CAMBRIDGE – On a beautiful morning to run, Wheeling Park’s Brenna Tipton overcame some nervousness to run away from the 182-runner field in the girls portion of the OVAC Cal Pokas Cross Country Championships at the 3.1-mile Cambridge High School course.

Tipton broke the tape in 17-minutes, 54.31-seconds to beat University’s defending champion Abigail Rogers who clocked out in 18:39.41. Tipton was also the Class 5A winner. Martins Ferry’s Alanna Williams was third in 19:02.31.

“It feels really good. I was really nervous this morning, more than normal,” Tipton said afterwards. “I just told myself at the (start) line ‘all I can do is run my own race. That’s what I did and it worked out for me.”‘

Tipton said she was pretty even with Rogers for the first 800 meters, but then slowly pulled away.

“I haven’t run against Abigail or Alanna yet this year. I was really excited today because it was new competition … good competition … but I just ran my own race and it worked out for the best.,” she said.

Tipton was runner up to good friend Rogers in 2024 in a time of 19:06, but not this year.

“I broke 18 (minutes) for the first time this year last Friday with a 17:58, so it felt really good to beat that (mark) again today. I was very excited to run a minute faster today.

“The cooler temperature made it more enjoyable to run, but you still feel like crap when you’re finished,” she said with a smile.

Rounding out the top 5 overall placers were Morgantown’s Lauren Hawkins (19:12.98) and Shenandoah’s Ida Estadt (19:23.56) in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Edison’s Josie Lesnansky was the top finisher in Class 4A in 20:11.71, while Williams took the top spot in Class 3A. The top Class 1A/2A finisher was Shadyside’s Chloe Meholovitch in 19:41.49.

Morgantown, with five runners in the top 13, won the Class 5A team title over city rival University, 46-65. Edison (Class 4A), Bellaire (Class 3A) and Shadyside (Class 1A/2A) also won team crowns.

BOYS

University defended its overall and Class 5A championships with the top three individual finishers and five in the top 32. Ethan Conroy won the race in 15:51.712, while teammates Micah Gainer (16:07.45) and Logan Conroy (16:12.99) were second and third, respectively.

East Liverpool’s Maddox Roach (16:26.89) and Wheeling Park’s Rylan Moore (16:32.75) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Joining the Hawks as team champions were St. Clairsville (Class 4A); Bellaire (Class 3A) and Trinity Christian (Class 1A/2A).

Roach was also the top finisher in Class 4A, along with Bellaire’s Landen Perdue (Class 3A) and Magnolia’s Riley Dennis (Class 1A/2A).