By MATTHEW PEASLEE
MORGANTOWN — Two Monongalia County high school cross-country programs are among the best in the nation.
Years of consistent results, thousands of hours of training and true dedication to running have lifted the Morgantown girls at University boys into the national spotlight.
According to MileSplit.com, the Mohigans are No. 21 in girls’ cross-country and the Hawks are No. 22 in boys’ cross-country.
“I’ve been on Mile Split for years, checking out teams and seeing what it takes to earn a national ranking,” MHS cross-country coach Mike Ryan said.
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 — some courses are faster, some courses are slower. The site also compares the competition teams and individuals are up against in their meets.
Mile Split uses those basic formulas to come up with their national rankings.
“Those things just kind of pop up,” UHS cross-country coach Ed Frohnapfel said. “It’s a nice recognition and people that follow those sites will let you know about it. It’s nice, I’m just not a stats person who follows that too closely. We just try to do the best we can with what we’ve got.”
What the Hawks have is one of the best individual runners in the country. Josh Edwards, an Oregon commit, is No. 3 in the country individually, according to Mile Split. He is a three-time state Gatorade runner of the year and he entered this cross-country season on the heels of a record-breaking performance in the 3200-meter run at the state track meet with a time of 8:52.82.
Edwards is only behind Gavin Sherry, of West Harftord, Conn., and Colin Sahlman, of Newbury Park, Calif., in the national rankings.
“He’s maturing like all boys runners, especially when you come in as a talented freshman and grow in many ways through the years,” Frohnapfel said. “He’s upped his workouts and increased his mileage — he’s just such a hard worker.
“When you take natural ability with extreme work effort, you end up with a Josh Edwards.”
Frohnapfel said Mile Split sees Edwards grabbing top results and headlines but also looks to his teammates and sees a strong group getting better with each race.
University recently placed second at the Carlisle Invitational meet finishing just one point behind Severna Park (Md.). Edwards was the top overall finisher coming in with a blazing time of 15:11.40. Fellow senior Rocco DeVincent was in 14th place with a time of 16:03.70 and junior Ryan Blohm was right behind him at 16:26.60, crossing the finish line milliseconds ahead of sophomore Drew Zundell to finish in 27th and 28th place, respectively.
Sophomore Jacob West also ran in the 16s at Carlisle. Sophomore Quinn Mundry and Tyler Umbright round out the top 7 for the Hawks, they ran in the 17s at Carlisle.
“We have a really excellent team,” Frohnapfel said. “Our top five boys have PRs that can stack up with a lot of these best teams, especially when running in West Virginia or western Pennsylvania. It’s a lot different than teams who always get to run on flat golf course courses in Ohio or even Florida.”
The Hawks will compete again in early October at the OVAC Championships in Cambridge, Ohio.
“It’s a big event but it’s traditionally University and Morgantown who dominate it since we joined the conference,” Frohnapfel said.
On Saturday, the Morgantown girls had an opportunity to begin the baby steps of a dream that has been years in the making. Coach Ryan has wanted the girls to have a chance to run at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Ore. The qualifying meet for that race is held in Cary, N.C. Unfortunately, for the second year in a row, the Nike Cross Nationals have been canceled. Ryan is still giving the team a chance to experience the qualifying course this weekend at the Great American XC Festival in North Carolina.
Ryan said the best teams in the southeast took part, which will give the Mohigans a taste of top competition. But the rest of the field will need to watch out for the No. 21 team in the nation.
“This has been a really fun year,” Ryan said. “This is the first time a West Virginia girls team has been ranked in the top 25 nationally. I’m proud of what these girls have done so far. we have some running left to do so I’m excited to see us take another step forward.”
In early September, Morgantown participated in the Red, White and Blue meet in White Oak, Pa. There, they got to compete against the best team in Pennsylvania — North Allegheny.
Ryan said he knew they would be the best team there coming into the meet. After the meet he said, “That’s definitely a top 25 team.”
What caught him by surprise was that four of their top seven girls are freshmen.
“They were even better than I expected,” Ryan said.
North Allegheny checks in at No. 20 in the Mile Split national rankings with MHS right behind.
On Sept. 18, the Mohigans met North Allegheny again, this time at the Boardman (OH) Spartan Invitational. NA eclipsed Morgantown by just three points. The average time for North Allegheny was 19:45.2 with the Mohigans right behind with an average of 19:50.6.
Ryan said most of his team is running a full minute better this season compared to last year.
“At our first meet of the season I knew we’d be throwing down some of our best times,” he said. “It gave us a chance, after eight months of really great work, to set the tone for the season. We did great there and have kept it up. I’m really excited to see where we can go for the next few weeks.”
Irene Riggs was the winner of the Spartan Invitational with Amelia Summers, Jennifer O’Palko, Anna Lester and Bella Renner also turning in solid performances.
“Bella’s growth in this short season has been phenomenal because she’s out there every day with these older girls and they’re able to push her,” Ryan said. “She’s having what our sophomores missed last year due to COVID.”
The University boys and Morgantown girls are both looking to capture their third-consecutive state championships next month in Ona.
Last week, Ryan was honored as the WVSSAC and NFHS cross country coach of the year.
