The regional cross country meet will take place in just over a week.
Wednesday afternoon, some of the teams from Region 3 were able to get a feel for where they stood by competing in the Coalfield Conference meet at Twin Falls State Park, hosted by Wyoming East.
If Wednesday’s races are any indication, regionals will be a fight to the finish.
Woodrow Wilson took home first place in the boys event and second place in the girls race. Shady Spring captured the girls title and PikeView placed second on the boys side.
“I am proud of the girls and the boys in the way they finished. This is not an easy course. It was very challenging,” Woodrow Wilson head coach George Barbera said. “We ran a pretty tough race last Saturday and not everybody raced today, but we ran really well.”
Aiden Kneeland has had a stellar sophomore season and Wednesday he added another accolade when he smashed the course record by over 30 seconds leading the Flying Eagles to the win.
“It was a good race today and I felt pretty good. I just came out here to race today,” Kneeland said. “It was definitely not easy today. This is one of the hardest courses that I have ran this year. The hills were pretty difficult, but there were some downhills that cancelled them out, so that helped.”
“Aiden just runs really strong. He races to win and that’s the right mindset,” Barbera said.
All five runners for Woodrow Wilson finished in the top-15. Brandon Canaday came in third place, followed by Michael Haddadin (9th), Jonah Morgan (11th) and Robert Shirey (15th).
Shady Spring standout Jaedan Holstein came home second and was the top racer in Class AA Wednesday. After battling some injuries all year, Holstein looked like his old self just in time for regionals.
“Like I had said earlier, I have been battling some knee problems that I have tweaked,” Holstein said. “I have been doing some physical therapy. Now I am feeling better and I can really stride it out. I finally have my stride back and it feels amazing. This is a tough course.”
By coming in second overall, Holstein reached a milestone that no other Shady Spring runner on the boys side had accomplished.
“Jaedan is the first boy from Shady Spring High School to be All-Coalfield Conference all four years of high school,” Shady Spring head coach Eric Lawson said. “He had a great week of practice and his mentality has been a lot better this week. I looked at him before the race and asked him if he was going to do something today. He just looked at me, so I knew what that meant. He was ready to go.”
PikeView has steadily improved all season and let it be known it will be a strong contender next week for the regional title.
The Panthers were led by Braden Ward and Matt Murphy who were fourth and fifth respectively. Kaleb Blankenship was 12th, while Jonah Nolan was 17th and Nate Cook 19th.
Luke Barr from Nicholas County came home sixth followed by teammates Johnny Walkup (8th) and Wesley Holcomb (10th).
Wyoming East sophomore Tommy Wikel ran another strong race and finished seventh.
All five girls for Shady Spring finished in the top-20 to beat Woodrow Wilson by 13 points.
Charlotte McGinnis led the Tigers coming home second, a mere two seconds behind Natalie Barr from Nicholas County.
Sister Gwynn McGinnis was ninth overall, while Journey Whistoff and Braylie Wiseman were 12th and 14th, respectively. Abby Honaker was also strong Wednesday with a 20th place finish.
“I was really looking forward to this event because it is such good competition. Woodrow is tough and East is really tough,” Lawson said. “We went nose-to-nose with them last week. We came out ahead today, but tomorrow could be different. I will take the results today. I liked watching Charlotte and Natalie giving each other a run for their money. I love to see that kind of competition.”
Made up of all underclassmen, the Woodrow girls have gotten stronger as the season has progressed.
Kyndall Ince led the Flying Eagles in third place followed by Lauren Curtis in sixth. Madison Farrish had another great showing in 19th place, while Elsie Vredeveld was 21st and Lani Misch was 24th.
Barr and McGinnis put on the biggest show of the day battling to the wire.
“I was not expecting the hills to feel that bad. I knew it was going to be hilly, but I was not expecting it to be that bad. I wasn’t really prepared for that, but it was fun. I had to work hard today,” Barr said. “I always like to have a kick at the end, but I don’t always have it. Right as I came up out of the trail, I knew I would need that kick at the end to win, so I had to save up and not make a move to soon.”
Haley Johnson from Nicholas County finished fourth, while Abigail Londeree from Greenbrier East was fifth and teammate Abby Dixon was seventh for the Spartans.
Carli Spade from PikeView was eighth and Hayley Collins from Princeton was 10th.
Girls Team results
1. Shady Spring 51, 2. Woodrow Wilson 64, 3. Greenbrier East 69, 4. Nicholas County 95, 5. PikeView 112, 6. Oak Hill 151, 7. Wyoming East 152, 8. Princeton 163.
Girls Top-25
1. Natalie Barr, Nicholas County 21:30.6
2. Charlotte McGinnis, Shady Spring 21:32.8
3. Kyndall Ince, Woodrow Wilson 22:14.2
4. Haley Johnson, Nicholas County 22:27.2
5. Abigail Londeree, Greenbrier East 22:29.7
6. Lauren Curtis, Woodrow Wilson 22:40.2
7. Abby Dixon, Greenbrier East 22:57.6
8. Carli Spade, PikeView 23:00.4
9. Gwynn McGinnis, Shady Spring 23:00.4
10. Hayley Collins, Princeton 23:04.1
11. Katie Collins, James Monroe 23:33.1
12. Journey Wisthoff, Shady Spring 23:38.4
13. Sarah Turner, Summers County 23:42.4
14. Braylie Wiseman, Shady Spring 24:08.5
15. Baylee Jarrett, Richwood 24:12.5
16. Luella Mansheim, Greenbrier East 24:13.3
17. Laicey Necessary, PikeView 24:24.2
18. Jaycee Pritchett, Princeton 24:35.8
19. Madison Farrish, Woodrow Wilson 24:38.7
20. Abby Honaker, Shady Spring 24:43.4
21. Elise Vredeveld, Woodrow Wilson 24:56.3
22. Colleen Lookabill, Wyoming East 25:04.8
23. Maddie Lilly, Greenbrier East 25:05.3
24. Lani Misch, Woodrow Wilson 25:29.5
25. Lexie Wikel, Wyoming East 25:43.7
Boys Team results
1. Woodrow Wilson 39, 2. PikeView 57, 3. Micholas County 87, 4. Shady Spring 99, 5. Oak Hill 137, 6. Wyoming East 145, 7. Greenbrier East 173, 8. Princeton 176
Boys Top-25
1. Aiden Kneeland, Woodrow Wilson 16:24.8
2. Jaedan Holstein, Shady Spring 17:52.3
3. Brandon Canaday, Woodrow Wilson 18:09.5
4. Braden Ward, PikeView 18:21.0
5. Matt Murphy, PikeView 18:44.4
6. Luke Barr, Nicholas County 18:54.6
7. Tommy Wikel, Wyoming East 18:55.2
8. Johnny Walkup, Nicholas County 18:57.9
9. Michael Haddadin, Woodrow Wilson 19:16.3
10. Wesley Holcolmb, Nicholas County 19:17.6
11. Jonah Morgan, Woodrow Wilson 19:22.6
12. Kaleb Blankenship, PikeView 19:25.1
13. Zachary Neal, Princeton 19:25.5
14. Eli Northrop, Shady Spring 19:31.4
15. Robert Shirey, Woodrow Wilson 19:31.5
16. Austin Bias, Oak Hill 19:45.2
17. Jonah Nolan, PikeView 20:02.4
18. Jackson Carter, Greenbrier East 20:05.7
19. Nate Cook, PikeView 20:07.0
20. Jadon Acord, Liberty (Raleigh) 20:08.1
21. Mason Nettles, Woodrow Wilson 20:16.7
22. Elijah Keaton, PikeView 20:19.2
23. Caleb Carver, Oak Hill 20:20.1
24. Garett Hatcher, Shady Spring 20:20.9
25. Brady McCabe, Princeton 20:24.4
