EHS cross country teams perform well in Kingwood
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KINGWOOD – The Elkins High School cross country teams were the highest placing boys and girls Class AAA teams competing in the Preston High School Knight Night Relays on Saturday.
The event, which took place after the sun went down at night, featured a 1.5 mile course that was lit by stadium lights, construction lights, tiki torches, and an orange harvest moon.
The EHS girls squad finished in second place out of 44 relay teams with a time of 35:36. Morgantown was the overall winner on the girls side with a time of 35:35. Bridgeport followed Elkins in Class AAA with a time of 38:34, which was good enough for sixth overall.
Julia Biola ran the leadoff leg for the Tigers in a split of 8:47 before handing a glow stick baton to Clara Pyles (9:13), who passed to Molly McFadden (9:31). Emilia Tenney rounded out the field for the Lady Tigers with a strong anchor leg split of 9:04.
Treven Schaefer (7:43), Trevor George (7:09), Donivan Petrice (8:28), and Dylan Fortney (7:49) took third overall out of 60 relays in the boys race with a time of 31:10. The Tigers trailed only Morgantown (29:47) and University (29:54). Grafton (31:25) was the second fastest AAA school with a sixth place relay.
"This meet takes the pressure off of individuals and reminds everyone that this is a team sport," said Elkins High School Coach Scott Biola. "Every kid in our program brings something special to our group and that was abundantly clear tonight."
Before this past weekend’s event in Kingwood, both Elkins squads opened the season at the Autumn Classic in St. Marys.
The Elkins boys scored 102 points to win the race and comfortably outdistanced Hurricane (156) and Keyser (175). Trevor George led the Tigers with a third-place finish (15:49), while Treven Schaefer (16:47) placed seventh and Dylan Fortney (17:02) 13th. All three earned medals by finishing among the top 30 in a field of 241 runners.
Donivan Petrice and Reed Burdette rounded out the Tigers' five scoring positions.
The Lady Tigers scored 98 points at the St. Marys event and finished in second place overall. Julia Biola paced the Tigers with a third-place finish in 18:43, while Emilia Tenney placed fifth in 19:12.
Clara Pyles (21st, 20:48), Molly McFadden (27th, 21:09), and Haley Kelley rounded out the competitors for EHS.
Elkins will compete in another night race Saturday at Cabell Midland High School.
Submitted photo
Elkins High School’s Clara Pyles makes her way up a hill during the Knight Night Relays on Saturday.