ONA, W.Va. — The University High girls cross country program continued its dominance at Saturday’s state meet.
Behind a runner-up effort from Zoe Shetty, the Hawks claimed their fifth consecutive Class AAA state championship with 43 points. Shetty’s finish of 18:24 left her behind Parkersburg’s Madison Trippett, who took individual honors at 18:00.
University also had a fifth-place finish from Caroline Kirby (19:16) and a 10th-place finish from Emma Troischt (19:46) to factor heavily into the team title.
The meet was held at Cabell Midland High School, whose boys team took home the Class AAA championship with 55 points. The Knights had four of the top 14 finishers, including Steven Ball in fifth (16:25) and Sam LeRose in sixth (16:26). Cooper Gibson had a finish time of 16:49 to come in 12th place, while the Knights’ Will Turman took 14th at 16:54.
Wheeling Park’s Ronnie Saunders was the top boys finisher in Class AAA at 15:55, with University’s Larry Josh Edwards (16:07) and Woodrow Wilson’s Chris Barbera (16:15) second and third, respectively.
The Winfield girls team, with four of the top 14 finishers, claimed the Class AA-A championship with 62 points. The Generals were paced by Baylee Adkins, who was third with a 19:56 finish time. Winfield also got key contributions from Grace Cole (20:52), Sarah Lipscomb (20:55.08) and Savannah Hoff (20:55.65), who finished 12th through 14th, respectively.
Williamstown’s Ella Hesson took first at 19:25, with Bridgeport’s Julia Muller the runner-up at 19:42.
The Fairmont Senior boys team had five runners among the top 25 to narrowly claim the Class AA-A championship with 70 points. The Polar Bears were led by Tavian Richardson’s fifth-place finish (16:55), while Caleb Carlson was 14th (17:29) and Logan Zuchelli 20th (17:45).
Directly behind FSHS was Winfield with 71 points. The Generals’ Aaron Withrow was the top individual finisher at 16:02, while teammates Jordon Thompson (17:01.09) and Matthew Scheneberg (17:01.86) finished eighth and 10th, respectively.
Ravenswood’s Bryce Jarrell was second at 16:42, while Doddridge County’s Carter Lipscomb finished third at 16:48.
Ritchie County won the Class A boys championship while Williamstown claimed the Class A girls title.
Post-race interviews courtesy of Joe Stevens