– By David Walsh, Photos by Teran Malone
ONA, W.Va. — University did it again, scoring a sweep Saturday in the West Virginia State High School Cross Country Championships over the 5,000-meter course at Cabell Midland High School.
In the boys, the Hawks prevailed with 42 points. Cabell Midland took second (80), Jefferson third (86) and Morgantown fourth (108).
In the girls, the Hawks, who did not have Adelyn Tager who missed with an injury, stepped up and won with 56 points. Cabell Midland was second (74) and Morgantown third (83).
“The boys kind of like don’t want to be the one not to do it,” University coach Ed Frohnapfel said. “They want to keep things going. The tradition of prior years and the great runners. I worry about the team. Individuals take care of themselves.”
Hurricane’s Tyler Steorts led the individuals in Class AAA by winning for a third straight year. He ran 15:11. Aidan Kneeland of Cabell Midland was second.
“Steorts … he’s just special,” Frohnapfel said.
Tyler Umbright led University with a third place. Ethan Conroy was sixth, Michal Gainer seventh, Logan Conroy 14th and Colin Schrull 23rd.
“Don’t want to be the ones that end it,” Umbright said of the streak, which now is six in a row. “They perform each year. I have great teammates and a great coach. We push each other every day. We didn’t win the race today. It’s all the work we do all season.”
Umbright started out hoping to stick with Steorts, but the Hurricane runner proved too strong.
“We planned on starting out together,” Umbright said. “He started to pull away, I tried to catch up and expended too much energy. When the fifth guy comes in, it’s over.”
Andrew Carlton of Morgantown placed 11th and Landon Griffith of Preston 19th.
The University girls and fans were gathered by a concession stand when they got official word the Hawks had won.
“It’s everything to us,” said Abigail Rogers, who took second. “We were working for the seniors. We all just wanted to do it for each other and Adelyn. I was near the fence urging the girls to come on. We’re happy to do it. Wouldn’t want it any other way. We stepped up.”
“Really happy for the girls,” said Frohnapfel , who coaches them, too. “I didn’t think we’d have five to finish. The fact we did shows the effort they put in. They worked hard all year.”
Buckhanno-Upshur’s Samantha Shreve, the favorite coming in, won with a time of 18:27. Cabell Midland’s was third in 18:49.
Hallie Simmons of Preston came in ninth and Maraid Johnson of Morgantown 10th.
Awards ceremonies for Class AAA, AA and A were held in the Cabell Midland gym shortly after each race.
Class AA Girls
Herbert Hoover freshman Maysden Fletcher held off Williamstown’s Alyssa Sauro down the homestretch to win in her first attempt. She ran 18:17 and Suaro took second with 18:19.
“Feels really good,” Maysden said. “She tried to run me down, but I went all out the last 100 meters. Knew I had to go. I knew it could go either way,”
Williamstown won with 36 points and Frankfort took second with 95.
Other Williamstown finishers were Cassie Sites, No. 5; Ava Lightfritz, No. 7; Alexis Wynn, No. 9; and Sylvia Harris, No. 13.
Class AA Boys
Trevor George of Elkins had the No. 1 tag and made that label stand up as he ran a personal-best 16:09 to win. Ryan Hughes of Frankfort was second in 16:24. Elkins prevailed in the team race as well with 39 points to 60 for No. 2 Frankfort.
“Worth it,” George said of the long trip Elkins has to make to Ona. “Last year it was supposed to be close with Frankfort, but we didn’t run our race. This year things went a lot better. Got to the softball field and noticed a gap. Got on the track, took a peak and could see him. Got No. 1 label and I’m going to show it. Pushed myself a lot more. We all did.”
The other top four runners for the victorious Tigers were Benjamin Tenney, Joshua Bodkins, Gavin Brown and Treven Schaefer.
Class A Girls
Braxton County won with 45 points. St. Marys was second with 61 and Doddridge County third with 78.
In individuals, Arabella Boggs of Charleston Catholic ran 19:03 to win by more than a minute. Laura Bain of Braxton took second and Bailey Holden of Doddridge County third. Rounding out Braxton County’s top five were Addison Lloyd, 10th; Leah Payne, 12th; Bethany Page, 13th; and Teagan Huff, 17th.
Class A Boys
St. Marys totaled 61 points to win. Charleston Catholic took second with 67. Doddridge County placed third with 100. Trinity Christian settled for sixth with 129.
Amos Kimble of Tyler Consolidated ran 16:09 to win. Donovan Tanouye of Paw Paw placed second and Bryce Bills of St. Marys third.