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EHS competes at states

Girls finish 11th, boys 14th; PB runners turn in strong efforts

ONA – The Elkins High School girls ran to an 11th-place finish and the boys finished 14th at the Class AA-A state meet held Saturday under damp conditions at Cabell Midland High School.

Lexie Morici would lead the Lady Tigers as she finished 38th in a time of 21:50.

Morici was followed by Addie Berdine 54th (22:39), Natalie Sutton 75th (23:35), Kaeli Ricottilli 79th (23:42), Kaleigh Edwards 82nd (23:45), Kaia Miller 96th (24:17) and Holly Harper 100th (24:35).

Ricottilli was the lone senior on the team.

“The girls were so relentless in their race,” EHS coach Matt Lewis said. “They didn’t have the best start, but that’s something to work on for next year.”

“I’m so proud of these girls this season,” fellow EHS coach Melissa Carr added. “It truly was a great day and a great way to end our year.”

Winfield repeated as state champions with 62 points, while Bridgeport was second with 94.

Williamstown placed a close third (98), followed by Berkeley Springs (134), Fairmont Senior (159), East Fairmont (171), St. Mary’s (203), Doddridge County (238), Ritchie County (239), Wayne (275), Elkins (278), Charleston Catholic (284), Nicholas County (322), PikeView (346), Clay County (366), Tucker County (408) and Buffalo (444).

The Lady Mountain Lions were led by freshman Kate Falls, who finished 33rd (21:41.63).

Individually, Philip Barbour junior Olivia Frye placed 16th in a time of 21:00.34.

Williamstown sophomore Ella Hesson turned in a time of 19:25.50 to earn the individual title.

Senior Read Schumacher paced the EHS boys with a 77th- place showing with an effort of 18:59.

He was followed by Luke Anger 97th (19:23), James Smoak 104th (19:32), Brennon Weese 110th (19:51), Charlie Smoak 113th (20:05), Matt Gainer 123rd (20:20) and Chris Fry 139th 21:12.

“I was so proud of with the effort of our guys,” Lewis said. “I asked our seniors for one last race for me, and I’ve never seen such fight out of them all season, to the fact it brought me to lots of tears after they finished.”

The Big 10 Conference’s Fairmont Senior, with 70 points, held off Winfield by one point to earn team honors.

Bridgeport was third with 79 points, followed by Ritchie County (127), Ravenswood (171), Frankfort (182), East Fairmont (191), Doddridge County (208), Nicholas County (270), Wyoming East (294), Tyler Consolidated (314), St. Mary’s (351), Braxton County (351), Elkins (407), Tucker County (407), Shady Springs (442), Oak Hill (456), Williamstown (483), Nitro (499), Charleston Catholic (550) and Richwood (554).

“I’m so excited about our boys this weekend,” Carr added. “They’ve really exceeded our expectations all season.”

Winfield’s Aaron Withrow repeated as individual champion in a time of 16:02.05.

Philip Barbour Noah Ward and Tyler Channell both had strong performances after qualifying as individuals.

Ward, a junior, placed seventh in a time of 16:59.26, while Channell, a senior, was 26th (17:59.08).

Junior Holden Young was the first Tucker County runner to cross the finish line in 85th place (19:07.90).

Pendleton County junior Joe Boucher was 78th (19:00.37).

In Class AAA, the University girls captured the fifth straight title with 43 points to outdistance runner-up Cabell Midland (72).

Morgantown (94), Parkersburg (122) and Preston (123) rounded out the top five.

Parkersburg’s Madison Trippett (18:00.41) took the individual title.

Wheeling Park’s Ronnie Saunders (15:55.22) took Class AAA boys title, while Cabell Midland took team honors with 55 points.

Hurricane (75), University (83), Wheeling Park (122) and Morgantown (145) rounded out the top five.

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