Parkersburg’s Morgan Metz and Connor George brought home first team all-state honors following Saturday’s Class AAAA state cross country meet at Cabell Midland. (Photo provided)

ONA – Parkersburg High School senior Connor George and Big Red junior Morgan Metz earned first team Class AAAA all-state honors after recording top 10 finishes here Saturday at the state cross country meet at Cabell Midland.

The Parkersburg South girls, who were led by second team all-stater Haley Raper (15th, 20:03), finished in sixth place with 173 points to top rival and seventh place Parkersburg’s 184.

George finished ninth a year ago on the final weekend of the season and his time of 16 minutes and 17 seconds was good for eighth.

Metz, who was fifth in 2024, had a third-place showing of 18 minutes and 46 seconds, which was five ticks off the pace of Cabell Midland runner-up Savannah Pritt and 30 seconds slower than Wheeling Park champ Brenna Tipton.

“First of all, what a great ending to Connor George’s career finishing as a two-time all-stater and he will join the long list of those from our program running at the next level,” admitted Big Red head coach George Angelos. “Morgan Metz will enter her senior year with a chance to do something very few have achieved in our program – be a three-time first team all-stater. Our boys team placed fifth overall, which was a few spots off their goal, but still they stepped up to have a really good season and be in the small handful of the top teams in the state. Our girls team unfortunately had an opportunity to have Metz as a low-card, low 18 girl, in addition to four other girls that on the right day go right at, or under, 20.

Parkersburg South’s Gatlin McLain and Haley Raper both made the podium at Saturday’s Class AAAA state cross country meet at Cabell Midland by earning second team all-state honors. (Photo provided)

“Injuries and sickness are a real part of the sport and unfortunately we’ll never know what our best could’ve been. We had a couple who have been in bubble wrap try to gut it out for their team, but if the stars would’ve aligned, we felt we could’ve had a top four type team. As for the program as a whole, there were only three other programs to have both their boys and girls teams in the top seven in the state (Cabell Midland, Morgantown and University), with us being the fourth. Those are the big name brands that consistently deliver year-in-year out, not flash-in-the-pans. It’s nice to be on that list and hopefully we can shrink the gap moving forward.”

George’s teammate Ricardo Salazar was less than five ticks away from earning second team all-state status, but his time of 17:24 put him in 22nd. Rogan Mincks (30th, 17:47), Carter Thorpe (42nd, 18:05) and Drake Rollins (43rd, 18:08) also figured into the final team scoring.

Parkersburg South head coach Brian Blanc’s boys weren’t able to qualify as a team, but Gatlin McLain delivered a second team all-state performance after his time of 16:54 placed him in 12th.

“Junior Jesse Morris (49th, 18:20) and freshman Caysen Litton (73rd, 18:59) also had solid runs in their first state meet,” noted coach Blanc.

“I know all three of the boys that competed today are eager to come back next year with some added manpower from our upcoming freshman class.”

Like Salazar, Patriot Alyssa McCrady (20:34) also had to settle for 22nd. She was joined in the PSHS top five by Jalyn Eddy (35th, 21:05), Sophia Shamblin (51st, 22:02) and Lexi McKinney (58th, 22:31).

Also factoring in the scoring for the red and white behind Metz were Audrey Wagoner (34th, 21:04), Olivia Carpenter (39th, 21:25), Allison Poole (59th, 22:32) and Brie Winans (62nd, 22:46).

Like Angelos, coach Blanc understands the intricacies of the sport and he’s anxious to see what lies in store for the program.

“I am very proud of our whole team, even the ones that didn’t get to run today helped us get through with their dedication at practice all season. These kids have put in six-day weeks since the first week of August,” stressed Blanc. “They showed up every day and pushed each other to reach their full potential. Now I couldn’t be happier with how well our runners capped off their season. They once again outperformed expectations as individuals which resulted in the girls team finishing sixth and not far from fourth in the team standings.

“Last week it was freshman Alyssa McCrady leading the way for our girls and today fellow freshman Haley Raper came in first for our team. Both of these girls had fantastic seasons and took advantage of having teammate Jalyn Eddy to train with. Competition between teammates is the best thing for a cross country team and these girls recognize that and use it to their advantage. With this mindset and so many returning athletes, we have our sites set on the state awards podium for the next several years. The future is looking bright for Parkersburg South cross country.”