By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
Going up against some of the toughest competition in the state the
Calhoun High School girls cross country team rode the 13th place
finish of Anna Sampson to a sixth place finish Thursday afternoon at Cedar Creek State Park.
Sampson, a junior, had a personal best time of 21:43 in finishing 13th and earning a spot on the LKC second team.
Sampson is the 52nd best runner in the state according to rankings at RunWV.
Sampson was backed by sophomore Tracy King, who finished 33rd with a
personal best time of 24:39. She led a group of Calhoun runners that
were closely packed behind her.
Senior Kayla Hixon had a personal best of 26:18 to place 36th.
Junior
Maria Kisner was next with another personal best of 27:06 for 36th
place. Junior Carrie Graffius had a best time of 28:45 for 40th place
while junior Barbara Richards had a time of 31:40, which was her best
time of the season.
Overall Calhoun had 160 points for sixth place.
Ritchie won the girls championship with 54 points while Doddridge was
second with 59 and Williamstown was third with 64. Ravenswood (82) and
St. Marys (89) round out the top five.
Tyler Consolidated finished in seventh with 189 points.
On the boys side Calhoun Junior Josh Parsons, the 85th ranked runner
in the state, took 27th place with a season's best 19:01.
Parsons competed in what is probably the toughest conference in the
state with Ravenswood; the eight time defending state champion, and
Doddridge, with Levi Grandt the top runner in the state.
Grant won the event by nearly a minute over second place finisher Ben
Wise of Ravenswood.
Grandt had a time of 15:36 over the 3.1-mile
course while Wise had a time of 16:30.
Calhoun's other runner on the boys side was Will Oshe who had a time
of 23:10 for 54th place overall.
Calhoun had to compete without two runners: Cai Clothier, who was
unable to run with a leg injury, and Athena Wagoner, who did not make
the trip.
Calhoun returns to action next Thursday in the Region IV Class AA-A at
Camp Virgil Tait in Sissonville.
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