East Hardy Cross Country team returned to the WVSSAC Class A State Cross Country Championships in Ona for one last run before the cows came home.
The state meet started by the Cabell Midland High School soccer field and wrapped around the athletic facilities before heading into the Cabell County Farm acreage where a huge barn sat near the entrance.
There were some challenging hills along the way which would be expected for this caliber of competition.
It was the day after Halloween as over 500 runners comprising four classes would dash past a cemetery without a cryptid spooking them. Although the Mothman and the Flatwoods Monster were not too far away.
The farm’s rolling hills were quite scenic, but that first steep incline was a doozy.
Speaking of farms, East Hardy Girls Cross Country senior Gracie Heishman wasn’t there to compete on the course as she was participating in the 98th annual FFA National Convention in Indianapolis.
Heishman led the girls harriers to the Class A Region II Runner-up finish last week and she was honored by her teammates with the senior banner and running placard on display at the team tent.
The East Hardy Girls Cross Country team had its top three competitors finish within two minutes of each other as the pace was solid throughout the course.
Picking up right where Heishman left off, Cougars freshman Shaye Barb proved her consistency of great strides with a team best 40th place finish in a time of 26:32.61 at the state meet.
East Hardy junior Brianna Hamilton wasn’t far behind in 45th place with a time of 27:34.93, followed by sophomore Danielle Funkhouser in a time of 28:30.23.
Rounding out the Cougars girls harriers was senior Madison Cowgill with a 60th place result in a time of 34:36.99.
Several Potomac Valley Conference Girls Cross Country state competitors took top-30 finishes: No. 5 Tucker County’s Estoria Chase, No. 12 Tucker County’s Addi Moats and No. 27 Pendleton County’s Callie Dunn.
The Class A girls state champion was Charleston Catholic’s Arabella Boggs, the only runner with a sub-20 minute time completing the Ona course at 19:55.40.
The St. Marys Girls Cross Country team won the Class A state championship, followed by Trinity Christian.
The Class A Boys Cross Country State Team Championship was won by Charleston Catholic and followed by Trinity Christian.
Charleston Catholic’s Peter Basdekis won the Class A Boys State Cross Country individual championship in a time of 16:54.78 and was the only runner under 17 minutes.
East Hardy Boys Cross Country junior Jonathan Montgomery earned a 54th place finish at the state meet in a time of 20:39.03.
Capping off the Cougars journey in the state cross country meet was freshman Kane Persinger garnering a 74th place finish with a time of 30:44.81.
There were 39 total Class A state boys cross country runners achieving times under 20 minutes with local PVC quartet from Tucker County making that cut and overall fifth place team finish: No. 10 Cameron Judy, No. 11 Lynk Muesli, No. 26 Alex Collier and No. 39 Draven Bunnell.
East Hardy Cross Country has a solid foundation to keep growing and will make bigger strides next year with another state journey to accomplish under coach Michelle Wolfe.
Our Potomac Valley Conference has something very special to be thrilled about and that is Class AA Girls Cross Country State Champion Frankfort Falcons winning for the first time in program history led by bronze medalist Bailey Ferguson with a time of 20:23.15 (one of four runners under 21 minutes) and teammate Paisley Raines took sixth place in 21:02.00.
The Frankfort Boys Cross Country team took third place overall in the Class AA state meet with two runners finishing in the top-3: state runner-up Gavin McDonald with a time of 16:51.52 (one of two runners with sub-17 minutes) and Eric Alexander took the bronze medal with a time of 17:22.30.
In Class AAA Boys State Cross Country Championships, Keyser’s Luca Altobello was the state runner-up with a time of 16:19.11.
