Local Sports

Big Reds’ Metz, Patriots’ McLain make all-state

ONA -- The final race of the Class AAAA season for Parkersburg senior Morgan Metz and Parkersburg South junior Gatlin McLain here Saturday at Cabell Midland in the state cross country championships resulted in a pair of first team all-state efforts.

Metz, who finished in the top 10 for a third successive fall, ran her final race for the Big Reds in 19 minutes and 8 seconds, which was good for fourth overall.

McClain, who wasn't predicted to crack the top 10, finished in 16 minutes and 30 seconds, which secured a ninth-place finish.

In the team races, the Parkersburg boys finished fourth with 147 points while the Patriots had 174 to place sixth. The PHS girls had 198 points and took seventh while the Patriots had 224 and finished ninth.

"It’s always nerve-racking when you get on the bus this morning you’re like ‘oh, wait, season is ending today. This is it,'" said Metz. "It was definitely nervous leaving the school and being like ‘this is actually happening. This is it. One last time,’ but it’s definitely surreal. Kind of just the nervous feeling when I pull back into the school. It’s either going to be a really good day or a really bad day.

"I didn’t have my most spectacular day, but at the end of the day I went in predicted fourth so coming out fourth and just kind of meeting the prediction was definitely good. I didn’t run my best race, but it’s something you got to move on from. Even if the time isn’t great, in cross country that place is what you are looking for so to be in that top 10 for the third time was just really exciting for me."

Metz, who watched teammates Audrey Wagoner (45th, 21:22), Callie Angelos (47th, 21:23), Brie Winans (54th, 21:59) and Hadley Edwards (58th, 22:11.6) also factor into the team scoring, was far from a natural when it came to the sport.

"When I joined my freshman year I had never ran a step of cross country. I swam for 10 years," admitted Metz, who said she was super close to making her college choice. "I ran track my eighth-grade year because I wanted to do a school sport. I was beyond awful. The coach continually told me I should probably not run ever again. It was so bad, but I decided to come back out and see what happened. I came out for cross. I didn’t have the most immaculate season, but I was like ‘you know what, this was super fun, let’s try again next year’ so it’s been ever since.

"Being part of this team is something beyond special. It’s nothing I could have ever imagined. Just being part of something, like this culture, is something I could never explain in just words. I came from a team that I swam for 10 years and then just coming here and meeting the people I have has been truly amazing. Just seeing everybody succeed so much and being able to not only prove for my team, but prove for myself, and just kind of find my thing."

McClain wasn't overly happy with his recent performances, but he put those behind him and made the most of the opportunity.

“I slept great. A great night’s rest," admitted McLain, who was joined in scoring by fellow Patriots Jesse Morris (33rd, 17:44), Josh Eddy (36th, 17:48), brother Slaten McLain (43rd, 17:55) and Brady Deuley (65th, 18:41). "It was really good conditions. I think it’s probably the best state meet conditions-wise I’ve had since being in high school. Usually I have a tendency in like some of my other races to go out really, really fast from the start.

"I told myself, I said 'this one’s really what matters. I need to be smart, start out slow, but not too slow, like in the 10-12 range and then work after the mile.’ I think I executed my plan perfectly. I knew where I was standing most of the race. I knew I had to maintain and push. It feels great. I’m glad I finally had a good race since my last two weren’t as ideal as I wanted them to be, but I’m glad I finally got a good one in."

McLain is the first Patriot to earn all-state first team accolades since 2005 when Brian Floyd accomplished the feat.

No one was happier for Metz than PHS head coach George Angelos, who watched the boys place fourth overall with 147 points while the Patriot boys had 174 for sixth.

Leading the charge for the red and white was sophomore Drake Rollins, who missed first team all-state honors by four seconds. Rollins finished 11th with a time of 16:37 to make second team and was joined in scoring by Rogan Mincks (25th, 17:28), Calvin Lantz (29th, 17:37), Aiden Romine (32nd, 17:43) and Owen Johnston (55th, 18:16).

"Super pleased with the season we had," Angelos said. "Our boys, we had a young man go down sick today so that left us five guys down from last year’s team. We still finished fourth in the state. Super thrilled. MSAC champions, regional champions and fourth in the state on the boys side with basically everybody in an internal growth. That was super exciting. Drake Rollins finished 43rd in the state last year and he took a 1:30 off his time today and finished 11th, second team all-state, but what a huge season.

"All-region, All-MSAC and now second team all-state from a kid that didn’t even run middle school cross country, so second year at cross country. Of course, you got Morgan, who pulled a three-peat. Just super pleased. We achieved about as much as you could’ve expected and hoped. I’m really pleased with this team and just excited for the future. We got a lot of momentum going into the offseason and a lot of momentum going into next year."

Parkersburg South's girls received a second team all-state effort from Alyssa McCrady, who placed 18th with a time of 19 minutes and 50 seconds. She was followed by Haley Raper (25th, 20:23), Jalyn Eddy (57th, 22:11.6), Lexi McKinney (69th, 22:48) and Sophia Shamblin (72nd, 22:56).

"I'm very proud of our whole team today," noted PSHS head coach Brian Blanc. "I saw some very intelligent, hard-fought races. It always feels good to outperform expectations and several of our athletes went out there and did just that.

"I love watching the last three months of hard work turn into results for these kids that have put in so much time and effort."

In Class AAA, Ripley sophomore Eli Casto finished in 17 minutes and 10 seconds, which put him on the second team after finishing 16th. The Vikings placed 10th as a team.

W.Va. State Cross Country Championship

at Ona, Cabell Midland High School

CLASS AAAA

GIRLS TEAM SCORES: 1. Morgantown 47, 2. Cabell Midland 80, 3. Preston 105, 4. University 122, 5. Wheeling Park 145, 6. Hurricane 158, 7. Parkersburg 198, 8. Buckhannon-Upshur 217, 9. Parkersburg South 224, 10. Musselman 250, 11. Washington 289, 12. George Washington 300, 13. Huntington 306

First Team All-State

1. Sadie Yates (Mman) 17:54, 2. Brenna Tipton (WP) 17:57, 3. Abigail Rogers (Univ) 18:55, 4. Morgan Metz (Parkersburg) 19:08, 5. Leyland Phillips (Mtown) 19:10, 6. Jenna Conaway (Mtown) 19:18, 7. Lindsey Bailey (CM) 19:24, 8. Kinslee Methax (CM) 19:27, 9. Lauren Hawkins (Mtown) 19:34.2, 10. Taylor Grose (Preston) 19:34

Area Finishers

18. Alyssa McCrady (South) 19:50*, 25. Haley Raper (South) 20:23, 45. Audrey Wagoner (PHS) 21:22, 47. Calli Angelos (PHS) 21:23, 54. Brie Winans (PHS) 21:59, 57. Jalyn Eddy (South) 22:11.6, 58. Hadley Edwards (PHS) 22:11.6, 59. Allison Poole (PHS) 22:16, 66. Emma Tessum (PHS) 22:41, 69. Lexi McKinney (South) 22:48, 72. Sophia Shamblin (South) 22:56, 73. Isabella Ferrell (South) 22:59, 90. Genevieve Taylor (South) 24:29

BOYS TEAM SCORES: 1. Morgantown 46, 2. University 68, 3. Jefferson 115, 4. Parkersburg 147. 5. Preston 169, 6. Parkersburg South 174, 7. Cabell Midland 183, 8. Hurricane 187, 9. Wheeling Park 188, 10. George Washington 226, 11. Spring Mills 238, 12. Woodrow Wilson 351

First Team All-State

1. Micah Gainer (U) 15:39, 2. Rylan Moore (WP) 15:42, 3. Logan Conroy (U) 16:15, 4. Joaquin Summers (Mtown) 16:16, 5. Isaiah Griffin (SM) 16:21, 6. Shane Burkhardt (J) 16:22.4, 7. Maxwell Abildso (Mtown) 16:22.4, 8. Joshua Shrewsberry (Mtown) 16:22.7, 9. Gatlin McLain (South) 16:30, 10. Paxton Haddox (Hur) 16:33

Area Finishers

11. Drake Rollins (PHS) 16:37*, 25. Rogan Mincks (PHS) 17:28, 29. Calvin Lantz (PHS) 17:37, 32. Aiden Romine (PHS) 17:43, 33. Jesse Morris (South) 17:44, 36. Josh Eddy (South) 17:48, 43. Slaten McLain (South) 17:55, 55. Owen Johnston (PHS) 18:16, 65. Brady Deuley (South) 18:41, 68. Caysen Litton (South) 18:46, 69. Caden Moat (PHS) 18:48, 73. Steven Woofter (PHS) 18:59, 100. Kyeese Anderson (South) 20:28

CLASS AAA

GIRLS TEAM SCORES: 1. Elkins 51, 2. Bridgeport 77, 3. Shady Spring 99, 4. Fairmont Senior 130, 5. Greenbrier East 158, 6. Grafton 163, 7. Winfield 171, 8. John Marshall 190, 9. Herbert Hoover 208, 10. St. Albans 223, 11. East Fairmont 238, 12. Nicholas County 258

First Team All-State

1. Aria Selario (B) 18:51, 2. Sadie Kirkland (FSr) 19:01, 3. Juliana VonWulffen (W) 19:02, 4. Neena McClintic (GE) 19:25, 5. Julia Biola (E) 19:36, 6. Tessa Aulenbacher (HH) 19:44, 7. Brynlee Deaton (NC) 19:50, 8. Emilia Tenney (E) 19:51, 9. Clara Pyles (E) 19:52, 10. Bethsayed Dankiewicz (B) 19:55

Area Finishers

57. Lanie Knopp (Ripley) 23:34, 66. Katelyn McCune (Rip) 24:05

BOYS TEAM SCORES: 1. Elkins 63, 2. Grafton 96, 3. Shady Spring 98, 4. Hampshire 117, 5. Bridgeport 143, 6. Keyser 157, 7. Winfield 174, 8. East Fairmont 175, 9. Herbert Hoover 223, 10. Ripley 224, 11. Greenbrier East 260, 12. St. Albans 302

First Team All-State

1. Luca Altobello (K) 15:45.2, 2. Trace Marshall (W) 15:45.6, 3. Trevor George (E) 15:52, 4. Dylan Straight (HH) 16:29, 5. Ethan Dowdy (SS) 16:30, 6. Chase Maier (G) 16:38, 7. Brody Skinner (Lewis County) 16:43, 8. Bryler Wilson (EF) 16:44, 9. Treven Schaefer (E) 16:53, 10. Wyatt Kirkpatrick (Pt. Pleasant) 16:54

Area Finishers

16. Eli Casto (Rip) 17:10*, 40. Connor Bailey (Rip) 18:04, 65. Tyler Wine (Rip) 18:58, 83. John Cruz Clendenin (Rip) 19:33, 89. Ben Neal (Rip) 20:16, 92. Grayson Rothrock-Donohew (Rip) 20:40, 101. Ben McCune (Rip) 22:47

*Denotes second team all-state