PHS, South ready for state cross country
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PARKERSBURG -- When it comes time for Saturday’s Class AAAA state cross country championships in Ona both Parkersburg and Parkersburg South are hoping to finish the season strong.
Parkersburg head coach George Angelos watched his boys claim a regional championship while red and white senior Morgan Metz captured her first individual regional title.
Parkersburg’s boys are expected to be well in the mix for a top five team finish as the Big Reds were fourth in the final runwv.com power rankings behind expected state champion Morgantown, University and Jefferson, but ahead of No. 5 Hurricane, No. 6 Parkersburg South and No. 7 Cabell Midland.
“She’s going for her third all-state,” Angelos said of Metz eyeing another top 10 finish. “That’s rarefied air. There’s been very few three-time all-staters in the history of our program, guys or girls. Runwv.com has her picked as fourth Saturday and we’ll see. She’s had multiple individual titles ranging from the first meet at Riverside. I think she won GlenOak. She won Chick-fil-A.
“She won the conference championship and was the MSAC runner of the year. She won the South Regional championship so she’s had just a phenomenal year. Saturday she ran a season’s best. She’s running as well as she ever has been. I never would doubt Morgan Metz. She’s a proven competitor. She’s had a great year and I’m excited to see what she’s going to do Saturday.”
Expected to join Metz on the seven-member PHS squad are fellow seniors Audrey Wagoner and Allison Poole, juniors Brie Winans and Calli Angelos along with sophomore Hadley Edwards and freshman Emma Tessum.
“Another coach and I were talking. It’s probably the deepest girls field that I have ever seen,” added Angelos. “It is extremely deep. Any other year our girls team is probably a top four, top five team and this year it goes pretty much eight to deep 10. It goes 10 deep. Our girls, both teams are running the best they have all year. We had 20 personal bests at conference, either season best or personal best, and then 13 of 14 runners who competed at the regional championship meet set an all-time personal best or season best as well.
“Our kids are running as well as they have all season and for many of them as well as they have their entire careers. The exciting part as a coach is hey ‘you know what? There’s nothing more you can ask when you have a team that’s locked in, and you have a team that’s running for one another and running as well as they ever have. What more can you ask?’ That’s what we’re rolling into Ona with on Saturday, a team that’s as good as they’ve ever been.”
Parkersburg sophomore Drake Rollins and Parkersburg South junior Gatlin McLain have led their respective teams this year as the Big Red finished at No. 12, one spot ahead of the Patriot, in the final Class 4A runner rankings. Runners must finish in the top 10 to earn all-state honors.
McLain should be joined at the starting line by fellow Patriots Josh Eddy (FR), Slaten McLain (FR), Jesse Morris (SR), Brady Deuley (FR), Kyeese Anderson (SO) and Caysen Litton (SO).
Expected to join Rollins for PHS are Calvin Lantz (SO), Rogan Mincks (JR), Aiden Romine (SO), Caden Moat (SR), Harlan Wolfe (FR) and Steven Woofter (SO).
“What a story this boys team has been. They have exceeded any expectation of anybody,” Angelos said. “I had one coach from one of the top schools in the state say ‘you know what? We look at what you graduate. We look at what you have coming in from middle school and we think you’re done, and you guys never are. You just find kids.’ It’s a real testament to our kids. Granted, we have a lot of really good proven kids, but we have a lot of kids who have just developed.
“Case in point, Aiden Romine, Drake Rollins, Steven Woofter, kids that have just taken their game up a whole other level. You have a team that probably you think is going to have a down year, then all of a sudden you have a team, we haven’t lost to a West Virginia team all year. MSAC champs, regional champs and ranked top four in the state. We lost four of our varsity runners last year and then we had Carter Thorpe, our number one going into the season, so we’ve lost five, yet still we’ve found a way to have a real shot to have a great meet Saturday.”
Parkersburg South head coach Brian Blanc admitted “it’s been a pretty solid season. I am very pleased with the team and love seeing their hard work pay off earning their ticket to states. I think Gatlin could still pull off an all-state performance on Saturday.
“He always gives 100%, but he has yet to race his best race. Slaten and Josh have pushed each other all season and have been welcome training partners for senior Jesse Morris. I’d like to see those three race together on Saturday.”
Parkersburg South’s top ranked runner following the regionals for the girls according to runwv.com was sophomore Alyssa McCrady, who was No. 17.
The next highest ranked runner was sophomore Haley Raper (No. 22). Also expected to see the starting line on Saturday are senior Lexi McKinney, junior Jalyn Eddy, sophomores Isabella Ferrell and Sophia Shamblin along with freshman Genevieve Taylor.
“Alyssa and Haley have been crushing it and seem to be in a great headspace going into states,” Blanc added. “Their leadership at practice has lifted our entire girls squad to another level.
“I am very eager for Saturday and proud of these kids for the hard work that went into qualifying. I hope that they come into the day with some lofty goals and accomplish each one.”
Of note in Class AAA, Ripley’s Eli Casto will be competing in a stacked field.
In the final runwv.com rankings, Casto slotted in at No. 17 with everyone ahead of the sophomore being either a junior or senior. Ranked right behind him were two other 10th-graders in Keyser’s Tatum Thompson and John Marshall’s Kason Wolfe.
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com
Saturday’s W.Va. State Cross Country Championship Schedule
at Ona, Cabell Midland High School
9 a.m. – Class AAA girls
9:45 a.m. – Class AAA boys
11 a.m. – Class AAAA girls
11:45 a.m. – Class AAAA boys
1 p.m. – Class A girls
1:45 p.m. – Class A boys
3 p.m. – Class AA girls
3:45 p.m. – Class AA boys