Parkersburg's Morgan Metz placed fourth at Saturday's 25th annual Chick-fil-A Invitational and helped the Big Reds to the team championship. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

MINERAL WELLS — Early Saturday morning rain prior to the start of the 25th annual Chick-fil-A Invitational at the Wood County 4-H Grounds made things interesting, but Herbert Hoover sophomore Maysen Fletcher defended her title, Tyler Consolidated’s Amos Kimble won by eight seconds and host Parkersburg claimed the team crowns.

The Big Red boys, who got top 40 efforts from Connor George (4th, 16:24), Carter Thorpe (16th, 17:22) and Rogan Mincks (32nd, 17:46), repeated as champions as they needed a tiebreaker after finishing at 126 with Grafton. As it turned out, red and white No. 6 runner Christian Ball (53rd, 18:33) placed well ahead of the Bearcats’ sixth man as PHS teammates Calvin Lantz (41st, 18:02) and Anthony Herrera (52nd, 18:30) accounted for the team scoring.

Parkersburg’s girls had a 77-94 victory versus Preston as Morgan Metz’ fourth-place effort of 19:05 led the hosts. The Big Reds actually placed their top six runners inside the top 40 thanks to Audrey Wagoner (6th, 20:08), Olivia Carpenter (12th, 20:47), Brie Winans (25th, 21:38), Seneca Lang (32nd, 22:03) and Allison Poole (36th, 22:22).

“Super proud of both teams today and always nice to do well at your only home meet of the year,” stressed PHS head coach George Angelos. “On the girls side, two of our top five from last year are running in college and we sat another one of our top five from last year, so three gone and we only gained one total girl from middle school cross country. That math doesn’t work, so really proud of our returnees developing others from other sports. True testament to them to win a 25-plus team field.

“Same for the boys. Lost three of our top seven to graduation and we sat our number two today, so four of our top seven out and only Calvin from middle school added to varsity, yet still our returners worked hard in the offseason, developed immensely, plus kids developing athletes from PHS who had never run cross country. Again, a true testament for them to not only win in a 39-team field last week in Cincinnati, but a 25-plus team field at home today.”

Tyler Consolidated's Amos Kimble ran a victorious time of 15 minutes and 50 seconds to win Saturday's 25th annual Chick-fil-A Invitational. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Kimble clocked in with a victorious effort of 15 minutes and 50 seconds, which was eight ticks ahead of Winfield runner-up Trace Marshall. Fairmont Senior’s Landon Jones was four seconds faster than George, who just nipped Kimble’s Silver Knight teammate Travis Moore.

“It was a really good field,” George said. “I knew it was going to be a muddy day today. It was way worse than I expected. There was times where I was just sliding through the mud the whole time, but it was more of a day where you don’t worry about time you worry about placement.”

Kimble finished fourth a year ago as a junior and actually was 10 seconds behind George.

“It was a little bit rough and there was some mud and everything,” Kimble admitted of his final Chick-fil-A race. “The first two miles I went through perfectly at 10-flat. That last one just kind of fell apart, but it wasn’t too bad. The first two races me and him (Moore) went 1-2.

“This is our third one. It’s still early in the season. I’d say the rest of the races we can go 1-2 I think. I knew it was going to be a good race. I just had to put the miles together and get it somewhat good. I’m pretty happy with it. Just get some more mileage in, stay healthy and run.”

Parkersburg South's Jalyn Eddy placed ninth at Saturday's 25th annual Chick-fil-A Invitational. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

The rest of the top 10 boys featured Bridgeport’s Troy Zorick (16:37), Wheeling Park’s Rylan Moore (16:37), Capital’s Micah Hale (16:47), Buckhannon-Upshur’s Alex Sappey (16:48) and Grafton’s Colson Annon (17:00).

Despite the rough terrain, Fletcher’s 17:48 was only 13 seconds slower than her winning time from a year ago and she had more than enough to outpace Wheeling Park runner-up Brenna Tipton (18:42) and third-place Bridgeport finisher Aria Selario (19:04).

“It was definitely super muddy and wet. Didn’t really expect that until the rain last night,” said Fletcher, who was followed in the top 10 by George Washington’s Ava Mitias (5th, 20:04), Bridgeport’s Mikaela DeMoss (7th, 20:22), Ritchie County’s Bentlee Williams (8th, 20:37), Parkersburg South’s Jalyn Eddy (9th, 20:45) and Indian Isla Tobrey (10th, 20:46).

“(The season is) going super good. I’ve had two PR’s so far and I’m hoping to keep that up. I was training for track until mid-summer and then started for cross country. The team is looking really well and we’re ranked well in the state and I’m hoping for a good season. I definitely feel stronger, better and faster.”

Metz is also pleased with the start of her season and is excited about the prospects for the Big Reds.

Williamstown's Jimmy Erlandson runs alongside Nitro's Sam Aulenbacher during Saturday's 25th annual Chick-fil-A Invitational. Both runners cracked the top 40 with the Wildcat placing 23rd and the Yellowjacket 34th. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“It’s a great race out here. It’s never really been my favorite, but it’s always exciting to come home where there’s so much support around,” Metz admitted. “It’s very different compared to some of those other courses, but just having the town kind of rally around and having everyone local is really nice.

“It was quite slippery in some spots with the mud and you would find yourself sliding, but you just basically had to come back down to Earth for a second. Our season started off pretty great. We went to Lebanon in Ohio and that was something really special. We not only got to run the race, but we got to team bond at King’s Island. We have some exciting stuff coming up and we leave for Alabama (Southern Showcase) next Friday.”

Area girls who finished inside the top 40 included Parkersburg South’s Alyssa McCrady (16th, 21:05), Wood County Christian’s Elliot Handley (21st, 21:26), Williamstown’s Sylvia Harris (22nd, 21:31), Patriot Haley Raper (23rd, 21:32) and Ripley’s Lanie Knopp, who was 39th with a time of 22 minutes and 26 seconds.

Other boys from the area who cracked the top 40 featured Wirt County’s Matthew Balis (13th, 17:12), WCC’s Koa Navarro (15th, 17:22), South’s Gatlin McLain (21st, 17:37), Ritchie County’s Blake Seese (24th, 17:39), Rebel Jenner Stewart (28th, 17:42), Viking Eli Casto (30th, 17:42) and Williamstown’s Jimmy Erlandson (34th, 17:48).

“Also real proud of our JV’s with us claiming the individual girls (Keira McPeek) and boys (Drake Rollins) finishers,” added coach Angelos.

Herbert Hoover sophomore Maysen Fletcher defended her title at Saturday's 25th annual Chick-fil-A Invitational in Mineral Wells after crossing in 17 minutes and 48 seconds. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“Three boys on the podium and two girls. The boys also won the JV team title.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

Parkersburg's Connor George pushes the pace as Tyler Consolidated's Travis Moore, Fairmont Senior's Landon Jones and Winfield's Trace Marshall chase after him during Saturday's 25th annual Chick-fil-A Invitational. George finished fourth and helped the Big Reds to the team championship. Marshall was runner-up while Jones placed third and Moore fifth. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)