Preston’s Trey Smith-Tatham during the cross country race on Tuesday. 
Univesity’s Rocco DeVincent during the cross country race on Tuesday. 
University’s Larry Edwards during the cross country race on Tuesday. 
Clay-Battelle’s Chase Ammons during the cross country race on Tuesday. 
Doddridge’s Carter Lipscomb and University’s Larry Edwards round the turn during the cross country race on Tuesday. 
Boys starting line during the cross country race on Tuesday. 
A runner makes her way around the cross country race on Tuesday. 
University’s Emma Williams during the cross country race on Tuesday. 
University’s Hermione Vos during the cross country race on Tuesday. 
University’s Zoe Shetty during the cross country race on Tuesday. 
University’s Caroline Kirby during the cross country race on Tuesday. 
University’s Emma Williams (left) and Hermione Vos make their way around the course during the cross country race on Tuesday. 
Girls staring line during the cross country race on Tuesday. 
Girls staring line during the cross country race on Tuesday.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — As University High junior Caroline Kirby exited the woods and hit the final stretch of the course during the Mountain Holler Invitational on Tuesday, which was the team’s season-opening cross country meet, there wasn’t another competitor in sight.
Nearly a minute later, a second figure emerged over the final hill of the course — another UHS runner.
This time it was senior Zoe Shetty. The pair would cross the line in a 1-2 finish, leading the Hawks to a team victory.
“I’m happy to start the season off on a good note. I like having a home meet to start off the season, and it’s a good starting point,” said Kirby, who won the race with a mark of 18:46.
“It went pretty much as I expected,” added UHS coach Ed Frohnapfel. “I told them they needed to go out and run as hard as they could and most of them responded.”
The Hawks added two additional top-ten finishes with junior Hermione Vos taking sixth and senior Emma Williams earning eighth. Freshman Shelby Davis rounded out the scoring for UHS with an 18th-place finish — the performance bested the closest team by over 30 points.
For the Hawks — who have captured five consecutive Class AAA team titles — the victory sets a high standard for what the program hopes will be yet another championship season.
“It’s nice to have our first real meet and it has me excited for the season,” Shetty said. “I think it will go well if we keep training and we stay in shape and healthy.”
Preston earned second place as a team — with sophomore Chloe Stark as the team’s top finisher in tenth place. Freshman Abby Nolan, sophomore Allie Martin and senior Maryann Wolfe finished 12th, 13th and 14th. Junior Lia Jennings rounded out scoring with a 17th-place finish.
“We’ve got the pre-state meet coming up this weekend and our goal is to get our four and five faster, so we just did a pack run, where our top two girls ran at a slower pace and pulled the four and five along,” PHS coach Paul Martin said. “Our name of the game is to get that pack tighter. We had all of our kids in the low teens and that’s good enough for second. Now we have a big one coming up Saturday.”
On the boys’ side, UHS sophomore Josh Edwards paced the field with a time of 15:56 to earn the win. Sophomore Rocco DeVincent and juniors Jordan Thomas and Aidan Palmer crossed the line to take third, fourth and fifth place.
Rounding out scoring for the Hawks was freshman Andrew Croyle in 36th place. While the team is still searching to round out its top five, the performance was still good enough to capture the team win.
“I feel hopeful,” Edwards said. “We have our top four down and now we just need to reel in some of the guys towards the back. They’re freshmen and there is a lot of room for their development.”
Preston also took second in the boys’ race despite missing top runner and senior leader Cole Friend, due to an illness. Senior Trey Smith-Tatham was the only top-10 finisher for the Knights, taking sixth place.
