Harriers from across The Mountain State started the year dreaming of running their final race of the high school season on the last weekend of October.
For some, that dream will become a reality Saturday at the West Virginia State Cross Country Meet at Cabell Midland High School in Ona.
In Class AAA, Woodrow Wilson, Greenbrier East and Princeton will compete for the girls team title. On the boys side for the big schools, Woodrow Wilson is the lone area school that qualified.
Nicholas County and Shady Spring will compete for the girls Class AA crown, while Shady Spring, Nicholas County and PikeView will vie for the boys championship.
Richwood will make a run at the girls team title in Class A.
The Flying Eagles brought home another Region 3 plaque on both the boys and girls side last week. Head coach George Barbera feels both teams can make an impact Saturday, especially on the boys side.
“Over the past few years, we have gone down there and beaten programs that have a lot of history of success. Woodrow Wilson has been right in the middle of it,” Barbera said. “On the boys side, University is the top ranked team. We are also chasing Wheeling Park and Hurricane. I think we have as good a chance of beating them, just like they have against us. It’s a matter of who will deliver on game day. I think the kids really want it.”
Woodrow Wilson returned a veteran squad on the boys side led by a solid group of seniors.
“Connor Cormack has been a leader for the last couple of years. He has been really instrumental in grouping them up in the summertime and the wintertime. He also leads their group runs,” Barbera said. “Christian Saffouri and Chris Huffman are very tenacious. They battled through some injuries and have been pretty consistent.”
Freshman Aiden Kneeland has been the top runner for the Flying Eagles, who have also received strong runs from sophomores Josh Cormack and Robert Shirey, along with junior Jonah Morgan.
“Aiden is a competitor and a special talent. It’s hard to find freshmen that are really focused, determined and dedicated. All of those boxes are checked off with him,” Barbera said. “I am looking for him to surprise the field and do better than expected.”
Another regional title, much less a return to the state meet, was no given for the Woodrow Wilson girls who lost three seniors from last year’s team that finished third at the state meet.
With a pair of returning seniors leading the way, four sophomores and a freshman joined them and carried the torch to the regional win.
“Colette Lindley and Ashton Evans have both progressively improved over the years. They are both team captains and provided the senior leadership we needed,” Barbera said.
Sophomores Lauren Curtis, Kyndall Ince, Cecilia Lindley and Hannah Keiling all finished the region meet in the top-10. Freshman Madison Farrish gave Woodrow another runner in the top-20 with an 18th-place finish.
“I think the girls can finish in the top seven, or maybe better Saturday. I think they will do better than predicted,” Barbera said.
Greenbrier East had three girls in the top 10, led by regional champion Abi Londeree. She will be joined by teammates Emma Toler, Abby Dixon, Luella Mansheim, Emma Kesterson, Isabella Harrison and Brianna Hannigan.
Kesterson is the lone senior for the Spartans.
Freshman Asia Collins has run strong all season for Princeton and was sixth at the regional meet. The Tigers will also take a young team to Ona. Jaycee Pritchett, Hayley Collins, Ava Bane, Cierra Hall and Paige Machnic are all underclassmen. Andrea Graham is the only senior for Princeton.
Shady Spring is predicted to finish fifth in the Class AA boys event. Head coach Eric Lawson has watched his team full of underclassmen put together a dominant season so far.
“A couple of these kids have won a state championship before, so they don’t let success go to their head. They are so humble,” Lawson said. “It is hard to keep a good team grounded, but I haven’t had to harp on them about getting big-headed this year. They have had their eyes set on a bigger goal that they feel like they can obtain and that is what we are trying to do.”
The Tigers are led by two of the top runners in the state in sophomore Jacob Dowdy and junior Jaeden Holstein. The two standouts finished 1-2 at the regional meet.
However, what has made Shady a contender on the state scene has been the hard work of their teammates. The continued improvement all year of Sam Jordan, Eli Jordan, Eli Northrop, Garrett Hatcher and Zane Carothers have been key to the Shady success.
“Everybody talks about Dowdy and Jaeden, and rightfully so, but our three, four, five, six and seven guys are strong,” Lawson said. “Those guys are the ones that displaces and adds to the scores of the other teams. They are competing with each other and doing a heckuva job. It is great to see.”
Seniors Alex Irvin and Bradley Bostic finished inside the top-10 for Nicholas County at the regional meet. They will be joined by Johnny Walkup, Wesley Holcomb, Luke Barr, Noah Miner and Isaiah Miner.
PikeView also had two runners in the top-10 in Braden Ward and Matt Murphy. They were followed by Nate Cook, Chase Cantrell, Michael O’Sullivan, Logan Iczkowski and Jacob Coy.
The Nicholas County and Shady Spring girls have battled neck-and-neck all year. With only five runners competing, it was the Grizzlies that edged the Tigers at the regional meet by three points.
Nicholas Junior Natalie Barr was the regional champion followed in second place by freshman teammate Haley Johnson. Catherine Jarosz, Kathleen Walkup and Alanis Crowder will join Barr and Johnson at the state meet.
Shady Spring junior, Charlotte McGinnis is expected to have a strong day for the Tigers, along with Ryen Keffer, Journey Whistoff and Abigail Houck who were all in the regional top-10. Lindsey Sweeney, Mattea Huffman and Allison Fitzwater will also compete for Shady Spring.
The Richwood girls are powered by three standout sophomores who had strong finishes as freshmen at the state meet. Baylee Jarrett, Carlee Dillard and Kelsey Davis finished top-10 at the regional run, followed by Sophie Mullens, Reagan Raffo and Tracey Frame.
Oak Hill junior standout, Austin Bias finished inside the top-10 to qualify for the Class AAA individual competition. Bias will be joined by three runners from Wyoming East in their respective individual competitions in Class AA.
Senior Jacob Ellison will run in boys event, while Colleen Lookabill and Sara Harris will compete in the girls race.
Trey Stanley from Richwood won the Region 3 Class A event, and he will be joined in the individual competition by Matthew Stutts from James Monroe and Peyton Hale from River View.
Summers County will have two runners competing in the Class A girls race. Sophomore Sarah Turner placed seventh and freshman Avery Lilly was ninth in the regional to punch their tickets to Saturday’s meet.
While cross-country runners are used to all sorts of weather, Saturday may be a little tricky.
“It’s going to rain pretty much all the way leading up to the race. Right at the start, is like a practice football field, so that is going to be soupy,” Barbera said. “I am thinking at the top, it should drain well. However, when you come down that last 1200 meters, there will be some areas that will be muddy. The conditions are the same for everybody, but I think they are looking forward to it. Kids like to play in the rain and run in the mud and ours are no different.”
2021 State Meet schedule
9 a.m. – Girls AA
9:45 a.m. – Boys AA
10:30 a.m. – Class AA Awards
11:45 a.m. – Girls AAA
12:30 p.m. – Boys AAA
1:15 pm – Class AAA Awards
2:30 p.m. – Girls A
3:15 p.m. – Boys A
4 p.m. – Class Awards
