Three is nice but …
That’s the current runs seen with the Morgantown High girls’ cross-country team, as well as the boys’ team at University High.
Each have won the last three state championships, usually in convincing fashion.
Both are heavy favorites to make it four in a row, beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, when the Hawks and Mohigans travel to the state championship meet held at Cabell Midland High School.
“We look forward to that, truthfully,” said UHS coach Ed Frohnapfel, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association state boys coach of the year. “We know we’re not sneaking up on anybody. Bring your best game and see what we got.”
Morgantown High coach Mike Ryan added, “As far as what those individual girls are doing and what other people think of them, I can’t speak for what everybody else is looking for.
“I can say as a group, and as a team, we’re excited for this opportunity to come back and do something really special. A lot of girls are looking to continue the success the team has had, but also they’re looking for their own success in the overall race.”
By now, their collective dynasties are well known around the state. Both programs have now made headway into gaining national attention, too.
For the past two seasons, the Hawks and Mohigans have been nationally-ranked teams by MileSplit.com.
The website uses speed ratings and rates competitors within races from events around the country.
From there, Mile Split comes up with a number that generates a score directly comparing times, even though some courses are faster than others.
Mile Split uses those basic formulas to come up with their national rankings.
The Morgantown High girls are No. 13 in the country, led by a No. 1 individual ranking for senior Irene Riggs, who is headed to Stanford next year.
Only eight other teams in the country — using the times of the top five runners — had a faster time than the University boys, according to MileSplit.
Another cross country website, Dye Stat, ranked both the University boys and Morgantown girls in the top 25.
“It definitely gives them some confidence,” Ryan said of the accolades, as well as the familiarity with the state meet course. “All the girls that will be racing have ran that before. This isn’t something new to them and they know what to expect, but they still get nervous. They have to race each other and they do that in practice often. There’s some good girls across the state and it’s about coming and performing. I think this group is still young, for the most part, but fairly mature. They’ve been in big races before which definitely helps.”
Riggs is going for her third-consecutive individual state title after winning a regional championship last week at Brooke High School in Wellsburg. After missing a month of the season, she came out and ran a 16:56.96, the lone girl to break 18 minutes in the regional. At last year’s state meet, Riggs ran a 18.24.88.
Including Riggs, four MHS girls are seeded in the top 10 for the state meet: Riggs is No. 1, junior Madeline Gump is fourth, senior Amelia Summers is eighth and junior Anna Lester is ninth.
Other runners for Morgantown are sophomore Maraid Johnson, junior Jennifer Opalko, sophomore Sophie Renner, freshman Olivia Riley and junior Katherine Wang.
“All the work has, kind of, already been done,” said Ryan, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association State Girls High School coach of the year. “But we have a big test waiting for us down there.”
Frohnapfel said in all his years of coaching he hadn’t seen something quite as remarkable as what occurred at the boys regional meet at Brooke. Five University boys finished 1-5 in the final standings and were just six seconds away from finishing in the top six spots; and 11 seconds off from finishing in the top seven spots.
“That’s a first,” Frohnapfel said. “In a race that really means something, that’s something I’ll always remember.”
Senior Ryan Blohm (the OVAC individual champion), junior Drew Zeundell, junior Jacob West, freshman Ethan Conroy and sophomore Tyler Umbright were 1-5 at regionals, finishing within 12 seconds of each other. Blohm won regionals in 16:22.52 and finished sixth at state last year. Zeundell was second in regionals in 16:22.71 and finished fifth at state last year in 16:49.82.
As good as the University boys have been in recent years, the Hawks girls teams won five-straight state championships from 2014-18.
“They come in and you try to show them what’s expected of them,” Frohnapfel said. “You stress how hard they have to work to do what’s expected of them. Basically, here it is. If you want to do this, you’re in the right spot. If you don’t want to run, you’re in the wrong place. It goes from there. We don’t have a big team, but the ones that stick around are convinced they want to run at a high level. That’s a benefit to the team.”
The University girls are still a strong team and expect a solid showing at state. Running for the Hawks girls are sophomore Claire von Boetticher (the OVAC individual champion), sophomore Adelyn Tager — both top 10 seeds — sophomore Caroline Ballard, sophomore Sophia Bell, senior Shelby Davis, junior Helen Honacker, junior Haley Kramer, junior ShaTyra Turner and freshman Elizabeth West.
“Overall, we’re a better team than last year, and we still finish second to Morgantown (in regionals),” Frohnapfel said. “They know who they need to run with to be competitive. Everybody has a goal or a spot where they’re supposed to be in.”
The Morgantown boys have also taken a big leap forward this season. The Mohigans placed third at the regional meet behind University and Wheeling Park.
Sophomore Donald Adjeroh, freshman William Arbogast, sophomore Andrew Carlton, junior Callum Lorimor, sophomore Finlay Lorimor, sophomore Austin Luo, junior Quinn Mudry, junior Duncan Snyder, junior Zachary Workman and sophomore Caleb Young are the state qualifiers for the MHS boys.
“They’re taking humongous strides,” Ryan said. “I think the girls team is one that has established themselves and know how to handle it. These boys are learning it. The fact that they are qualified and one of the top teams in the state, and how much they’ve grown together, they’ve probably worked as hard as a team as any group that I’ve had. I’m looking forward for them to get this experience and see what they can accomplish on down the road.”
BY MATTHEW PEASLEE
