Lenny Roach

  Pictured is AAA champion Cody Pelliccioni   The WV 2008 State Cross Country Championship held in Ona, WV at Cabell Midland High School had a few surprises, a few expectations, and one Status Quo. Overall there were 19 National Elites as recognized by Milesplit, there was one State course record, and there was a repeat individual champion. It was a warm and beautiful day for running and the amazing performances put on by the harriers of West Virginia were evident.   Be sure to check out all of the links to athletes, teams, photos (WV 2008 State XC Photo Album), and more embedded in the article.   We will start with the AA-A boys race which got things started.  

The National Scholastics Sports Foundation has released the High School Regional Cross-Country rankings for Week ending 10/11. There are 10 West Virginia runners listed in the watch list. Regional Team Rankings are broken down by region and were formulated by a committee led by Marc Bloom and Rich Gonzalez.  Individuals to Watch are compiled by our state ambassadors in each state and are listed alphabetically below the Regional Team Rankings by state.  NSSF Rankings for w/e 10/11/2008

Recap of Meets from 10/6 - 10/11 Ashland Invitational - Capital, Winfield, Ravenswood, Spring Valley, Huntington, Wayne  and George Washington traveled to Kentucky to participate in the Ashland Invitational and came away with the individual top prizes and the boys team title. Megan Truelove , senior, of Winfield took first place in 19:55.9 while seniors Chelsea Jarvis and Christine Azevedo of Capital claimed 2nd and 3rd place respectively in 20:12 and 20:51. Mason County Kentucky girls team took top billing with 36 points. Ravenswood girls claimed 2nd place with 71 points and followed closely by Capital with 74 points. Senior Nathan Rees of Ravenswood won the boys race in 17:03 and was followed by 2nd place finisher sophomore Patrick Jividen (17:11) and senior Matt Burton (17:24) of Winfield. Winfield boys led a West Virginia sweep as WV teams took the top 4 places. Winfield had 46 points, Ravenswood 54, Hurricane 115, and in 4th place was Huntington with 119 points. Times Invitational - Fairmont Senior boys and girls took the win with North Marion finishing second. Letitia Propst a sophomore from Elkins won in 19:50 and senior Zach Tennant of North Marion took top honors for the guys in 16:34.2. He was followed closely by David Ciarolla a senior from Fairmont Senior in 16:39.4 Wheeling Park Fall Classic - Wheeling Park took the top honors for the girls with Wheeling Central Catholic taking second place with a score of 43-49. Courtney Yaeger of Wheeling Park came in first with a time of 20:17.6. Logan Wojcik, a junior, from Wheeling Park and senior Russell Mulley led their team with finish times of 17:53 and 17:54 respectively. Wild & Wet Invitational - Sarah and Lydia Martinelli juniors from University High School placed first and second leading their team to a commanding win over 2nd place Berkeley Springs by a score of 23-54. Sarah finished first in 22:08 followed by Lydia in 22:23. Lenny Roach of Berkeley Springs finished in first place by 18 seconds over 2nd place Ronald Reed a senior from Weir with a time of 17:23. Reed came across in 17:41. Washington Invitational - In dominating fashion Jefferson completed the sweep winning first place team honors and individual honors at the Washington Invitational. Alyssa Boucher won the girls race in 19:33 followed by teammate Andrea Nickerson in 19:57. The ladies placed 4 runners in the top 10. Cory Hampshire continued his torrid streak by winning the meet in 15:58. Hampshire won the meet by 52 seconds over Kory Farmer who would lead the rest of the team with a 2nd place finish in 16:52. The Maroon and Gold boys of Jefferson put all 7 runners in the top 10 and had 5 of the first 6 finishers in the meet. Bull Run Invitational - After running at the Washington Invitational 3 days earlier, Jefferson traveled to Maryland to put on another fine showing at the Bull Run Invitational. Cory Hampshire finished 4th overall and 3rd in the Elite race with a time of 16:53. Alyssa Boucher placed 12th overall in 20:53. Battle for Parkersburg - The battle for Parkersburg was an all out war as Parkersburg took 1st place in the boys race (22-33) and Parkerburg South taking 1st place in the girls race with a score of 27-29. In the overall scoring, Parkersburg won the Battle for Pakersburg with a combined score of 51 points to Parkersburg South's 60 points. Parkersburg individuals claimed both top prizes as Andrea Sall won the girls race in 19:17.8 and Dustin Meyers grabbing the boys title in an impressive16:58.2 Harrison County Championships - Bridgeport Senior took the boys race with 27 points and Liberty Harrison edged out Bridgeport for the girls win 41-43. Leading the Bridgeport boys effort was Matt Mason in a quick 16:50 and followed closely by 2nd place finisher Seth Edgell in 16:56. Erica Voreh led the ladies with a time of 19:38 Liberty Raleigh Invitational - Shady Spring girls led by Chelsea Callaway put on a dominating performance with a first place win over 2nd place Woodrow Wilson 22-37. Callaway ran the fastest time in the State this year with a time of 18:30. Derrick Chaffin led his Richwood team with his first place effort of 16:18. Richwood (22 points)  won in convinicing fashion. Woodrow Wilson took 2nd with 73 points.

(Correction) Cody Pelliccione a sophomore from of Morgantown ran a blazing 15:45.43 at the Octoberfest Invitational held on October 4th at The Plains, Virginia finishing 5th overall to a strong field. Here are the rankings based on the meets entered. If you have any meets you want added, please e-mail them to me. Alex Dent of Hurricane leads the way for high school girls with her 18:55.38 5K performance at the Rio Grande Invitational held on 9/27/2008 at Rio Grande, Ohio. To claim 2nd place, Courtney Yeager of Wheeling Park ran a fast 19:01.70 at the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference meet. Ari Kasprowicz of Preston is in 3rd with her 19:05.75 showing at the Mountaintop Combo. Allison Petit is a close 4th with a time of 19:08 at the Boathouse Red, White, and Blue Classic Girls HS rankings: https://wv.milesplit.com/rankings/2008/cc/hs/f/5000m Cory Hampshire of Jefferson is in the lead for the boys with his 15:59 5K run at his home course in the Jefferson Invitational held on 8/23/2008. Cody Pelliccione of Morgantown is a close 2nd with a blazing 16:04 at the Boathouse Red, White, and Blue Classic. Lenny Roach of Berkeley Springs is in 3rd with a 16:09 at the Jefferson Invitational. Boys HS rankings: https://wv.milesplit.com/rankings/2008/cc/hs/m/5000m