George’s time of 15:57 put him more than 100-meters ahead of Keyser’s Luca Altobello, who took second in 16:19 at Saturday’s Class AAA state meet held at Cabell Midland High School.

Elkins, which won the Class AA crown last season, tallied 49 points — well ahead of runner-up Bridgeport’s 87 points.

While those victories were in line with RunWV.com’s prerace predictions, Elkins’ Treven Schaefer was a notable overachiever. Schaefer, predicted by RunWV to finish 17th, solidified the Tiger boys’ dominance with a 10th-place finish in 16:57 to earn all-state first-team honors.

Elkins’ three other scorers garnered all-state second-team recognition by finishing in the Top 20.

Photos courtesy of Teran Malone/WVSSAC The Elkins High School boys cross country team is shown after winning the Class AAA title Saturday at Cabell Midland High School in Ona. It was the fourth-ever state title for the Tigers, who won last year’s championship as a member of Class AA.

Those runners included Josh Bodkins (11th, 17:05), Ben Tenney (15th, 17:29) and Preston Nixon (19th, 17:36). Logan Jones (23rd, 17:57) and Dylan Fortney (40th, 18:38) also contributed to the Elkins’ boys fourth cross country title in school history, with previous wins coming in 1979, 1980 and 2024.

“Today’s races didn’t unfold quite like we expected,” said EHS coach Scott Biola. “We talked to our runners about stepping up when teammates struggle and we had more than one kid who took that message to heart.”

The Lady Tigers, who finished in third place as a team, were only one-point shy of a podium finish with 115 points. Bridgeport’s girls took the team title with 65 points, while Herbert Hoover’s girls took second overall with 114.

Hoover’s Maysen Fletcher took top individual honors in a time of 18:16, while Elkins’ Emilia Tenney took second overall in 19:09. Like Tenney, Julia Biola (5th, 19:24) also earned a first-team all-state plaque for Elkins by placing in the Top 10.

Other scorers for the Lady Tigers included Molly McFadden, Mya Mendelson, and Haley Kelley. Emma Gilbert and Delia White also competed in the state meet for EHS.

“Our kids showed today that cross country is a team sport,” said EHS assistant coach Todd Price. “We had a few kids step up in a big way when we needed them to.”