MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Most cross country teams take a break before one of the biggest meets of the year, but not Morgantown. Instead, they traveled nearly six hours to the Bronx in New York to face some of the best teams and individual runners in the nation.
“It was like watching a team of seasoned veterans,” coach Mike Ryan said. “They (went to New York) on a mission. They stayed focused on their race and what they needed to do and executed that well.”
And although Morgantown was a small fish in a much bigger pond, the boys’ team came out with a first-place win in their race. Jackson Core, the fifth-ranked boy in West Virginia, placed 4th with a time of 13:16.7. He was followed by Quinn Jacquez (12th), Jackson Snyder (28th), Xavier Adams (46th), Charles Smith (55th), Preston Core (87th) and Brady Mudry (90th). The race was incredibly tight, with 16 other racers fitting in a 15-second gap between Jacquez and Snyder, and it got tighter as the clock ticked away.
“It’s a huge race. There were over 9,000 runners that day, so they break it down into individual races to make it more competitive,” Ryan said. “When I saw the teams that were in that race, I knew we could be up there, but there were about five teams that were going to make it tight.
“I turned to my assistant coach when I saw the results and said, ‘We won this!’ He told me to look again, so I did a double-take and said, ‘Yeah, we won!’”
The girls finished fifth overall in the Eastern States Race with a combined score of 189. West Virginia’s second-best runner, Lea Hatcher, placed 5th with a time of 14:07.9. Athena Young was close behind for a seventh-place finish (14:29.3) and was followed by freshman Irene Riggs (15th), Amelia Haddox (77th), Megan Weaver (85th), Lauren Hancox (92nd) and Amelia Summers (97th).
“The Eastern States is traditionally one of the best races every year,” Ryan said. “And we raced against Fayetteville-Manlius — the No. 2 team in the country,” Ryan said. “The girl that won the race, (Katelyn Tuohy), is the top-ranked girl in the country and hasn’t been beat in a high school race in two years.”
The invitational has motivated the Mohigans moving into a 12-day break before tackling the Region I championships. And after the boys lost to University in the OVAC championship on Oct. 5, Ryan knows his team is ready to get payback, relaying that he thinks he has a good chance at getting both of his teams on the podium.
“It’s really upped their confidence,” he said. “To go up and run with the best teams in New York, and beat the fourth- and fifth-ranked teams in (the state) is a huge boost going into regionals.”
The biggest threat to regional boys’ teams is Core. The senior is only in his second year with the Mohigans, and after getting into a more comfortable vibe with the team, he’s been able to keep them focused on their goals. Already offered by multiple colleges, Core enters regionals in a good spot to make it back to Ona after finishing 9th last year.
“Quinn and Jackson Snyder have made huge jumps this year, and I think that’s by watching Jackson (Core) do his thing,” Ryan said.
As for his girls, Ryan has a good slate of up-and -coming runners to be excited about. Riggs has caught his eye early on: He noted that she’s performed better in her freshman year than Lea Hatcher — a third-place finisher at the state tournament — did as a freshman last year. Riggs is currently ranked No. 6 in Class AAA behind senior Athena Young (4) and Hatcher.
“It’s not uncommon to see a lot of younger girls in the top 10, but what Irene has done this year has been phenomenal. I’m very excited to see where they end up,” Ryan said.
Another standout to Ryan is senior Megan Weaver, who’s had a “strong year” and has stepped up her game in the fourth and fifth spots.
“She’s not mentioned as much, but Megan was a huge reason why we beat University at OVACs,” Ryan said.
Weaver is currently ranked 22nd in Class AAA, a major improvement from finishing 2018 ranked 50th.
Overall, Ryan is pleased with the progression of his teams over the last six meets. The cohesion and leadership are both there, a recipe for success even when teenagers aren’t always, in his words, “perfect.”
Now, with just the penultimate meets ahead of them, Ryan hopes the maturity sticks — he wants to outdo his third- and fifth-place 2018 state finishes while making up for the previous lossesto University in the process.
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