The Doddridge County boys cross country team won the Class AA state title on Saturday at Cabell Midland. (Photo courtesy WVSSAC)

ONA – When it came time for the Class AA state cross country meet here Saturday there were a couple of expected outcomes with Tyler Consolidated’s Amos Kimble winning it all and the Doddridge County boys coming out on top.

What might not have been expected by many was Ravenswood senior Riley Sotomayor concluding her career in style, which she did by besting the field with a time of 20 minutes and 15 seconds.

Sotomayor had enough to edge Lincoln runner-up Raley Cochran (20:21), Frankfort third-place finisher Bailey Ferguson (20:23) and Williamstown’s Cassie Sites (20:27).

It was Ravenswood’s first female champion at the state meet since Jennifer Jones pulled off the feat back in 1990.

“What an amazing performance by Riley today,” expressed RHS head coach Bryan Canterbury, who noted Jennifer had connected with Riley and met her last fall before messaging her Friday night. “She has raced strong all season, but today she took it to the next level. She ran a race today that you might only run once and she did it on the best day you could.

Tyler Consolidated senior Amos Kimble, last year’s Class A state champion, concluded his career as a Silver Knight by winning the Class AA state title with a time of 16 minutes and 32 seconds on Saturday at Cabell Midland. (Photo courtesy WVSSAC)

“She had a tremendous finish so the plan was to keep them close and she did. She has overcome a lot of adversity in cross country her whole career. That made her more determined! She loves the history of our program so today she made the coaches, her teammates, her parents, her community and our cross country alumni proud.”

Junior teammate Gwyn Gorrell finished in fifth place (21:00) behind Sites.

“Gwyn was outstanding today,” added coach Canterbury. “She has improved so much. Her effort today was amazing. Her and Riley train together everyday and made each other better.”

Kimble, last year’s single-A state champ, finished his career in style by clocking in with a victorious effort of 16 minutes and 32 seconds.

The champion Bulldogs, who topped Lincoln 60-71, were led by Carter Sias (4th, 17:19) and Samuel Gola (7th, 17:54), while Silver Knight Travis Moore took fifth (17:30) and Ravenswood’s Gavin Wilburn eighth (18:00).

The Ravenswood cross country program brought back some hardware to Jackson County following Saturday’s Class AA state meet at Cabell Midland. From left, Red Devil Gwyn Gorrell finished fifth, teammate Riley Sotomayor topped the field and Gavin Wilburn also earned all-state honors on the first team after finishing in eighth. (Photo provided)

“I was proud of Gavin for getting that coveted top 10 finish,” Canterbury stated. “He has worked tirelessly at becoming a great runner and his hard work paid off today.”

The Bulldogs of head coach Josh Weekley landed their other trio of scores on the all-state second team – Cory Swentzel (14th, 18:17), Colton Key (17th, 18:23) and Noah Bodkin (18th, 18:27).

The only other area boys to have a podium finish were Williamstown’s Jimmy Erlandson (16th, 18:22) and Silver Knight Brody Nice (20th, 18:38).

Braxton County’s girls were runner-up to Frankfort, 66-71, and had a pair of first team honorees in Leah Payne (8th, 21:08) and Addison Lloyd (10th, 21:35), who finished her career with a quartet of first team efforts. The Eagles also had scoring efforts from Reece Carpenter (13th, 22;15), Chelsea Payne (26th, 23:19) and Aven Woods (37th, 24:15).

Also securing top 25 efforts from the Little Kanawha Conference were South Harrison’s Savannah Holden (22nd, 22:53), Williamstown’s Sylvia Harris (24th, 23:07) and ‘Jacket Zander Boyce (22nd, 18:41).