple more guys and Carter close by so knowing that I just kind of ran scared. I just kicked it into gear and knew that if I didn’t I wasn’t going to be a state champion. I used that to motivate me.”
Ritchie County defended their Class A championship. Kent Bee led the Rebels with a tenth place finish.