Published: October 12, 2008 12:56 am            

North’s Tennant wins; Bears take team titles at Times Invite

WHITE HALL — It goes without saying West Fairmont cross country has a considerable advantage at Apple Valley, the team’s home course.

They know about the rolling hills and flat stretches that seem like Kansas plains. But the squad also realizes, given their connections, they’ll get ample time to master the tricky layout.

That was certainly the case leading up to Saturday morning’s 21st annual Times Invitational: The course owner allowed the Polar Bears some extra runs, spread out between five practices the past two weeks, to prepare.

When race day finally arrived, West’s work was rewarded. The Polar Bears boys and girls each won team titles, with the latter beating county rival North Marion by a single point, 74-75.

Grafton’s girls were third (90), followed by Elkins in fourth, Buckhannon-Upshur fifth, Musselman sixth, Doddridge County seventh and East Fairmont eighth.

In the boys competition, West accumulated 63 points and rolled past North (99). Phillip Barbour was third (113), Grafton fourth (138), Musselman fifth (156), Elkins sixth (157), Buckhannon-Upshur seventh (202) and Doddridge County eight (214). East Fairmont (260) finished 14th.

West had three girls in top 15, led by junior Chelsea Clark in seventh (21:07.17) and freshmen Alyssa Scherich in fifth (21:13.38) and Olivia Duke in 15th (22:29.20).

“It’s our home course and that did help us, but these girls have worked so hard in the last two weeks,” West first-year coach Eric Moffa said. “They’ve been working so hard in practice, it’s almost tiring them out. But they come here on race day and you see the fruits of that labor.”

To do so Saturday, the Polar Bears had to somehow slip past the Huskies, who had defeated them in every race up to this point, a fact Moffa didn’t let his team forget.

“It was all about getting in front of that North girl,” Moffa said. “They’re always one step ahead of us, but we were able to (get in front) in a few areas and came out on top.

“This meet proves we’re able to qualify this team for the state meet.”

North junior Jordan McDonald was the county’s top female runner, taking second overall at 20:31.92. Elkins sophomore Letitia Propst won her second straight Times title in 19:50.02, nearly a minute better than last year’s winning time.

Junior Cassy Menas (22:15.69) was 13th and freshman Kelly Humphreys 17th (22:44.51) for the Huskies. Marcie Mason 23rd (23.18.72), Sarah Ray 26th (23:31.35), Brittany Reynolds (23:33.17), Paige Tuttle 31st (24:00.74) rounded out the North contingent.

Also, West’s Meaghen Broadwater took 29th (23:51.43), Alyssa Ruberto 30th (23:58.91) and Kelsey Ash 47th (25:30.67).

Leading the way for the Bees was junior Megan Wilson in 18th place (22:56.72). Debra Smith was 21st (22:59.75), Lindsey Mills 51st (25:39.59) and Rebecca Haught 53rd (25:47.07).

On the boys side, North and West dominated the leaderboard — each team had three runners in the top six — and Zach Tennant simply added to his stellar season.

Tennant, the Huskies’ senior standout, won his sixth meet of the season in 16:34.23, a little more than five seconds ahead of West senior David Ciarolla, who clocked in at 16:39.42.

“I think both were pacing each other during the race — they tend to do that sometimes — and then Tennant pulled away a little bit at the end. I don’t think either was going full gear,” West boys coach Chris Neptune said.

“But I’m pleased. Dave’s running really well. He ran a great time and had a lot left in the his gas tank, so to speak. Hopefully, we’ll see his best run at states.”

Tennant, who finished second at states in 2007 and has dropped just one race this season, said the key was maintaining a consistent pace.

“I’ve been running (Apple Valley) since the seventh grade. When I got to the mile marker, that’s when I tried to breakaway on the downhill. I’m more of a flat runner, so I just tried to maintain a good pace (going uphill) and not try to kill myself.”

West junior Patrick Stanton added a third-place run (17:30.50). Teammates Gannon Flowers (17:51.87) and Joe Vozniak (18:19.67) were fifth and 18th, respectively. Zach Herberger was 36th (19:26.57) and Isaiah Tipton 59th (20:32.88).

Neptune was pleased with the effort of Stanton, who has been hovering around the top five for much of the year.

“Patrick’s been phenomenal,” Neptune said. “If there was a Most Improved Runner award in the state, it would be him hands down. He was good last year, but he’s put it together (this year). He one of those guys who can push it for three miles, the whole race, and not hit a wall.”

The Huskies also had a well-rounded showing. Senior Jeremy Gouzd was fourth overall (17:46.73), while Neil Bland took sixth (17:52.49). In addition, Kenny Burnley finished 35th (19:22.27) and John Craw 56th (20:27.14).

The Bees were paced by Michael Ebbert, who took ninth (17:57.40), Hunter Wood in 55th (20:26.55) and Justin Speelman in 60th (20:33.49).

E-mail Nick Cammuso at ncammuso@timeswv.com.

        

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