Race to states kicks off with Big 10 Conference Meet
Oct. 14—KINGWOOD — What was once far off in the future is now right around the bend, as the 2022 State Cross Country Meet is now but a few weeks away. The first step into postseason waters came Thursday, as the teams of the Big 10 Conference gathered at Preston High for the 2022 Big 10 Conference Meet.
For the girl's side, Preston High narrowly beat out Buckhannon-Upshur by a margin of only two points. The boy's margin was not much wider, with Buckhannon-Upshur prevailing atop the conference, separated by just 10 points from second-place Fairmont Senior.
Buckhannon-Upshur's Lydia Falkenstein took home girl's Conference Runner of the Year with a first-place finish of 19:19.3, while Lewis County's Slate Swiger claimed boy's Conference Runner of the Year with a 17:02.8.
After Preston and Buckhannon-Upshur on the girl's side of things, Fairmont Senior took third place, and earned a nod from their head coach, Mark Offutt.
"Our targets were the double-A teams, trying to beat them out today," Offutt said. "That's basically all the teams we'll see in regionals, and we did beat them so that was good to see — East Fairmont had an injured runner, so that does change things up a little bit. But I still think overall our team's moving in the right direction right now, and that's always what we try to shoot for at the end of the year. We did well today."
Fairmont Senior's Sidney Lafferre and Reece White ran career personal records on Thursday.
The Polar Bears' Nevaeh Premo (14th place) and Bella Haught (16th place) each made second team all-conference.
After Philip Barbour and Liberty at fourth and fifth, North Marion came in sixth place, and placed a runner within the all-conference first team, as Taylor Hess came in seventh Thursday.
"I was hoping to be first team all-conference, really aiming for Top 5," Hess said. "Just missed it, but overall I ran my hardest and I'm happy with where I finished."
"She ran a pretty good time and she's ready for next week," North Marion head coach Keri Richardson said.
As a unit, Richardson said she'd like to see the Huskies "tighten up that pack."
"We did that a little better today, tightening our Top 5 up. We're going to keep pushing."
Richardson also highlighted Karenna Cummins, a sophomore who finished in the Huskies' Top 7 Thursday.
"That was one of her personal goals this season, and she got that today so she was pretty happy with that."
East Fairmont followed North with a seventh place finish, a placement that came after injuries limited the Bees to six runners.
"Before the week started, our goals were pretty high," East head coach Ken Hibbs said. "But we had several key injuries and illnesses. Some kids ran today that haven't practiced all week."
East's Kailee Haymond (12th place) was the first girl on the second team all-conference.
After East Fairmont, Robert C Byrd, Elkins, Bridgeport and Grafton rounded out the standing at eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th. Lewis County and Lincoln did not have enough runners to qualify.
On the boy's side, Fairmont Senior took home a runner-up finish and had two runners finish on the first team all-conference, and three more on the second team all-conference.
Still, while Thursday checked some of the boxes for the Polar Bears, a first-place day eluded them by a thin margin.
"We wanted to win — we'd beaten Buckhannon this year," Fairmont Senior head coach Dayton McVicker said. "But they ran really well. We also wanted to get five all-conference, which we accomplished. Buckhannon just had a better day today than us. I'm really happy with how we ran, but it's just one of those days where we did good, somebody did a little better."
For Fairmont Senior, Josiah Brannen (fifth place) and Landon Jones (10th place) made first team all-conference, while Devon Lemon (13th place), Griffin Thomas (15th place) and Tyler Morris (18th place) finished second team all-conference.
"Our top two runners were freshmen, I don't think a lot of teams can say that," McVicker said. "It was great to see Josiah Brannen at fifth place and Landon Jones at 10th place, to have two first team all-conference freshmen up there speaks volumes for our future."
East Fairmont ended the day at third place, and enjoyed fast days from Nathaniel Stuck, Drew Moore, Trevor Wotring and Joshua McPherson. Stuck finished third overall with a 17:16.3, while Moore finished eighth, Wotring finished 24th and McPherson finished 25th.
With their performances, Moore and Stuck both made all-conference first team.
"I was expecting to get Top 5," Stuck said. "I wasn't sure if I could quite do that, so I was a little better than expected today."
"I think we did pretty well with what we had. We have a few people that are sick, so considering that, I think we did alright."
Lewis County, Elkins and Grafton finished fourth, fifth and sixth, and North Marion ended the day at seventh.
Bridgeport, Preston, Lincoln, Liberty (Harrison) and Robert C. Byrd rounded out the standings at eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th. Philip Barbour did not have enough runners to qualify.
Regionals are next on the docket, with Fairmont Senior, East Fairmont and North Marion duking it out amid the field at West Taylor Elementary on Oct. 20.
BIG 10 CONFERENCE MEET— GIRLS STANDINGS
1. Preston 60
2. Buckhannon-Upshur 62
3. Fairmont Senior 106
4. Philip Barbour 153
5. Liberty (Harrison) 153
6. North Marion 164
7. East Fairmont 177
8. Robert C. Byrd 177
9. Elkins 182
10. Bridgeport 196
11. Grafton 214
Lewis County INC
Lincoln INC
BIG 10 CONFERENCE MEET— BOYS STANDINGS
1. Buckhannon-Upshur 51
2. Fairmont Senior 61
3. East Fairmont 87
4. Lewis County 116
5. Elkins 163
6. Grafton 184
7. North Marion 191
8. Bridgeport 217
9. Preston 220
10. Lincoln 238
11. Liberty (Harrison) 272
12. Robert C. Byrd 301
Philip Barbour INC
Reach Nick Henthorn at 304-367-2548, on Twitter @nfhenthorn_135 or by email at nhenthorn@timeswv.com.
