Anna Bennett of St. Marys runs ahead of Ritchie County's Bentlee Williams during Thursday's Little Kanawha Conference cross country championship. Bennett finished runner-up for the host Blue Devils while the Rebel placed fourth. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

ST. MARYS — Tyler Consolidated’s Amos Kimble repeated while Williamstown’s Cassie Sites also topped the field here Thursday at the Little Kanawha Conference cross country championships as the host Blue Devil girls and the Doddridge County boys finished atop the team standings.

Kimble, a four-time All-LKC first team honoree, secured his repeat after finishing in 15 minutes and 12 seconds to top runner-up and Silver Knight teammate Travis Moore. Moore, a three-time All-LKC first teamer, crossed in 15:53.

“I didn’t have school today so I just got on the bus at 1 (p.m.) and came here,” said Kimble, whose Silver Knights had 112 to place fourth behind the Bulldogs (46), the Blue Devils (67) and the Yellowjackets (103).

“Travis had to take the SAT today. I got a four-second PR. I know it’s a full 3.1 (miles). I know it’s a fast course so I just see how low I can go each time. I think every time I’ve raced here I’ve gone faster and faster.”

Kimble and Moore were followed by fellow All-LKC first team performers Bryce Bills of St. Marys (16:10), Wirt County’s Matthew Balis (16:16), Doddridge County’s Carter Sias (16:19), Ravenswood’s Gavin Wilburn (16:22), Bulldog Samuel Gola (16:46), Blue Devil Parker Barnes (16:49), ‘Dogs Colton Key (16:52) and Cory Swentzel (16:55) as well as Ritchie County’s Blake Seese (16:58) and ‘Jacket Jimmy Erlandson (17:02).

Williamstown's Cassie Sites, pictured here running in front of Doddridge County's Emily Cottrill and St. Marys' Savana Burd, won Thursday's Little Kanawha Conference championship with a victorious time of 18 minutes and 54 seconds. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Sias, who was the 2023 champ when Kimble placed third, also earned his fourth All-LKC nod on the top unit. Balis, Gola and Barnes made the All-LKC first team for a second time.

“He’s a year ahead of me and has a little more experience, but I think I’ll be getting up there soon in the low 15s,” admitted Moore, who added “I think it is a speed course because it’s mostly flat and there’s barely any hills.”

The St. Marys girls knocked off Williamstown, 55-62, while Braxton County’s 71 was good for third.

“On the whole I have no complaints,” said DCHS boss Josh Weekley. “Anytime you can come to an LKC championship and win, in any sport, you’ve done something good.

“The LKC is no slouch of a conference. Anytime you walk out with a win you got to be happy.”

Ravenwood's Gwyn Gorrell (754) and Riley Sotomayor (756) earned first team All-Little Kanawha Conference honors on Thursday at St. Marys. The senior Sotomayor placed third while the junior Gorrell finished fifth. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Also figuring in the team scoring for the ‘Dogs was Noah Bodkin, who placed 15th with a time of 17:12 to earn second team All-LKC.

Blue Devil Anna Bennett, who finished four seconds behind Sites’ 18:54 effort, was joined by fellow first-teamer Savana Burd (7th, 20:23), second-teamers Maddie Smith (14th, 21:24) and Brooklyn Davis (23rd, 22:30) as well as Mariah Whitlock (25th, 22:41), who just missed out on second team honors.

“This is the best conference performance St. Marys has had since 2016,” admitted head coach Steven Nutter. “We were blessed with good weather and every individual is running for Jeremy Rhodes today, who’s an assistant coach for the Blue Devils and is the best man I know, and is fighting a terrible battle with cancer. We had a very uplifting speech by the kids before we raced that not only emotionally got them ready, but mentally got them in the right frame of mind to not only run for themselves, but for him and everybody in the program.

“Just looking at rankings, the girls came in as third so to bump up a few spots and be able to win is a huge confidence booster for them. The boys were predicted about fifth and got second. It just shows the amount of work these kids have been putting in since day one and we’re excited to see what the next couple of weeks have in store for them.”

A year ago at the LKC, Sites finished in third behind teammate Alyssa Sauro and Braxton County’s Laura Cain.

Tyler Consolidated senior Amos Kimble repeated as champion during Thursday's Little Kanawha Conference meet at St. Marys. The Silver Knight topped the field by running a personal record of 15 minutes and 12 seconds. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“I think we’re really coming through. We’ve been putting in that work and it’s hard,” said Sites, who joined Bennett and Ritchie County’s Bentlee Williams (4th, 19:27) as a first team honoree for the third time in their careers. “Since midseason we weren’t seeing the results. We really pushed through this race. I just knew the course and I knew the people I had to push to get. I just let loose. I was like ‘you can do this. Everyone believes in you and you just got to go do it now.’

“I’ve been running with these girls a lot. I know how they do it so I was like ‘this one you are just going to go for you’ and I knew when I felt it I was like ‘you don’t want to regret this later, just go do what you know you can do.’ It just feels great. All the work just to be able to do that now is just amazing.”

Bennett, who had enough to best Ravenswood third-place finisher Riley Sotomayor (19:24), had the early lead in the race with Williams and maintained it until late as Sites eventually made her move as they raced back past the school and up toward Bill Hanlin Stadium where they finished on the track.

“The races after school are definitely mentally more tough just because you’re at school learning and then you got to come here and race as hard as you can and try to do good for your team and everything else,” Bennett admitted.

“I was definitely hoping to win, but Cassie Sites did amazing like usual. Definitely a great competitor for myself. I just didn’t have it all out there. Most of our girls PR’d. We did great as a team so I’m really proud of us.”

Tyler Consolidated's Travis Moore, who finished runner-up during Thursday's Little Kanawha Conference cross country championship to teammate Amos Kimble, runs ahead of Doddridge County's Carter Sias and St. Marys' Parker Barnes. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Sotomayor’s teammate Gwyn Gorrell finished fifth with a time of 19 minutes and 56 seconds. Also earning first team All-LKC honors were Buffalo’s Cami Samples (6th, 20:22), Braxton County’s Reece Carpenter (8th, 20:27) and Leah Payne (9th, 20:38), South Harrison’s Savannah Holden (10th, 20:44), Williamstown’s Sylvia Harris (11th, 20:58) along with Eagle Addison Lloyd (12th, 21:11). Holden and Lloyd made first team All-LKC for the second time.

Joining the Blue Devils’ Smith and Davis on the All-LKC second unit were Bulldog Kaitlyn Key (13th, 21:21), Calhoun County’s Paige Sterns (15th, 21:28), Buffalo’s Sara Landers (16th, 21:32), Wirt County’s Skylie Thompson (17th, 21:34) and Kinsley Nicolais (18th, 21:38), Yellowjackets Kate Florence (19th, 21:53) and Bridget Kriby (20th, 21;54) along with Tiger Allison Bumgarner (21st, 22:07), Silver Knight Lily Haught (22nd, 22:09) and Bison Jaelyn Eads (24th, 22:33).

“To me the kids take the conference more seriously than I do,” added coach Weekley. “To me the only two that really matter are the last two. This one is nice for bragging rights, but the other two are the ones that matter. To me this was a dress rehearsal for next week. Now they know the course. Of course, most of them have been on it several times before.

“They know what they ran this week so the goal next week is to run faster than they were this week. My number one girl (Emily Cottrill) had some breathing issues today and I pulled her off the course at the 2-mile mark so she didn’t finish. Next week she has to finish for us to have a team score. You got to earn everything you get in cross country. There’s nowhere to hide.”

Aside from the Bulldog Bodkin, also earning second team All-LKC status for the boys were St. Marys’ Desmond Parks (13th, 17:05), Williamstown’s Chase Pickering (14th, 17:09) and Zander Boyce (16th, 17:13), Rebels Kenson Roman (17th, 17:18) and Jenner Stewart (18th, 17:19), Blue Devil Noah Mote (19th, 17:36), Clay County’s Kaden Fitzwater (20th, 17:38), Wirt County’s Byron Long (21st, 17:39.44), Silver Knight Brody Nice (22nd, 17:39.73), Calhoun County’s Jackson Clawson (23rd, 17:39) and Eagle Ira Ransbottom (24th, 17:46).

Wirt County's Matthew Balis and St. Marys' Bryce Bills hit the track at Bill Hanlin Stadium during the end of Thursday's Little Kanawha Conference cross country championship. The Blue Devil finished 5.5 seconds ahead of the Tiger to claim third place. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

During the awards ceremony, the LKC gave special recognition to Rhodes, longtime Williamstown supporter Tom Rowe, Wirt County assistant coach Chris Long as well as ex-Blue Devil Maggie Drazba, the conference’s first four-time champ, and DCHS graduate Aaron Nichols, who is the only three-time LKC champ.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

The St. Marys girls won the Little Kanawha Conference title Thursday. (Photo Provided)