The Ritchie County High School and Middle School boys claimed first place in both races during Tyler Consolidated’s “Stormin’ the Castle” cross country meet on Saturday, Sept. 3.
“This has been the most challenging race of the season due to the terrain,” said Coach Holli Vaughan. “It doesn’t matter how fast the runner is for the hills of Tyler. It matters how mentally strong, how much determination and grit each one has to compete the difficult course.”
There were straight-up hills, which then go straight down, rocks, tree roots and rolling hills. It is mostly on the hillside behind the high school.
“It’s a fun one for sure. It’s great to see how mentally strong the runners are and to see who’s not going to give up when they see those up-and-down hills,” said Vaughan.
Many Ritchie County runners brought home hardware for individual performances, which then led the teams to victory.
The Rebels slid by John Marshall, 27-28, as a trio of Ritchie County runners reached the top 10. The remainder of the squad was in the top 20.
Cayden Moore paced the Blue and Gray, coming in first for the Rebels, with a third-place finish (22:26.40), Alex Owens was fifth (23:58.50) and Heath Knight earned eighth (24:40.70).
Dalton Settle, Owen Chesser, Rowan Mallery and Sawyer Henderson rounded out the team.
Seth Cronin and Jenner Stewart ran for the Trailblazers, and captured second and third, respectively, with a mere .05 second between the pair.
Jeremiah Sellers was also in the top 10, in seventh.
Ruger Jackson, Holden McDonald and Linghan Chen made the top-20 list.
Lady Rebel freshman Bentlee Williams secured the fasted 5K time of 25:22.30 in the girls’ division and won her first race ever; andd sister Chesnee Williams was the #2 runner in fifth (26:50.80).
Whitley Patterson, Kaity Sullivan and Tracy Abner completed the Ritchie County competitors.
Cassandra Hardbarger and Payton Bartlett were the first runners for the Lady Blazers to finish the race, in 7th (18:28.20) and 10th (19:05.40).
In the #3 through #5 slots were Colleen Freed Naveah Bolin and Keisha Moore, who recorded 11th, 12th and 13th overall.
The Lady Rebels were second as a team and the Lady Blazers placed third.
“We are improving each race and their hard work at practice is showing up on race day!” remarked Coach Vaughan.
The Rebels will travel to the Forest Festival, Elkins, this Saturday, Sept. 10, while the Blazers visit Butcher Bend, Mineral Wells, for the Chick-fil-A Invitational.
Team scores: Ritchie County 27, John Marshall 28
Rebel results: 3rd, Cayden Moore, 22:26.40; 5th, Alex Owens, 23:58.50; 8th, Heath Knight, 24:40.70; 11th, Dalton Settle, 26:09.80; 14th, Owen Chesser, 28:18.50; 15th, Rowan Mallery, 28:33.20; 17th, Sawyer Henderson, 30:48.80
Team scores: John Marshall 23, Ritchie County 36
Lady Rebel results: 1st, Bentlee Williams, 25:22.30; 5th, Chesnee Williams, 26:50.80; 12th, Whitley Patterson, 32:02.80; 13th, Kaity Sullivan, 32:28.10; 17th, Tracy Abner, 45:49.00
Team scores: Ritchie County 36, Triadelphia 41, Tyler Consolidated 47
Blazer results: 2nd, Seth Cronin, 14:17.80; 3rd, Jenner Stewart, 14:21.30; 7th, Jeremiah Sellers, 15:50.20; 11th, Ruger Jackson, 16:26.30; 15th, Holden McDonald, 18:28.60; 20th, Linhang Chen, 19:17.80; 21st, Jacob Burke, 19:34.40; 23rd, Gavin Jones, 19:49.60; 24th, Jaron Barrett, 19:50.90; 26th, Austyn Byrd, 21:17.80; 27th, Justin Chen, 21:53.40
Team scores: Tyler Consolidated 28, Triadelphia 39, Ritchie County 53, Moundsville 110
Lady Blazer results: 7th, Cassandra Hardbarger, 18:28.20; 10th, Payton Bartlett, 19:05.40; 11th, Colleen Freed, 19:05.50; 12th, Nevaeh Bolin, 20:19.90; 13th, Keisha Moore, 21:03.20; 17th, Zoey Bunner, 22:09.70; 21st, Saydi Oldaker, 23:09.20; 30th, Stella Robinson, 27:32.50
