MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia state cross country meet is not going to be exactly like last year, but as regional scores and times poured in last week the overall results may be reminiscent of 2019.
First, we take a look at University’s Larry Josh Edwards, the top boy in the state with a score of 444, far ahead of second-ranked Franklin Angelos of Parkersburg with 379. Both are juniors, but Edwards has proven to be a phenom on the course, his statement race the 2019 title victory. Now, heading into this year’s title race after a strange season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Edwards has his eyes set on repeating following an easy win at regionals with a time of 16:27.27.
“He continues to mature as a runner,” UHS coach Ed Frohnapfel said. “He’s increased his level of mileage and workout intensity this year. He hopes for a future so he’s continued to push himself and improve.”
The Hawks boys’ team, too, will look to secure repeat titles and are poised to do so. The RunWV power ranking system has them far ahead of everyone else following a 65-point finish in the Region I meet. Further, Morgantown overtook Cabell Midland for second place after regionals, posting 114 points to Midland’s 126. University’s recent success can be attributed not just to Edwards, but also Rocco DeVincent and Jordan Thomas, two guys that Frohnapfel wanted to highlight as well.
Ryan notes that, while Edwards will do his thing, his team has to focus on themselves and the ones around them they can overcome and beat. After all, they’re ranked No. 2 in the state and runners like Quinn Jacquez, Landon Young and Jackson Snyder had great showings at regionals.
“Josh is a phenomenal athlete and if he’s running well we don’t have anybody that’s going to directly compete against him,” Ryan said. “I think we can close the gap on where we’ve been with them [UHS] but we also really have to think about teams like Wheeling Park and Cabell Midland as a team. If my guys come out and run their races and not particularly where they are in the lineup, they’ll be fine and we’ll make the podium.”
“They’re a pretty tight-knit group,” Frohnapfel said. “In the offseason, they get together and run, there’s about 10 of them so it goes back through the team quite a ways. They continue to push each other to give each other their best shot. Jordan Thomas has more up and down races, but at times he right up there with Rocco. All three of them were all-state last year so I’m sure they want to repeat that, but they all feed off of and inspire each other to get their best shot.”
The girls’ race looks to be tighter than the boys’ race, on paper at least. While Irene Riggs has evolved into Morgantown’s top runner during state title defender Lea Hatcher’s back injury, she’ll have some stiff competition from Ripley’s Ellie Hosaflook and UHS’ Caroline Kirby.
Riggs is currently the state’s top runner with 756 points, but Hosaflook is right behind her with 741. And even though there’s a big gap between Hosaflook and Kirby (662 points), the senior Syracuse commit can easily close the gap in Ona. Still, it might be hard to catch Riggs, who won the Region I title in 18:46 while Kirby took second nearly one minute later at 19:44.
And while it’s unlikely she’ll repeat after her exceptional sophomore performance last year, Hatcher is still going to be pivotal for the Mohigans, and according to Ryan should be able to improve on her regionals time. The dichotomy of Riggs and Hatcher, too, has flipped this year, as the sophomore had to learn to take on new responsibilities among the teams with the junior out.
“People don’t realize this but Lea’s injury occurred only days before we were able to compete again,” Ryan said. “It was kind of a freak injury, and she had been training with that team up until that point. She ended up missing a little over two weeks, but she was there for a majority of the season in a leadership role. When she came back it added some confidence [to the team].
“Irene has made some jumps in the past year. She’s been falling into that role similar to what Lea was in last year. She’s learning how to do all this. Last year she just followed Lea and Athena [Young] and everything they did – now she’s learning to take on the role as the front runner.”
Further, the Morgantown girls’ team jumped from No. 4 to the top spot in the Class AAA power rankings after regionals and now hold a score of 87. The jump dethroned their rival UHS who now has 115 points and is in the No. 2 spot ahead of Hurricane (138), Woodrow Wilson (144) and Ripley (149). This was impressive for the youth-laden team after a disappointing showing at OVACs, according to Ryan.
“I think we have a really good chance of [repeating title wins] if everyone comes out and runs their race that they’re capable of, and I think that’s what we got at regionals that we’ve been missing the rest of the year,” Ryan said. “Regionals and bouncing back from [being down], those girls are learning. With Lea being out of the lineup, we only have two girls who have run at the state meet ever – Irene and Amelia Summers – and both of those girls are sophomores so we don’t have a lot of experience on that line.”
The back and forth with Morgantown, however, is not something Frohnapfel is unfamiliar with. After winning five-straight girls’ state titles, MHS swooped in last year to break the streak. Plus, since 2006, the state titles have either gone to MHS or UHS except once. Having two state-contending or defending teams in the same county, let alone the same town is strange, but the long-time Hawks’ coach took a moment to look past the competition to highlight the athleticism the area produces.
“Morgantown is on a roll right now. Last year they had the top-3 finishers, this year Riggs looks like she should win it and Lea Hatcher is trying to get back in the mix,” Frohnapfel said. “You’re talking a 15-year range with one of us up there. They do a great job with the girls and the guys, it just seems like in this area we can produce good teams. Several other schools will have one or three really good at the front, but it seems like we have better luck putting together five.”
Ryan, too, gave his thoughts on the rivalry. While in the past it could have been cutthroat at times, as he’s matured as a head coach he’s noticed that his thinking of the rivalry has, too.
“As I’ve been in this role I’ve downplayed the rivalry from what it was when I first took over because I was seeing the ugly side of it,” he said. “It might not be that many people know about it, but it’s something that’s still there and something where both these teams are competing year in and year out. I approach it as, yes, they are our competition. We want to beat them because they’re one of the best programs in the state. There’s more of a connection with the athletes than many perceive it because many of the athletes are friends and train together.
“The other thing with the rivalry is, both teams have gotten better because of it. The fact that both teams are in town and pushing each other, getting an idea of what each team is capable of, my guys know that if they want to beat UHS they have to put in the time in the offseason. That has pushed both teams to the level of where we are now, where people are looking at it and saying, ‘What’s going on in Mon County?’”
While the location of the state meet hasn’t changed, there are procedural changes in place. First, and likely the largest change that could have future implications on the state meet is that Class A and AA have been broken up into two races. This is something that’s been thought about for a while, and because of social distancing measures is now a reality. Another change determines when teams can enter the facility and that runners and teams have to leave as soon as possible following the end of each race.
The Class AAA race will begin at 4 p.m.
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