Local Sports

Williamstown sweeps regional cross country titles

ST. MARYS -- St. Marys' Anna Bennett crossed the finish line first to claim the individual Class A, Region 1 girls championship while Ritchie County had five girls finish in the top 11 to claim the team title Saturday in St. Marys.

Bennett's time of 18 minutes, 36 seconds bested runner-up Layla Devereux (19:07) of the Rebels. Devereux was followed by her teammates Cassi Hardbarger in third (20:32), Jayden Primm in sixth (20:52), Abigail Hardbarger in seventh (21:10) and Charlee Haddox in 11th (21:50).

Ritchie County finished with 28 team points, followed by St. Marys in second at 37 and Wheeling Central in third at 63.

For the Blue Devils, Savana Burd finished fourth (20:38), Anna Roush placed 10th (21:44), Sidni Gerlach came in 12th (22:30) and Mariah Whitlock followed in 13th (22:40).

Central's Ila Hutnick (5th; 20:50) and Cassie Meriner (8th; 21:18) along with Cameron's Khloe Evans (9th; 21:25) rounded out the top 10.

On the boys' side, it was St. Marys which came away with the team title thanks to having three individuals in the top four, powered by individual champion Koa Navarro (16:14). Parker Barnes placed third (16:19) while Desmond Parks followed in fourth (17:09). Wyatt Payne also found himself in the top 10 (8th; 17:47) while Noah Mote finished 11th (18:12).

St. Marys' 26 points bested Ritchie County's 35, while Wheeling Central finished third in the team standings at 76.

For the Rebels, Jenner Stewart was the runner-up with a time of 16:18, followed by Kenson Roman in fifth (17:18), Seth Cronin in seventh (17:42), Landen Bartlett in ninth (17:56) and Linhang Chen in 13th (18:42).

Wheeling Central's Luke Hevener (6th; 17:23) and Magnolia's Manowah Vaughn (10th; 18:07) rounded out the top 10.

The double-A championships also were held Saturday at St. Marys, with Williamstown sweeping the team titles.

The boys race came down to the wire, with the Yellowjackets edging runner-up Doddridge County 46-48 and third-place Ravenswood finishing with 49 points. Tyler Consolidated was fourth at 76.

Travis Moore won the race for Tyler, setting the pace with a time of 16:12.

The champion 'Jackets were led by Gavin Wilburn in third place (16:54) followed by Brody Pickens in eighth (17:41), Zander Boyce in 10th (17:53), Chase Pickering in 12th (18:01.5) and Gabriel Sandy in 13th (18:01.8).

Doddridge County saw Cory Swentzel finish runner-up (16:54) with teammate Samuel Gola (4th; 17:11) joining him in the top five. Colton Key (11th; 17:59), Cayleb Amos (14th; 18:04) and Reed Modesitt (17th; 18:47) also scored for the Bulldogs.

Ravenswood had a three-man pack finish in the top 10 with Mason Kerns in fifth (17:24), Kaden Gray in sixth (17:33) and Jose Andrade in seventh (17:35). Johnny Heath came in 15th (18:12) for the Red Devils while Kian McGoskey (18:32) followed in 16th.

Tyler's Brody Nice rounded out the top 10 (9th; 17:41).

The Williamstown girls had just a tad more separation, defeating runner-up Oak Glen 24-32 with Doddridge County in third (78) and Tyler Consolidated in fourth (97).

Cassie Sites brought home the individual title to Williamstown, clocking in at 19:37, 10 seconds faster than runner-up Lacey Cameron of Oak Glen.

Raeley Perdye (3rd; 20:20), Kendall Gant (5th; 21:10), Luciana Collins (8th; 21:39) and Bridget Kirby (10th; 21:52) all joined Sites in the top 10 for the Yellowjackets. For good measure, Salys Shotwell came in 14th (23:58).

Oak Glen's Amelia Kampmeyer (6th; 21:26), Layla Adkins (7th; 21:32) and Alyson Taylor (9th; 21:47) made up a big chunk of the top 10 as well.

Ravenswood's Gwyn Gorrell placed fourth with a time of 20:33 to represent the Red Devilettes in the top five. RHS also saw Alexis McVey come in 13th (23:41).

Emily Cottrill was Doddridge County's top finisher, placing 11th with a time of 22:16 while Andi Fiber paced Tyler Consolidated (15th; 24:07).