High School Sports Year in Review

Beginning of Careers and Moving On

By JOEY?KITTLE, Staff Writer
The emergence of a pair of freshman runners and the end of a historic basketball career highlighted area high school sports in 2007-08.

From August to May, the region was once again privileged to view the hard work displayed from dedicated teams and individuals.

While L.J. Gravelle said goodbye to his sparkling basketball career at Tucker County, Elkins High School’s Letitia Propst began her journey.

Propst turned in a dominating freshman campaign as she won all but two cross country races in the fall.

She capped off the year by taking the Class AAA individual state title at Cabell Midland High School with a record time of 18:48.50.

The EHS?girls finished eighth at the state meet, while the Tiger boys were ninth.

Lucas Warner finished seventh in the Class AA-A race to give the Tucker County boys an eighth-place showing.

On the gridiron, Elkins High School’s Tyler Jackson and Tygarts Valley’s Keith Currence turned in memorable individual seasons to cap their careers.

Jackson finished the season with a school-record 1,705 yards rushing, while Currence had over 1,200 yards on the ground.

Both players will play in Saturday’s North-South All-Star Classic in Charleston, along with Buckhannon-Upshur lineman Jason Huffman.

Pendleton County, Moorefield and Pocahontas County all advanced to the Class A playoffs.

Moorefield was the lone team to advance past the first round, losing in the quarterfinals to eventual state champion Wheeling Central.

In prep soccer, the Buckhannon-Upshur girls’ soccer team advanced to the regional finals, bowing to Jefferson.

Philip Barbour and Pendleton County, meanwhile, participated in the state volleyball tournament but both lost in the opening round.

The arrival of basketball season brought high expectations to Tucker County for both the boys and girls teams.

The Mountain Lion boys spent most of the season ranked No. 1 in the state, while the Tucker County girls kept pace with a state ranking of their own.

Both teams advanced to Charleston for the state tournament, the boys falling to Charleston Catholic in the Class A semifinals and the girls bowing in the quarterfinals to the same school.

The loss signaled the end of L.J. Gravelle’s prep career. He finished as the school’s all-time leading scorer and joined teammate Eric Wamsley as a first team all-state selection.

Gravelle, a three-time winner of The Inter-Mountain’s Player of the Year award, was captain of the all-state unit.

The area was once again well-represented at the state wrestling tournament.

Philip Barbour junior John King captured a Class AA-A state title at 135-pounds to lead the regional grapplers.

Others performances of note included Buckhannon-Upshur’s George Lavis (third, 171 pounds), Lewis County’s J.R. Kerns (fourth, 189), Elkins High School’s Josh Mallow (fifth, 285) and Joseph Howell (fifth, 125 pounds) and Petersburg’s Zach Oates (sixth, 135), Matt Porter (fourth, 171) and Jamie Rohrbaugh (fourth, 285).

In the water, a trio of area swimmers captured state titles.

Elkins High School’s Cora Fry won the 100-yard breaststroke, while Buckhannon-Upshur’s Will and Tim Squires captured the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle, respectively.

Each was also runner-up in each event.

The recently concluded spring season had several state champions in track and a first- team all-stater on the diamond.

Philip Barbour freshman Sarah McCauley won a state title in the 1,600-meter run as area athletes had good showings at Charleston’s Laidley Field.

Other title winners included Pocahontas County’s Adrienne Nottingham (400) and Jeff Fertig (high jump) and Moorefield’s Jackie Riggleman (100) and Justin Robinson, who won both the 100 and 200.

In baseball, Buckhannon-Upshur ended Elkins’ four-year hold as sectional champions. The Bucs advanced to the regional final, falling to Martinsburg.

For his efforts, B-U’s J.R. Tenney earned Class AAA first-team honors.

Moorefield also lost to Notre Dame in regional final play.

Softball saw Elkins High School finish a school-best 7-7 in the North Central Athletic Conference.

Petersburg’s Emily Harman, meanwhile, won another tennis title before moving on to Syracuse University.

Another spring sport also made its debut as Buckhannon-Upshur High School began playing Lacrosse.