Published: September 06, 2008 11:49 pm         

Shady backs up ranking with strong performance

ONA — Shady Spring’s Chelsea Callaway showed up ready to run. That was bad news for the rest of the Class AA-A girls field at the Geico Classic cross country meet Saturday at Cabell Midland High School.

The Tigers’ senior leader attacked the 3.1-mile course, where the state meet will be held later this year, and hit the tape with a time of 20:06.84 to take a statement win over a field that included most of the top runners in the state.

“I felt really good,” Callaway said. “I was really excited for this race and I was just keeping it in my head that it was going to be a good race, and it was.”

Callaway took control from the opening gun and opened up an 11-second advantage over the field by the first mile marker. It was an advantage she would hold throughout the race.

The win also eliminated a mental block that has plagued Callaway in the past.

“(This course) always intimidates me when it comes around to states,” she said. “I’d like to conquer it now so I know that I can do it.”

The rest of the Tigers’ squad backed Callaway with equally strong performances to earn the team title. Shady Spring outpointed Wheeling Central 77-87.

Sophomore Desiree Roseberry was the second Tiger in with a time of 20:56.54 — good enough for sixth overall.

“I’m very proud of what our team is doing,” Roseberry said. “It’s exciting. We hope we do very well this year.”

Senior Kelsey Paine was the third Shady runner, finishing 24th with a time of 22:37.94. Junior Katie Backus grabbed 29th and senior Emily Osborne rounded out the team scoring with a 34th-place finish.

The Tigers’ sixth and seventh runners, sophomore Katie Paine and senior Emily Daniel, provided a scoring cushion for their teammates by finishing 35th and 36th, respectively.

“The girls ran pretty good,” Shady coach John Lucento said. “They take every meet as a practice meet. Every meet, they try to run a little bit better. We had a little talk after the meet and decided that we can run better. That’s what we’re going to do every meet — decide we can run better. We’re never satisfied. If you get satisfied, you get beat.”

PikeView’s girls grabbed 10th place in the team standings with 244 points.

Trish Galligher led the Panthers with time of 23:26.91 — good for 37th overall.

In the Class AA-A boys event, PikeView placed sixth with 176 points. Ravenswood took the team title with 67 points.

The Panthers’ Brent Roark earned ninth place with a time of 17:42.06 and Jordan Weitzel crossed in 11th with a time of 17:47.51 to head the effort.

Berkeley Springs’ Lenny Roach won the individual title with a run of 16:27.51.

Shady’s boys placed 14th with 369 points. Freshman Aaron Halstead (50th) topped the effort with a time of 19:52.16.

In the Class AAA field, Wheeling Park edged Cabell Midland 101-119 for the boys title and Hurricane outdistanced University 84-105 in the girls scoring.

Greenbrier East’s young teams continued to gain experience. The boys placed 17th, while the girls settled for 19th.

Woodrow Wilson’s boys yielded a 23rd-place finish, while the girls placed 21st.

Brad Dugan was the top Spartan boy, placing 29th with a time of 17:58.62, while Anthony Hancock (73rd) topped the Eagles with a time of 19:21.57.

North Marion’s Zach Tennant shattered the course record with a time of 15:52.27 to win the individual title.

Dugan’s sister, Gabby, led the East girls with a 51st-place finish. Her time was 22:37.99.

The rolling hills in the second mile of the course took their toll on the Spartan runner.

“I started off good,” Dugan said. “Then I died by the second mile. I started falling back farther. I got a better time last year than I did this year. Last year, I medaled. This year, I didn’t.”

Haylei Davis (84th) led Woodrow with a time of 24:13.08.

Elkins’ Letitia Propst edged Gallia (Ohio) Academy’s Peyton Adkins by .32 of a second for the AAA title with a time of 19:00.16.

— E-mail:

rjett@register-herald.com