RIPLEY-There were no big surprises Wednesday afternoon at Cedar Lakes as No. 1-ranked (boys) Cabell Midland and No. 2 (girls) Hurricane walked away with the team championships at the Mountain State Athletic Conference cross country championships.
"I thought our kids ran well," Parkersburg head coach Larry Games said. "Obviously, Hurricane was the favorite to win the girls and Cabell Midland was the favorite to win the boys."
And win they did as the Redskins held off Parkersburg by a 43-61 margin while the Knights were a 25-82 victor over the Big Reds.
Article Photos
Photos by Jim Butta
Parkersburg’s Kaylee Williams, left, and Nick Musgrave earned all-conference honors at the Mountain State Athletic Conference cross country championships held Wednesday afternoon at Cedar Lakes in Ripley.
"Going into the race, we knew that they (Hurricane and Cabell Midland) would be tough to beat," continued Games. "But our kids did a good job of packing and ran some very good times on a course that is a lot more difficult than it looks."
One of those was senior Kaylee Williams, who earned All-MSAC honors for the fourth time with her third-place finish.
"I'm happy with my time," said Williams. "It was my second-fastest time of the year and this is one of the hardest courses we ran all season."
Fact Box
Mountain State Athletic Conference
Cross Country Championships
at Cedar Lakes
Boys team scores: 1. Cabell Midland 25, 2. Parkersburg 82, 3. Ripley 90, 4. Hurricane 127, 5. George Washington 129, 6. Huntington 136, 7. Winfield 168, 8. Capital 213, 9. St. Albans 262, 10. Riverside 308, 11. Princeton 324, 12. Woodrow Wilson 335
Top 10 Finishers (All-MSAC): 1. Jacob Burcham (CM), 15:47.2; 2. Matthew Brafford (GW), 16:15.8; 3. Avery Campell (CM), 16:41.2; 4. Brian Lawhon (CM), 16:56.4; 5. Jack McGee (Hunt), 17:03.7; 6. Nick Musgrave (PHS), 17:05.6; 7. Chad Longanacre (Rip), 17:05.6; 8. Andrew Short (CM), 17:10.9; 9. Mason Dino (CM), 17:13.3; 10. Nick Salmons (CM), 17:14.0
Parkersburg placers: 13. Nic Cheuvront, 17:27.0; 22. Sean Snider, 17:54.3; 26. Logan Wooten, 17:59.2; 30. Anthony Kist, 18:02.7; 31. John Bolton, 18:06.5; 35. Andrew Lyons, 18:18.6; 36. Logan Dudley, 18:19.7; 42. Brandon McIntire, 18:36.1; 55. Tyler Morris, 19:01.5; 56. Hadyn Dudley, 19:02.9; 62. Trenton Allman, 19:24.0; 63. Trenton Yocum, 19:27.9; 71. Elliott Clark, 19:38.9; 77. Eric Musgrave, 19:50.6; 84. Noah Mancuso, 20:13.1; 92. Alec Bryant, 20:32.5; 100. Jericho Norris, 21:01.4; 105. Austin Miller, 21:18.2; 116. Andrew Mommessin, 22:12.0; 132. Jarrett Stengel, 23:41.1
Ripley placers: 16. Caleb Casto, 17:37.4; 18. Jake Casto, 17:43.9; 27: Ryan Gregory, 17:59.9; 38. Levi Phillips, 18:23.3; 45. Sammy Shaver, 18:42.5; 70. Dillon Welling, 19:34.5; 78. Colton Holmes, 20:40.4; 85. Nate Miller, 20:15.1; 90. Christian Fields, 20:25.9; 98. Khalil Thomas, 20:59.3
Girls team scores: 1. Hurricane 43, 2. Parkersburg 61, 3. Cabell Midland 90, 4. Winfield 103, 5. Capital 141, 6. Ripley 161, 7. George Washington 175, 8. St. Albans 212, 9. Huntington 237, 10. Princeton 294
Top 10 Finishers (All-MSAC): 1. Peyton Panger (Cap), 19:15.2; 2. Tori Dent (Hurr), 19:37.4; 3. Kaylee Williams (PHS), 19:57.2; 4. Brittney McMillion (Win), 20:10.6; 5. Jorden Thornton (CM), 20:21.2; 6. Rachael Englund (Win), 20:27.8; 7. Emily Schwendiman (Hurr), 20:29.1; 8. Ali Cunningham (Rip), 20:33.7; 9. Emily Fedders (WW), 20:37.1; 10. Joie Johnston (Hurr), 20:39.0
Parkersburg placers: 11. Nicole Dent, 21:04.2; 12. Rachel Morris, 21:05.5; 18. Jordan Waters, 21:52.0; 21. Chelsea Harper, 22:07.0; 23. Swathi Mukkamala, 22:09.1; 24. Alena Klimas, 22:15.0; 26. Kayla Harmon, 22:17.67; 37. Hannah Bailey, 23:13.0; 40. Brooke McVaney, 23:25.3; 41. Sarah Snider, 23:32.5; 42. Emily Collins, 23:34.3; 43. Katie Collins, 23:37.1; 44. Lakyn Mayo, 23:43.2; 51. Mary Catherine Bolton, 23:58.5; 55. Havenn Burton, 24:10.7; 57. Beth Hall, 24:15.6; 58. JD White, 24:18.5; 59. Jennifer Parsons, 24:19.7; 78. Caitlyn Ohrn, 26:05.2; 79. Kaileen Terrell, 26:07.4; 93. Madison Asbury, 27:33.4; 97. Allie Kramer, 28:40.7
Ripley placers: 35. Maddi Randolph, 22:49.6; 36. Melissa Hughart, 23:06.9; 64. Molli Cunningham, 24:36.2; 73. Sapphire Parsons, 25:25.1; 95. Audra Thomas, 28:21.3
Williams, along with Capital's Peyton Panger and Hurricane's Tori Dent, broke away early from the pack and made it a three-girl duel a mile into the 3.1-mile race. By the time the pack had reached the 2-mile mark however, Panger had forged a small lead over Dent with Williams comfortably in third.
"I wanted to go out early with the lead pack," said Williams. "I stayed with them as long as I could, but by the 2-mile mark, they began to pull away and I ran the last part of the race by myself."
Panger's time of 19 minutes, 15.2 seconds earned her a 12-second victory over Dent (19:37.4) while Williams was the only other runner to complete the race in under 20 minutes when she crossed the finish line in 19:57.2.
Finishing fourth in a time of 20:10.6 was Brittney McMillion from Winfield while the remainder of the top-10 finishers who make up the All-MSAC team included Cabell Midland's Jorden Thornton (5th, 20:21.2), Winfield's Rachael Englund (6th, 20:27.8), Hurricane's Emily Schwendiman (7th, 20:29.1), Ali Cunningham from Ripley (8th, 20:33.7), Woodrow Wilson's Emily Fedders (9th, 20:37.1) and Joie Johnston from Hurricane (10th, 20:39.0).
Placing third in the girls' team race with 90 points was Cabell Midland, followed by Winfield (103), Capital (141), Ripley (161), George Washington (175), St. Albans (212), Huntington (237) and Princeton (294).
Joining Williams on the All-MSAC podium was senior Nick Musgrave, who finished sixth overall in a time of 17 minutes, 5.6 seconds.
As expected, the individual boys' race came down to a contest between George Washington's Matthew Brafford, who had set the course record earlier in the season, and Cabell Midland's Jacob Burcham.
But just like in the girls' race, when the runners came down out of the woods, it was Burcham who had forged an insurmountable advantage and the Knights' senior cruised to victory in a time of 15 minutes, 47.2 seconds. He was followed across the finish line by Brafford (16:15.8), teammates Avery Campbell (16:41.2) and Brian Lawhon (16:56.4) and Huntington's Jack McGee (17:03.7).
Seventh place overall went to Ripley's Chad Longanacre (17:08.1) while the rest of the top 10 included Cabell Midland's Andrew Short (8th, 17:10.9), Mason Dino (9th, 17:13.3) and Nick Salmons (17:14.0).
Finishing third in the boys' team race was the host Vikings with 90 points while the rest of the team scores included Hurricane (127), George Washington (129), Huntington (136), Winfield (168), Capital (213), St. Albans (262), Riverside (308), Princeton (324) and Woodrow Wilson (335).
"We are pleased with our results tonight," said Games. "Now we have to get ready for our regional. Since they (the SSAC) decided to move us into the same regional as Morgantown and University, it's going to be very tough for us to get out."
The Big Reds will compete in the regional meet at Wheeling Park High School next Thursday at 4 p.m.
