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Barker wins two-mile title

Photo by Jeff Baughan Scott Baker crosses the finish line as the two-mile run champion at the Parkersburg News and Sentinel Half Marathon Saturday.

PARKERSBURG — With the finish line in site, Scott Barker’s smile widened and his pace quickened as he realized his quest to win the Parkersburg News and Sentinel Two-Mile Race was coming to fruition.

Barker, 19, a freshman at Davis & Elkins, sprinted to the finish line with a winning time of 10:21 – more than 25 seconds better than any of his eight previous attempts in this race.

“This has been one of my goals for the past 10 years,” Barker said. “I kept checking my pace, and Benjamin (Lake) was on my shoulder, so I knew I couldn’t slow down and get passed. It felt good to win this race finally.”

The former Parkersburg High School runner finished fifth last year in 10:55. Barker transferred to Davis & Elkins this year after attending Virginia Tech in 2017-18.

“I knew I couldn’t make the team at Virginia Tech and I wanted to compete somewhere,” he said. “We just finished our first week of practice, and I’ve been training in higher elevation for a few weeks now, so even though it was muggy today I didn’t have any problems breathing.”

Barker and his D&E teammates will begin their season Aug. 30 at the Route 33 Cup 5K race in Elkins, following by the Golden Bear Classic 4K on Sept. 7 in Beckley.

Without three-time winner and Kent State junior Sam Goodman in the field, Barker said his chances of winning improved.

“I thought he would be here, but when I saw he wasn’t it gave me a feeling that I could do very well,” Barker said. “Sam usually wins.”

Goodman won the last three races with impressive times – 9:49.0 (2017), 10:06.1 (2016) and 10:06.5 (2015).

Benjamin Lake, 17, a senior at PHS, finished second with a time of 10:34. He finished sixth last year in 11:05. Another former Big Red runner, Will LeMaster (10:34) of Walker finished third for a third consecutive year. Last he ran a 10:48 and the year before that a 10:50.

“The first mile I ran good, and I was trying to stay in contact with Scotty,” said Lake, who was a member of PHS’ 4×800 relay team that won the state title in Class AAA last year. “He pulled away at the top of Juliana Street, and I couldn’t keep up. At that point, I was trying to hold on to second. Scotty is tough to beat.”

It wasn’t that easy as Lake and LeMaster battled to the finish line.

“That’s typical as we have always competed hard against each other,” Lake said. “Will has a tough kick.”

PHS opens its cross country season with a home race against Preston High School this coming Saturday. The Big Reds also will host the Chick-fil-A Invitational on Sept. 8 and the Mid-Ohio Valley Challenge on Sept. 18.

“I’m happy that I finished second, but I’m not that happy with the time,” Lake said. “I have until Oct. 27 (West Virginia state meet) to get up to my top speed.”

Rounding out the top 10 was Eli Fullerton of Belpre (10:39), Jacob Jones of Weyers Cave, Va. (10:39), Nick Bias of South Charleston (10:41), Keegan Barnette of Parkersburg (10:47), Cameron Marks of Mineral Wells (11:12), Blake Rodgers of Belpre (11:48) and Michael Hissam of Charleston (11:51).

Bias was the top finisher in the 30-34 age group, while Rodgers was tops in 10-14 and Hissam had the best time for 35-39.

Kevin Trippett of Parkersburg won the Male Master 40-49 group in a time of 12:46, which also earned him the 45-49 age group winner. Robert Boston of Parkersburg who ran a 13:36 was the Male Grand Master winner for 50-59 and also claimed the top spot in the 50-54 category. Fred Jones of Hurricane finished the race in 12:16 to earn the Male Grand Master in 60-69, as well as the 60-64 age group.

Other group winners from the 285 males were: Gatlin McLain of Parkersburg in 17:04 (1-9); Aaron Bush of Parkersburg in 11:56 (20-24); Eric Tucker of Parkersburg in 14:33 (25-29); Kevin Eagan of Williamstown in 14:39 (40-44); Ed Pagan of Belpre in 14:21 (55-59); Larry Games of Parkersburg in 15:28 (65-69); and George Roe of Vienna in 17:05 (70+).

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