School History Made
Elkins High girls and boys win cross country state titles
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ONA -- Elkins High School's girls and boys cross country teams both captured Class AAA state titles in the same season for the first time in school history at Saturday's state meet held at Cabell Midland High School.
The Lady Tigers were led by a trio of first team all-state performances by Julia Biola (fifth, 19:36), Emilia Tenney (eighth, 19:51) and Clara Pyles (nine, 19:52).
That honor is bestowed upon the top 10 individual finishers in each race.
The Tiger boys had two first team all-staters -- Trevor George (third, 15:52) and Treven Schaefer (ninth, 16:53).
"Our kids had each other's backs today," said EHS coach Scott Biola. "We had people step up when we needed them to and they attacked where we wanted them to."
Despite having small roster sizes (eight girls and eight boys), Biola emphasized the importance of having depth on each side.
That depth was on full display with the number of Tigers earning second team all-state, an honor reserved for runners finishing in 11th-20th place. Molly McFadden (12th, 20:26) and Haley Kelley (19th, 20:53) earned that honor for the EHS girls and Dylan Fortney (18th, 17:10) and Donivan Petrice (20th, 17:15) earned that honor for the boys.
Luke Valentine (29th, 17:43) sealed the victory for the Tiger boys as the fifth scorer and Reed Burdette (52nd, 18:27) and Levi Tenney (78th, 19:25) were also part of the championship effort.
In addition to the five Lady Tigers who earned all-state honors, Flora Perkins (42nd, 22:31) and Willow Tallman (63rd, 23:50) also contributed to the girls' win.
In terms of race strategy, both the girls and boys teams made significant gains after the first big climb on Cabell Midland's course.
The Lady Tigers gained a total of 36 positions after that first climb and the boys advanced a net total of 55 positions after the 5-K race's first kilometer.
"Our kids really embraced what we wanted them to do," said EHS assistant Todd Price. "Watching them attack this course was great … they gave us the process wins we were looking for."
This is the first time the Elkins girls have won a team cross country title since Shellie Burda's 2001 squad. It is the third EHS girls title in school history, with Brad Martin's 1986 Lady Tigers having won the first.
For the EHS boys, Saturday's win sealed their bid for a successful "3-peat" after winning also in 2024 and 2025. This 2026 win marks the school's fifth boys team title, with Will Shaw's 1979 and 1980 teams having won the initial two.
Both EHS teams won by comfortable margins, with the girls' tally of 51 points besting runner-up Bridgeport's 77 points and third-place Shady Spring's 99.
The Tiger boys' 63 points outpaced a tight battle for second place between Grafton (96 points) and Shady Spring (98).
Keyser's Luca Altobello won the boys race in a time of 15:45.2 and Bridgeport's Aria Selario the girls race in 18:51.3.
The Buckhannon-Upshur girls finished eighth in the Class AAAA meet with 217 points.
Lady Bucs participating were Gwendolyn Rogosky (26th, 20:26.0), Isabella Bowers (35th, 20:56.9), Chloe Lewis (39th, 21:14.4), Haleigh Skidmore (63rd, 22:34.0), Ella Whitehair (65th, 22:41.0), Emma Whitley (80th, 23:33.1) and Alaina Tenney (92nd, 24:35.4).
Morgantown (47) won the team title and Musselman's Sadie Yates the race in a time of 17:54.1.
B-U's Mitchell Whitley qualified for the boys race and finished 52nd with an effort of 18:14.5.
Morgantown also won the boys meet with 46 points. The Individual champion was University's Micah Gainer (15:39.7).
In the Class A race, the Tucker County boys placed seventh with 196 points.
St. Marys' won the title with 43 points, led by Koa Nvarros's first-place showing in 16:52.9.
Finishers for the Mountain Lions included Landon Wilfong (20th, 18:38.9), Draven Bunnell (31st, 19:30.1), William Gilligan (36th, 19:55.4) and Riley Coffman (77th, 26:59.2) and Evan Spencer (80th, 28:05.5).
Ritchie County won the girls race with 44 points and was paced by freshman Layla Devereux's first-place time of 19:29.4.
Tucker County's Juniper Judy qualified individually, placing 34th in a time of 24:46.4.
The Class AA boys champion was Frankfort with 47 points and Tyler Consolidated's Travis Moore was the individual champion in 16:32.3.
The girls team champion was Lincoln (44) and the individual victor was Frankfort's Bailey Ferguson (18:48.6.