West Virginia Runners are signing up for the Foot Locker South Regional to be held at McAlpine Park in Charlotte, North Carolina on Saturday November 28. The first race of the day which is the Open race begins at 8:00. Meet Director Max Mayo sent an e-mail stating AAA State Champions Alex Dent, senior from Hurricane, and junior Brandon Doughty of Jefferson along with AAA State runner-ups senior Chelsea Clark of Fairmont Senior and Cody Pelliccioni a junior from Morgantown have signed up for the Foot Locker South Regional.

Mr. Mayo said we would get an up to date list of all runners as soon as possible.

Foot Locker South Entries By State Nov18

 I hope as many West Virginia runners can make this great event, and I know you will represent West Virginia well. 

Foot Locker Cross Country South Regional Official Web Site

We are pleased to recognize the top 10 girls and boys of the AAA State Cross Country Meet which earned All-State honors.

Top 10 Girls in AAA Achieving All-State in Cross Country

Alex Dent, a senior, from Hurricane in her last attempt at a State title came away with the victory in a heavy downpour in the first race of the day with a convincing 26 second finish with a time of 19:16. Dent came in as one of the favorites and pulled away from a strong field. Senior Chelsea Clark of Fairmont Senior nudged 2 time defending State Champion Letita Propst, a junior, from Elkins as they both crossed in 19:42.

Jorden Thornton, the only freshman in girls AAA to claim All-State and representing the host school of Cabell Midland took 4th place 4 seconds back in 19:46. 5th place went to Lydia Martinelli, a senior from University, with a time of 19:48. Senior Andrea Nickerson of Jefferson would be the first of 3 girls from State Champion Jefferson to earn All-State with her 6th place finish in 19:54. Bridgeport sophomore Erica Voreh was the last runner under 20 minutes in 19:59 claiming 7th place. 

8th and 9th place runners from Jefferson were senior Alyssa Boucher and junior Lindsey Hash with identical times of 20:03. Earning the last All-State title by 8 seconds over the 11th place finisher was junior Carissa Guyer of Hampshire in 20:07.

Top 10 Boys in AAA Earning All-State in Cross Country

Taking the top spot in West Virginia's largest classification was junior Brandon Doughty of Jefferson. Doughty came into the race seeded 3rd, but had made continued improvements during the year and his victory was only a minor upset. Doughty's time of 16:32 in a pouring rain produced a victory margin was 19 seconds as he pulled away from defending State Chammpion Cody Pelliccioni, a junior, of Morgantown in the last 800 meters. Pelliccioni was a gracious runner-up and took the 2nd spot in 16:51.

The 3rd consecutive junior to finish, 2nd seeded Dayton McVicker of  Fairmont Senior, was the last runner to break 17 minutes in the horrid conditions with a time of 16:56. 4th seeded Lucas Greza a senior from Morgantown took 4th place in 17:00. 5th place belonged to senior Logan Wojcik of Wheeling Park with a time of 17:08. Cabell Midland runners freshman Jacob Burcham and sophomore Tyler Salmons took 6th and 7th only 1 second apart in 17:10 and 17:11 respectively.

Grabbing the 8th spot was Patrick Stanton a Fairmont Senior junior with a time of 17:20. Senior Andy Bailey (17:24) of St. Albans and junior Austin Rigsby (17:25) of Musselman gathered in the last two spots on the podium.

Congratulations to the AAA All-State designation earners.

By Kelly Tuckwiller for MSNsportsNET.com
October 31, 2009

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 4 West Virginia University cross country team finished second this afternoon at the BIG EAST Championship held at the Wayne E. Dannehl National XC Course in Milwaukee, Wis.

The Mountaineers finished at the No. 2 spot for the second-straight year. Villanova took first with 30 points, while WVU followed with 74, Syracuse with 84, Georgetown with 92 and Providence with 108.

(click on the title for the complete article)

We are pleased to recognize the top 10 girls and boys of the AA-A State Cross Country Meet which earned All-State honors.

Top 10 Girls in AA-A

The AA-A girls All-State honors are headed by State Champion Maggie Drazba, a freshman, from St. Marys. She won the meet by 18 seconds in a time of  20:08.50.

Molly Summers a senior of Grafton took 2nd place in 20:24.76. Summers was followed junior Sarah McCauley of Philip Barbour with a time of 20:29.97. Directly behind in 4th place was Desiree Roseberry an 11th grader from Shady Spring with a time of 20:31.68. Next were two freshman, Sami Harris (21:13.84) of Charleston Catholic and Brianna Waybright (21:25.69) of Philip Barbour. The 7th place finisher was sophomore Macy Houck of Berkeley Springs in 21:26.55.

Sarah Evans of Trinity, a sophomore, claimed the 8th spot in 21:29.59. In 9th place was sophomore Bethany Carroll of Doddridge County in 21:30. Claiming the last All-State designation was junior Chelsea East of Pikeview with a time of 21:35.94.

Top 10 Boys AA-A

Leading the way for the top 10 boys achieving All-State honors is Drew Woodford of Grafton. Woodford, a junior, pulled away for a 16 second win in the mud with a time of 17:09.02 to claim the individual State Championship title. Senior John Mundey of Berkeley Springs was runner-up with a time of 17:25.03.

In 3rd place was Derrick Chaffin, a senior, from Richwood with a time of 17:36.46. Claiming the 4th spot of the podium was junior Matt Knowlton of Ravenswood in 17:45.04. Jordan Weitzel a senior from Pikeview took the 5th position in 17:45.94. The next three spots were also taken by seniors.  Riley Freeman (17:48.98) of Philip Barbour, David Rhodes (17:49.66) from Tucker County, and Chris Toompas (17:57.09) of Philip Barbour.

Grabbing the 9th spot was junior Daniel Clevenger of Doddridge County with a time of 17:58.30. Earning the last place on the podium as one of the elite was junior Jake Wise of Berkeley Springs with a time of 18:02.08.

Congratulations to all earning All-State honors.

The 2009 WV State Cross Country Meet was run in a steady rain and muddy conditions, and produced a few surprises. Results and performances are posted. Photos by Lance McDaniel are posted. 

Congratulations to Jefferson Girls and the host Cabell Midland boys on their AAA State Championship trophies.

Cabell Midland Boys AAA State Champions

Jefferson Girls AAA State Champions

Alex Dent,  a senior from Hurricane, upset 2 time defending State champion Letitia Propst of Elkins to take the individual spoils in the AAA girls race. Propst finished in 3rd.

Alex Dent - Photo courtesy of www.tristaterunnur

Junior Brandon Doughty of Jefferson pulled away from defending State Champion and #1 ranked Cody Pelliccioni of Morgantown. It was reported prior to the race that Pelliccioni was under the weather.

 Brandon Doughty - Photo by Lance McDaniel

Congratulations to St. Marys girls and Grafton boys in capturing the AA-A State Championship hardware.

St. Marys Girls AA-A State Champions

Grafton Boys AA-A State Champions

Freshman Maggie Drazba of St. Marys took the AA-A girls title and Drew Woodford, a junior from Grafton, claimed the top prize for the boys AA-A race.

Maggie Drazba

Drew Woodford - Photos by Lance McDaniel

 WV State Meet Coverage Page

I am pleased to post this extensive analysis by Josh Weekley on the WV State XC Meet predictions.

Announcement from Coach Parsons:

Congratulations to all that qualified for the West Virginia State Cross Country Championships to be held at Cabell Midland High School. Also, congratulations to all runners. Cross country is a grueling sport. Here is an announcement from Coach Parsons of Cabell Midland and a list of all that qualified for the State meet. Please keep checking the direct link for any changes.

PRESS RELEASE:   October 27, 2009