George easily cruised to victory in a time of 15:55 to finish well ahead of Keyser’s Luca Altobello (second, 16:43).

Three of George’s Tiger teammates also earned individual recognition by finishing among the top 10 — Josh Bodkins (fourth, 17:00), Ben Tenney fifth, 17:08), and Treven Schaefer (seventh, 17:18).

Preston Nixon (12th, 17:59) was the fifth scorer for EHS, while Logan Jones (13th, 18:13) and Dylan Fortney (16th, 18:34) were also part of the state-qualifying squad.

Teams placing in the top three in AAA regionals advance to this Saturday’s state meet at Cabell Midland High School in Ona.

The Elkins High girls placed second in Saturday’s regional meet. From left are Emilia Tenney, Julia Biola, Haley Kelley, Emma Gilbert, Mya Mendelson, Taylor Lanham, Delia White and Molly McFadden.

Elkins’ tally of 29 points were well-ahead of second-place Bridgeport’s 61 points.

Other complete teams in the boys Region II race at Preston High School included Keyser (78 points), Hampshire (96), Lewis County (122) and Robert C. Byrd (155).

In the girls race, Tenney (18:59) held off Bridgeport’s Aria Selario second, 19:04) for the second straight week after recently beating Selario at the Big 10 Conference Championship. Elkins’ Julia Biola (third, 19:22) and Molly McFadden (seventh, 20:46) also finished among the Top 10 individuals.

Other scorers for the EHS girls included Mya Mendelson (14th, 23:01) and Delia White (19th, 23:43), Emma Gilbert (20th, 23:59) and Haley Kelley (23rd, 24:36).

“Our kids had a good showing,” said EHS assistant coach Todd Price. “We are so proud of the senior leadership today and the teamwork runners showed by helping each other out.”

Bridgeport won the girls team competition with 32 points and was followed by Elkins (40), Keyser (76) and Hampshire (82).

“We definitely did not want to look past this race,” said EHS coach Scott Biola. “That said, it’s all about saving your best for last in this sport and we’ll try to do that on Saturday.”

Elkins returns to action Saturday in Ona, with the girls racing at 3 p.m. and the boys set to follow at 3:45 p.m.