Williamstown’s Julian Johnson pushes through the pain during the 2021 Broughton Cross Country Invite in Marietta. Johnson and the Yellowjackets are ranked as the No. 1 team in Class A, according to runwv.com, and are looking to add the program’s first state championship to a season full of success. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

WILLIAMSTOWN — Williamstown boys cross country coach Cliff Taylor responded with a rather simple answer when asked if he saw this coming.

Yes.

Something special is taking place in the Yellowjacket ranks, after all. The girls cross country team, long the rulers of the roost, have company. According to runwv.com, the boys are sitting right up there with their counterparts at Class A’s top spot.

Zach Cannon, Chase Trembley and company are experiencing a breakthrough. Runners one through eight, the boys have their eyes focusing in on the program’s first state championship. Eight of the top Yellowjacket runners also call the site’s top 47 home.

It’s not surprising to their head coach.

“I knew when they were running in middle school that when they got to high school and matured a little more we would have a really good team that believes in each other and that is when you can really get your team to accomplish something,” Taylor said.

But, it may be a surprise to those looking on the outside-in. Before the Yellowjackets started making noise last season, the team hadn’t been lighting the world on fire. The highest finish for anyone at the state tournament, before Cannon finished in seventh place last season, was Chandler Antill’s 12th place finish in 2013.

Things have changed drastically. With the exception of a loaded Chick-Fil-A field, the ‘Jackets are running close to the top of the rankings of each race. They are now facing down three-time reigning state champion Ritchie County, Ravenswood, Doddridge County and Buffalo for some postseason hardware.

The Yellowjackets’ versatility is making them dangerous threats in capturing some prizes, according to Taylor.

“There isn’t a lot of difference between our top five runners on any given night. They can swap off on who leads. They haven’t settled and decided on a pecking order. It can change from night to night,” he said.

Taylor foresees his boys only growing in strength as they approach the end of the cross country season.

“Our top four have been our top four all year,” he said. “The football team doesn’t take their star running back out because he had a hurt knee one day or didn’t get 100 yards rushing. Basketball team is the same way, your leading scorer doesn’t come out because he is in a shooting slump. Our top four runners are legit.”

Of course, it all starts with Cannon. The Yellowjackets’ top runner is continuing his coming out party from one season ago. He’s matured and is giving the same effort, but with much faster results.

And he sits in sixth place in the power rankings thanks to his improvements.

Following him in the eighth position is Julian Johnson, or someone who Taylor calls “a special person.”

“He might be the toughest kid I have ever seen, it looks like he is done in a race and he can reach down and come up with something. It takes a special person to be like that.”

Trembley sits at No. 12. He brings a much faster approach to the course, according to the head man.

Will Conier, ranked 16th, stands out for many of the same reasons as Johnson.

“They could swap off,” Taylor said.

With Dawson Winsett (26th), Alex Cockerham (31st), Malachi Stewart (37th) and Frank Conner (47th) rounding at the pack, they have been a fierce group running against some of the top programs in the state. So far on the season, they’ve run against Class AAA power University and Class AA power Winfield among other great teams.

All of that experience is going to come in handy when the going gets tough. As the season winds down, fewer and fewer runners can place for points at meets, and the Yellowjackets owning a competitive top eight to nine means they can afford for someone to have a down race.

Not that Taylor thinks that is going to happen.

The ‘Jackets have one meet left, the St. Marys Autumn Classic on Saturday, before things start getting intense. The Little Kanawha Conference tournament is five days afterward, regionals are a week after that, and the state tournament is one week after regionals in Ona.

The message to his team is a simple one as everything winds down.

“We just want them to stay humble and keep doing what they are doing. We set up a way of training how we want to go through this step by step and we are exactly where we want to be,” Taylor said. “Just don’t go on the internet and look at what other people are doing because Mike (Taylor), I, and coach (Larry) Cassady we know what they need and they need to just keep trust in us like they have so far.”