By Steve Keenan
ONA — Guns N’ Roses’ rock anthem “Paradise City” was among the musical selections played as the Class AA-A runners were recognized following their portion of the West Virginia high school cross country championships Saturday at Cabell Midland High School.
A few minutes earlier, the Shady Spring girls team had carved out their own piece of paradise for the day as the Tigers rolled to a 20-point win, 61-81, over runner-up Wheeling Central and the rest of the field to capture the coveted team championship trophy, the first team cross country title at the state level in Raleigh County history.
“I don’t pay much attention to those predictions,” said Shady Spring coach John Lucento, whose team was favored in the www.runwv.com pre-meet predictions. “You never know with those polls.
“All the girls ran excellent. They had their mind on it and stayed focused. These girls are good, clean, religious kids who believe in themselves and believe in me.”
Frankfort’s Rebekah McBride won the individual title with a time of 19 minutes, 32 seconds on the 3.1-mile course, but Shady got a good start in the team race with a second- and fourth-place effort from sophomore Desiree Roseberry and senior Chelsea Callaway. Roseberry crossed the line 11 seconds back of McBride, while Callaway, pegged by runwv.com as the pre-race favorite, placed fourth in 20:18.
Callaway admitted to being disappointed she didn’t place higher, but the ultimate goal was achieved, she said.
“We were last place as a team in 2005 and 2006, and last year we were runners-up,” Callaway said. “We really wanted (to win).
“This means everything to me. I’m really happy.”
Roseberry, who suffered from shin splints on and off this season, put it all together in time for a solid finish. She said she was “surprised” by her showing.
“I didn’t expect to get top 10 at all,” she said. “I felt good the whole race, although I was a little nervous at the start.”
An “amazing” team win capped off a perfect day, she added.
In addition to Roseberry and Callaway, scoring runners for the Tigers were senior Kelsey Paine (13th, 20:53), sophomore Katie Paine (21st, 21:13) and senior Emily Osborne (35th, 22:17).
The PikeView girls, led by junior Trish Galligher’s 17th place, 21:03 effort, placed ninth with 176 points. Teammate Chelsea East was close behind in 21:17, good enough for 23rd.
In the boys AA-A race, PikeView senior Brent Roark led local finishers by touring the 3.1-mile course in 16:56, good enough for fifth place.
“I’m really excited,” said Roark, who didn’t qualify in 2007 and was 26th as a sophomore in 2006. “I expected a top five finish.
“I’ve been training really hard, and I felt real strong.”
Also gaining all-state honors were Region 3 champion Skyler McCoy of Webster County, who placed ninth in 17:06, and Richwood junior Derrick Chaffin, who closed strong to finish 10th in the same time as McCoy.
In the team race, the Ravenswood boys won their ninth straight crown with a 77-81 margin over runner-up Berkeley Springs, which was led by winner Lenny Roach’s 16:16 clocking. Pike View (127) was fourth and Richwood (134) was fifth.
PikeView’s Jordan Weitzel (17:44) was 23rd to support Roark’s effort.
Class AAA team champs were the Wheeling Park boys and the University girls. Individual winners were Morgantown’s Cody Pelliccioni (15:57) and Elkins’ Letitia Propst (a meet record 18:29).
Greenbrier East’s Bradley Dugan (18:04) was 39th in the boys triple-A event. On the girls side, local finishers were led by Woodrow Wilson’s Rachael Swartz, who finished 51st with a time of 22:16.85.
— E-mail:
skeenan@register-herald.com
W.Va. prep cross country results
ONA (AP) — Results from the West Virginia high school cross country championships Saturday at Cabell Midland High School:
Class AAA
Boys
Team Scores
1. Wheeling Park, 67 points; 2. Jefferson, 71; 3. Cabell Midland, 93; 4. Preston 121; 5. Saint Albans, 137; 6. Fairmont Senior, 140; 7. Winfield, 163; 8. Hampshire 199; 9. Parkersburg South, 234; 10. George Washington, 240; 11. Musselman, 252.
Top individual finishers
1. Cody Pelliccioni, Morgantown, 15 minutes, 57 seconds; 2. Cory Hampshire, Jefferson, 16:10; 3. David Ciarolla, Fairmont Senior, 16:14; 4. Kyle Gramlich, Wheeling Park, 16:27; 5. David Caldwell, South Charleston, 16:34; 6. Craig Pritt, Preston, 16:38; 7. Logan Wojcik, Wheeling Park, 16:40; 8. Russell Mulley, Wheeling Park, 16:50; 9. Adam Frohnapfel, University, 16:51; 10. Brandon Doughty, Jefferson, 16:52
Girls
Team Scores
1. University, 81;2. Hurricane, 93; 3. Preston, 102; 4. Morgantown, 111; 5. Jefferson, 136; 6. Hampshire, 148; 7. Cabell Midland, 165; 8. Buckhannon-Upshur, 179; 9. Parkersburg South, 193; 10. Capital, 224; 11. George Washington 315.
Top individual finishers
1. Letitia Propst, Elkins, 18:29 (meet record); 2. Courtney Yeager, Wheeling Park, 18:31; 3. Ari Kasprowicz, Preston, 18:41; 4. Alex Dent, Hurricane, 19:13; 5. Megan Truelove, Winfield, 19:14; 6. Andrea Nickerson, Jefferson, 19:15; 7. Jordan McDonald, N. Marion, 19:21; 8. Alyssa Boucher, Jefferson, 19:22; 9. Josie Crouch, Hurricane, 19:23; 10. Sarah Martinelli, University, 19:33.
Class AA-A
Boys
Team Scores
1. Ravenswood, 77; 2. Berkeley Springs, 81; 3. Philip Barbour, 89; 4. PikeView, 127; 5. Richwood, 134; 6. Grafton, 136; 7. Wheeling Central, 159; 8. Doddridge Co., 175; 9. Charleston Catholic; 184; 10. Weir 187. Top individual finishers
1. Lenny Roach, Berkeley Springs, 16:16; 2. Nathan Rees, Ravenswood, 16:48; 3. Donald Read, Weir, 16:50; 4. David Rhodes, Tucker Co., 16:51; 5. Brent Roark, PikeView, 16:56; 6. Cuylor Edgell, Doddridge Co., 16:56; 7. Drew Woodford, Grafton, 17:01; 8. John Mundey, Berkeley Springs, 17:04; 9. Skyler McCoy, Webster Co., 17:06; 10. Derrick Chaffin, Richwood, 17:06.
Girls
Team Scores
1. Shady Spring, 61; 2. Wheeling Central, 81; 3. Grafton, 97; 4. Berkeley Springs, 99;, 5. Frankfort, 111; 6. Saint Marys, 139; 7. Charleston Catholic, 147; 8. Doddridge Co., 158; 9. PikeView, 176.
Top individual finishers
1. Rebekah McBride, Frankfort, 19:32; 2. Desiree Roseberry, Shady Spring, 19:43; 3. Sarah McCauley, Philip Barbour, 19:51; 4. Chelsea Callaway, Shady Spring, 20:18; ;5. Bri Robbins, Wheeling Central, 20:30; 6. Brittany Armentrout, Frankfort, 20:32; 7. Molly Summers, Grafton, 20:33; 8. Kelley Mortakis, Wheeling Central, 20:33; 9. Macy Houck, Berkeley Springs, 20:35; 10. Aly Carpenter, Ritchie Co., 20:36.
