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Belpre hosts annual cross country invitational at Civitan Park

By Jay W. Bennett 10 min read

BELPRE -- Mountain State Athletic Conference members Cabell Midland and Hurricane swept the team races here Saturday morning in the Belpre Invitational at Civitan Park, while Wheeling Park walked away with a pair of individual champions thanks to Rylan Moore and Brenna Tipton, who successfully defended her title.

The Cabell Midland girls went 2-5-6-8-9 thanks to Lindsey Bailey (19:45), Kinslee Methax (20:11), Charlotte Coakley (20:14), Riley Nowalk (20:23) and Maya Casto (20:24) en route to a 35-81 win against the Redskins, who were paced by Ella Sturm (12th, 20:28), Maleah Short (14th, 20:49), Miley Mynes (15th, 20:50), Lexi Elmore (16th, 20:51) and Addison Frye (19th, 21:18).

Parkersburg South’s boys, who were led by a fourth-place showing from Gatlin McLain (16:54), also watched Slaten McLain (12th, 17:37) and Jesse Morris (22nd, 18:04) make the top 25, but the Patriots had to settle for third with 107 points after being nipped by Hurricane, which fell to the Knights, 78-103.

“He’s a stud,” Gatlin McLain said of Moore, who crossed in 15:52 to top last year’s runner-up Luke Rettenberger of Warren’s 16:04 and third-place Redskin Paxton Haddox’s 16:47. “I’ve raced against him since like sixth grade, but he’s just a stud. He’s a hard worker and he’s just great.

“It was a little hot, a little humid, but overall I felt good. I ran pretty good. Our team is top five in West Virginia right now and we’re pushing strong. Hoping for a top three finish at state, maybe a state championship this year, but we got a lot of young guys and we’re building. We’re coming real strong.”

The Knights received their top showing from Cam Holley (6th, 17:06). He was followed by teammates Owen Persinger (9th, 17:19), Xander Morgan (15th, 17:41), Trenton Hatfield (20th, 17:46) and Liam Newlon (28th, 18:15).

Haddox was joined in the top 25 by teammates Gabriel High (16th, 17:43), Brayden Frye (18th, 17:43) and Gabriel Kessler (21st, 17:49).

Rounding out the top 10 were Caldwell’s Zane Boyd (5th, 17:06), Williamstown’s Gavin Wilburn (7th, 17:11), Ignite Athletics’ Jude Stevens (8th, 17:13) and Warren’s Alex Bishop (10th, 17:25).

“Of course, it always is. I always like to finish number one,” Rettenberger said of trying to win it his senior year. “This meet is a lot bigger than it was last year. A lot more teams and a lot more bigger teams from West Virginia like Wheeling Park, Hurricane. He’s (Moore) in the OVAC with us, so Wheeling Park and Morgantown are kind of our big people to race there.

“I’m proud of my effort today. I tried really hard to get there and I started to close a little bit, and I just kind of stayed. I think it was just up to who ended up getting out faster at the start because everybody crashed in on me and Alex up here. Everybody just came in on us. I think I PR’d for the course by like 20 seconds, so If I can walk away with a course PR. I think that’s good.”

The only other area top 25 efforts belonged to Belpre’s Drew Williams (23rd, 18:06), Yellowjacket Zander Boyce (24th, 18:07) and Fort Frye’s Declan Schaad (25th, 18:07).

“The thought process was just go out there and run my race just like I would any other time,” admitted Moore, who finished fifth a year ago. “I knew there were some good runners, but I know if I run my race I can compete with everybody.

“I normally start out strong and I try to settle in there after a little bit. I knew that they were a little bit close to me because I can hear, obviously, the fans cheering on the side for them to come up and catch me, but I try not to look back, just eyes forward and roll with the Gator.”

That’s the approach Tipton went with as she darted off the start line and wasn’t seriously challenged after taking the victory in 18 minutes and 29 seconds. Wheeling Park placed fifth with 160 as Ignite Athletics (120) and Parkersburg South (127) battled for third.

“I had a tough race against (Herbert Hoover’s) Maysen Fletcher at the St. Marys Invitational, Autumn Classic, and then this past week we were up in Pittsburgh and I ran against some people I never heard of and let’s just say they were so talented,” said Tipton.

“I was coming off some sickness, so this week I really just wanted to have a good race that I could like use as confidence going into the next few races because I really needed a confidence booster.”

The only other Patriot from Park to crack the top 25 was Laylah Burkhart, whose time of 21 minutes flat was good for 17th.

“I was really happy with my start today because I think I’ve been lacking a solid start. I got trapped in last weekend,” Tipton added. “I got pretty trapped in last weekend and I’ve never been trapped in really because normally we have a solid box, but I was like in 20th for the first 400 and I’ve never had to pass up that many people.

“It was definitely something new for me and I’m definitely going to stick with starting faster. I think that was the strongest kick I’ve had in a while. I think I lack a strong kick as well and so I’m really happy with today’s race.”

John Marshall’s Zoe Zervos ran a 20:01 to place third ahead of Ignite’s Bre Fisher by seven seconds.

The only two 10 finishers from the area were Williamstown’s Cassie Sites (7th, 20:22) and Parkersburg South’s Haley Raper (10th, 20:25).

South Patriot Alyssa McCrady clocked in at 20 minutes and 43 seconds, which was good for 13th. Also cracking the top 25 from the Mid-Ohio Valley were Fort Frye’s Elliot Handley (18th, 21:06) and Warren’s Adilynn Greenup (21st, 21;19).

“I’ve been sick the past two weeks not feeling well, so I went at this like kind of a typical getting back out there race, just building right now,” admitted Sites, who watched teammate Kendall Gant finish 34th with a time of 22:34. “We have a bye week next week and I’m ready to feel better and do some training I need. I feel like I have everything I need to be where I’m supposed to be at the right time, but obviously I got seventh place, which I think is a really good finish with these girls. There are so many big teams from my state here.

“Having that pack running is what we needed. It’s so amazing that people are coming out for the sport. I think that’s so nice because sometimes you go out on a race and you’re all by yourself and you’re like, ‘OK, well this isn’t the most fun.’ You know you want to push yourself, but when you’re out there with some great girls, it just makes it so much more rewarding to get this place. Any day you can come out here and push yourself, it’s a great day.”

The host Golden Eagles were led by Ellie Whitlatch (74th, 24:43) and Anna Miller (76th, 24:44).

Other top efforts from the area included the Marietta trio of Kelly Nicholas (26th, 22:01), Hailey Powell (47th, 23:23) and Aubrey Christensen (51st, 23:35); Wirt County’s Arabella Smarr (33rd, 22:28), Kinsley Nicolais (46th, 23:22) and Allison Bumgarner (48th, 23:27); Warren’s Adilynn Greenup (21st, 21:19) and Ashlee Pate (27th, 22:05); Fort Frye’s Lydia Huck (43rd, 23:14) as well as Eastern’s Brooklyn Fogle (55th, 23:42) along with Federal Hocking’s Elsie Amlin (73rd, 24:40) and Mackenzie Foster (74th, 24:40).

Fort Frye’s Brody Griffin wasn’t far off a top 25 pace after crossing in 18:17, which put him 29th.

Marietta was led by the efforts of Emmett Parman (30th, 18:18) and Camden Space (35th, 18:25) while the Tigers of Wirt County had Lucas Curfman (54th, 19:03) and Sam Williams (56th, 19:04). Tyson Franchino represented Waterford and ran a 20:07 for 92nd place.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

Belpre XC Invite

at Civitan Park

BOYS TEAM SCORES: 1. Cabell Midland 78, 2. Hurricane 103, 3. Parkersburg South 107, 4. Wheeling Park 148, 5. Warren 177, 6. Williamstown 199, 7. Ignite Athletics 206, 8. John Marshall 222, 9. Southern 237, 10. Marietta 269, 11. Fort Frye 291, 12. Fairland 316, 13. Barnesville 368, 14. Wirt County 385, 15. Caldwell 401, 16. Belpre 409, 17. John Glenn 411, 18. Trimble 417, 19. River 507, 20. Weir 510, 21. Waterford 555

TOP 25: 1. Rylan Moore (WP) 15:52, 2. Luke Rettenberger (Warren) 16:04, 3. Paxton Haddox (Hur) 16:47, 4. Gatlin McLain (South) 16:54, 5. Zane Boyd (Cwell) 17:06, 6. Cam Holley (CM) 17:06, 7. Gavin Wilburn (Wtown) 17:11, 8. Jude Stevens (IA) 17:13, 9. Owen Persinger (CM) 17:19, 10. Alex Bishop (Warren) 17:25, 11. Cohen Roush (Southern) 17:30, 12. Slaten McLain (South) 17:37, 13. Connor Wilson (Fairland) 17:30, 14. Levi Wilson (IA) 17:39, 15. Xander Morgan (CM) 17:41, 16. Gabriel High (Hur) 17:43, 17. Kason Wolfe (JM) 17:43, 18. Brayden Frye (Hur) 17:43, 19. Tyler Bishop (WP) 17:46, 20. Trenton Hatfield (CM) 17:46, 21. Gabriel Kessler (Hur) 17:49, 22. Jesse Morris (South) 18:04, 23. Drew Williams (Belpre) 18:06, 24. Zander Boyce (Wtown) 18:07, 25. Declan Schaad (FF) 18:07

Other Area Finishers

29. Brody Griffin (FF) 18:17, 30. Emmett Parman (Marietta) 18:18, 33. Joshua Eddy (South) 18:23, 35. Camden Space (Marietta) 18:25, 36. Brady Deuley (South) 18:27, 41. Nick Bishop (Warren) 18:34, 42. Brody Pickens (Wtown) 18:35, 50. Ezekiel Minard (Marietta) 18:52, 52. Ethan Huffman (FF) 18:58, 54. Lucas Curfman (Wirt) 19:03, 56. Sam Williams (Wirt) 19:04, 57. Ben Rettenberger (Warren) 19:04, 60. Nolan McCallister (Wirt) 19:08, 61. Marcus Rohrbaugh (Cwell), 64. Chase Pickering (Wtown) 19:17, 73. Gabriel Sandy (Wtown) 19;35, 75. Caden Arnold (Warren) 19:37, 77. Caleb Yost (Warren) 19:39, 86. Kyeese Anderson (South) 19;54, 87. Hunter Barnes (Warren) 19:58, 88. Dane Stewart (Marietta) 19:59, 90. Austin Shuler (Marietta) 20:00, 92. Tyson Franchino (Wford) 20:07, 93. Easton Morgan (Warren) 20:12, 98. Emery Nau (Cwell) 20:30, 102. Paxton Hudnall-Bolian (Belpre) 20:34, 103. Eli Reynolds (Warren) 20:34, 104. Brayden McDaniel (Belpre) 20:39, 105. Maddox Crum (Belpre) 20:41, 107. Noah Mourat (Wtown) 20:45, 114. Jude Kehl (FF) 20:56, 115. Coen McCurdy (FF) 20:58, 119. Sylas Shotwell (Wtown) 21:10, 120. Collin McCurdy (FF) 21:10, 123. Colton Butler (Wirt) 21:15, 129. Finley Rider (Marietta) 21:37, 133. Landon Strahler (Wford) 21:49, 135. Lane Huffman (Marietta) 22:00, 141. Spencer Long (FF) 22:12, 143. Logan Norman (Warren) 22:13, 148. Ethan Lorentz (Warren) 22:27, 150. Oliver Hess (South) 22:29, 154. Leonardo Elliott (Marietta) 22:49, 155. Austin Sexauer (South) 22:49, 156. Lukas Mourat (Wtown) 22:51, 161. Andrew Davis (South) 23:20, 162. Aiden Burch (Cwell) 23:21, 163. Garin Schaad (Wford) 23:23, 164. Corbin Miller (Marietta) 23:30, 166. Warner Durham (Marietta) 23:31, 167. Cashus Wilson (Wford) 23:38, 168. Maximilian Taylor (Marietta) 23:51, 171. Alijah Ritchie (Wirt) 24:17, 172. Noah Garbo (Belpre) 24:42, 174. Isaac Blair (South) 24:58, 175. Lennon Giraldez (F. Hocking) 24:59, 176. Brady Schwendeman (Warren) 25:00, 179. Sean Barnhart (Marietta) 25:31, 181. Ashton Garrett (Wtown) 25:53, 183. Aaron Schaad (Wford) 25:57, 188. Trenton Reese (Belpre) 26:35, 191. Nicolas Johnson (South) 26:56, 193. Clayton Kruger (South) 27:46, 195. Ashton Keaton (Wirt) 28:46, 197. Nolan Hitt (South) 29:06, 201. Ian Belt (Wirt) 30:50, 202. Ronnie Riley (F. Hocking) 30:53, 207. Nathanael Blair (South) 34:15, 208. Tyler Walker (South) 34:22, 210. Elliot Macartney (F. Hocking) 40:10, 211. Kaiden Spence (Cwell) 40:16, 212. James Andrews (Warren) 41:19

GIRLS TEAM SCORES: 1. Cabell Midland 35, 2. Hurricane 81, 3. Ignite Athletics 120, 4. Parkersburg South 127, 5. Wheeling Park 160, 6. Williamstown 203, 7. Fairland 205, 8. John Marshall 218, 9. Marietta 229, 10. Warren 239, 11. Fort Frye 282, 12. Wirt County 295, 13. Barnesville 345, 14. John Glen 364, 15. Belpre 381

TOP 25: 1. Brenna Tipton (WP) 18:29, 18:29, 2. Lindsey Bailey (CM) 19:45, 3. Zoe Zervos (JM) 20:01, 4. Bre Fisher (IA) 20:08, 5. Kinslee Methax (CM) 20:11, 6. Charlotte Coakley (CM) 20:14, 7. Cassie Sites (Wtown) 20:22, 8. Riley Nowalk (CM) 20:23, 9. Maya Casto (CM) 20:24, 10. Haley Raper (South) 20:25, 11. Scout Stines (CM) 20:27, 12. Ella Sturm (Hur) 20:28, 13. Alyssa McCrady (South) 20:43, 14. Maleah Short (Hur) 20:49, 15. Miley Mynes (Hur) 20:50, 16. Lexi Elmore (Hur) 20:51, 17. Laylah Burkhart (WP) 21:00, 18. Elliot Handley (FF) 21:06, 19. Addison Frye (Hur) 21:18.43, 20. Ava Wilt (IA) 21:18.94, 21. Adilynn Greenup (Warren) 21:19, 22. Ella Dye (Hur) 21:22, 23. Maya Hagley (CM) 21:24, 24. Jenna Nott (IA) 21:47, 25. Lauren Baker (Fairland) 21:48

Other Area Finishers

26. Kelly Nicholas (Marietta) 22:01, 27. Ashlee Pate (Warren) 22:05, 32. Jalyn Eddy (South) 22:27, 33. Arabella Smarr (Wirt) 22:28, 34. Kendall Gant (Wtown) 22:34, 35. Sophia Shamblin (South) 22:40, 39. Lexi McKinney (South) 23:01, 43. Lydia Huck (FF) 23:14, 44. Genevieve Taylor (South) 23:15, 46. Kinsley Nicholais (Wirt) 23:22, 47. Hailey Powell (Marietta) 23:23, 48. Allison Bumgarner (Wirt) 23:27, 51. Aubrey Christensen (Marietta) 23:35, 53. Anna Knaus (Marietta) 23:37, 55. Brooklyn Fogle (Eastern) 23:42, 57. Lucianna Collins (Wtown) 23:43, 60. Bridget Kirby (Wtown) 23:51, 62. Violet Gibson (Warren) 23:56, 67. Isabella Ferrell (South) 24:23, 69. Hannah Scott (South) 24:30, 72. Elsie Amlin (F. Hocking) 24:40, 73. Mackenzie Foster (F. Hocking) 24:40, 74. Ellie Whitlatch (Belpre) 24:43, 75. Salys Shotwell (Wtown) 24:44, 76. Anna Miller (Belpre) 24:44, 78. Suzanna Whipkey (Warren) 24:55, 80. Amelia Loughry (Marietta) 25:11, 82. Kya Kehl (FF) 25:16, 84. Teagan Brown (Marietta) 25:29, 89. Alia Phelps (Wtown) 25:52, 90. Mia Fluharty (Warren) 25:53, 94. Gracelyn Davisson (Wtown) 26:01, 99. Audrey Witten (FF) 26:08, 101. Spencer Thieman (FF) 26:11, 109. Skylie Thompson (Wirt) 27:08, 110. Olivia Stark (Warren) 27:09, 111. Gabby Campbell (Belpre) 27:11, 114. Addy Stewart (Belpre) 27;14, 115. Addi Walton (South) 27:19, 117. Arabella Beasley (FF) 27:21, 118. Caroline Rehl (Warren) 27:21, 122. Aven Tacy (Frontier) 27:51, 124. Aubeny Dye (South) 28:17, 125. Lilly Dye (South) 28:22, 132. Ellie Needs (F. Hocking) 29:42, 135. Lila Dugan (Belpre) 30:32, 136. Harper Rogers (Belpre) 30:33, 138. Adalyn Eichmiller (Wford) 31:29, 141. Peyton Amlin (F. Hocking) 32:21, 142. Destiny Nicholas (Wirt) 32:21, 143. Sarah Logan (Wirt) 32:27, 144. Adyleigh Matheny (South) 32:44, 147. Hailey Abrams (Cwell) 34:00, 151. Navaeh Collins (FF) 40:30

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