MORGANTOWN—The 2024 cross country season is off to a blistering start. Nine schools gathered on Baker’s Ridge Tuesday for an annual 5k hosted by University High.
The hosts earned a clean sweep on the day by finishing with the top overall individual placers in the boys’ and girls’ races and first in the team standings.
UHS senior Claire Von Boetticher finished with a time of 18:58.2 to lead the girls, and her fellow senior Tyler Umbright set the pace for the boys at 15:40.6.
Von Boetticher was trailed closely by her teammate, sophomore Abigail Rogers, who finished with a time of 19:01.2. Umbright finished ahead of his teammate junior Ethan Conroy by 30 seconds, who posted a time of 16:11.5.
Runners did their best to push through temperatures of over 90 degrees.
“I’m not the best runner in the heat,” Von Boetticher said. “We do workouts in this field over the summer and after school so we are used to the setting and how it can challenge you. I think everyone has been prepared for it but it can sneak up on you if you aren’t careful.”
In the girls’ race, nine of the top ten finishers were from Monongalia County Schools. Morgantown senior Maraid Johnson finished third with a time of 19:44.1, and her teammate, sophomore Lauren Hawkins, clocked a time of 20:23.5, good enough for seventh overall.
UHS placed first in the team standings with a score of 33, followed by MHS with 49. The Preston Knights finished in third with 67 points, with senior Hallie Simmons leading the way with a top-ten finish in sixth place with a time of 20:19.4.
PHS head coach Paul Martin was proud of his entire team’s effort, even though some of them lacked experience in competitive settings like the one they were in on Tuesday.
“This meet is perfect to see where we are regarding the region, and we want to make sure we are one of the teams to go to states,” Martin said. “We had our top girl, Hallie Simmons setting a good tempo and getting a good workout in. She was helping elevate our other girls and pull our second-place finisher along with her. The heat had some effect on us but I’m proud of the effort by everyone today.”
Simmons was trailed by her younger sister, Ava, who finished in 15th overall with a time of 21:15.8.
The UHS boys dominated the top spot in the team standings with a total of 24 points and four of the top five placers in the individual standings.
Following Umbright and Conroy was freshman Micah Gainer, who posted a time of 16:18.8 in third place, and sophomore Logan Conroy with 16:24.5 in fifth place.
Preston senior Damian Rumer finished fourth with a time of 16:21.4. Morgantown was paced by senior Andrew Carlton, who finished eighth with a time of 16:50.0.
The Mohigans took second in the team standings with 59 points in the boys standings, while the Knights finished in fourth with 103 points.
VOLLEYBALL
PARKERSBURG — The University High School volleyball team swept a tri-match with Parkersburg South and Huntington Tuesday to improve to 7-1 on the young season.
The Hawks defeated Parkersburg South 2-0 (25-5, 25-21). UHS then turned around and beat Huntington 2-0 (25-14, 25-17).
University is back in action Wednesday for a home quad starting at 5 p.m. with East Fairmont, Buckhannon and John Marshall.
