Alex Dent

Who makes the cut for top 1000 all-time performers at McAlpine Park?

2011 Morgantown graduate and current N.C. State runner Cody Pelliccioni and senior Maggie Drazba of St. Marys lead the 50 fastest times at Foot Locker South.

Alex Dent of Hurricane - Top AAA Girl (Photo by Lance McDaniel)   AAA Girls 1600m Video (Featuring Alex Dent - AAA Girls High Point Performer)   Team State Champions: Class A State Champions: Williamstown Boys and St. Marys Girls Class AA State Champions: Ritchie County Boys and Oak Hill Girls Class AAA State Champions: Jefferson Boys and Buckhannon-Upshur Girls New State Records: (11) Lacey Hampton of Bishop Donahue (Photo by Danny Farley) Triple State Champion and 3 New State Meet Records Class A (7) Girls 100m high hurdles 33" - 14.90 - Lacey Hampton of Bishop Donahue Girls 300m low hurdles 30" - 46.65 - Lacey Hampton of Bishop Donahue Girls HIgh Jump - 5'-03" - Lacey Hampton of Bishop Donahue Boys 800m run - 1:59.76 - Derrick Chaffin of Richwood Boys 4 x 400m relay - 3:32.57 - Charleston Catholic (Will Dobins, Will Farkas-Worth, Seth Ritchie and Michael Robinson) Girls 4 x 102.5m shuttle Hurdle Relay - 1:06.90 - Williamstown (Kylie Hammer, Jessica Kerns, Lincoln Postlewaite and Keeper Gray) Girls 4 x 400m relay - St. Marys - 4:16.40 (Rachel Taylor, Kelsea Fickiesen, Dani Renner and Ali Johnson) Class AA (0) Class AAA (4) Boys 800m run - 1.54.03 - Andy Bailey  of St. Albans Boys 3200m run - 9:14.23 - Dayton McVicker of Fairmont Senior Girls 4 x 102.5m shuttle hurdle relay - 1:04.13 Buckhannon-Upshur(Susie Godwin, Emily Godwin, Lauren Cvechko and Ashley Hall) Girls Shot Put - 41' 3.25" - Karissa Knabenshue of Buckhannon-Upshur High Point Performers:   Bria Welker of Frankfort - 3 AA State Titles: 200m (25.65), 400m (57.71) and Long Jump (16' 10.5") (photo by Lance McDaniel) Class A Girls: (30) Lacey Hampton of Bishop Donahue and Maggie Drazba of St. Marys Class A Boys: (40) Kyle Davies of St. Marys Class AA Girls: (38) Bria Welker of Frankfort Clas AA Boys: (36) Brandon Franklin of Liberty Harrison Class AAA Girls: (24.5) Alex Dent of Hurricane Class AAA Boys: (24) Brandon Doughty of Jefferson AAA Boys 1600m Video (Featuring Brandon Doughty - AAA Boys High Point Performer)   Kyle Davies of St. Marys (Photo by Lance McDaniel) Kyle Davies of St. Marys won all 4 events he entered in class A  scoring the highest point total (40) of any athlete in any classification. The 4 State titles were in the 100m (11.29), 200m (23.08), 400m (50.71) and long jump (20'-07")   National Elite Performances: (59) West Virginia State Meet National Elites  

Bailey runs 1:53.93 800m   Burcham and Salmons in the 3200m - Photo courtesy of Cabell Midland   WV Region IV AAA  -- Parkersburg. In the most highly contested team championship of AAA, the Cabell Midland boys with 107 points took home another crown as they outpaced 2nd place Parkersburg (102 points) and 3rd place Winfield (101 points).   Leading the way for Cabell Midland was freshman Jacob Burcham with 30.5 points. The U.S. #1 ranked freshman, Burcham, won the 1600m in 4:33.76, which was well below his national best of 4:14.51, and the 3200m in 9:46.74. Burcham claimed 2nd in the 800m (1:58.49) to St. Albans Andy Bailey who posted the #1 800m time in West Virginia in 1:53.93 for a first team Gold Standard achievement.  Burcham added 2.5 points for his lead off leg in Cabell Midland’s winning 4 x 400m relay team (3:32.22). (Open article for complete recap)    

     West Virginia Runners are signing up for the Foot Locker South Regional to be held at McAlpine Park in Charlotte, North Carolina on Saturday November 28. The first race of the day which is the Open race begins at 8:00. Meet Director Max Mayo sent an e-mail stating AAA State Champions Alex Dent, senior from Hurricane, and junior Brandon Doughty of Jefferson along with AAA State runner-ups senior Chelsea Clark of Fairmont Senior and Cody Pelliccioni a junior from Morgantown have signed up for the Foot Locker South Regional.   Mr. Mayo said we would get an up to date list of all runners as soon as possible.   Foot Locker South Entries as of Nov. 25    I hope as many West Virginia runners can make this great event, and I know you will represent West Virginia well.    Foot Locker Cross Country South Regional Official Web Site    

We are pleased to recognize the top 10 girls and boys of the AAA State Cross Country Meet which earned All-State honors. Top 10 Girls in AAA Achieving All-State in Cross Country   Alex Dent, a senior, from Hurricane in her last attempt at a State title came away with the victory in a heavy downpour in the first race of the day with a convincing 26 second finish with a time of 19:16. Dent came in as one of the favorites and pulled away from a strong field. Senior Chelsea Clark of Fairmont Senior nudged 2 time defending State Champion Letita Propst, a junior, from Elkins as they both crossed in 19:42.   Jorden Thornton, the only freshman in girls AAA to claim All-State and representing the host school of Cabell Midland took 4th place 4 seconds back in 19:46. 5th place went to Lydia Martinelli, a senior from University, with a time of 19:48. Senior Andrea Nickerson of Jefferson would be the first of 3 girls from State Champion Jefferson to earn All-State with her 6th place finish in 19:54. Bridgeport sophomore Erica Voreh was the last runner under 20 minutes in 19:59 claiming 7th place.    8th and 9th place runners from Jefferson were senior Alyssa Boucher and junior Lindsey Hash with identical times of 20:03. Earning the last All-State title by 8 seconds over the 11th place finisher was junior Carissa Guyer of Hampshire in 20:07.   Top 10 Boys in AAA Earning All-State in Cross Country   Taking the top spot in West Virginia's largest classification was junior Brandon Doughty of Jefferson. Doughty came into the race seeded 3rd, but had made continued improvements during the year and his victory was only a minor upset. Doughty's time of 16:32 in a pouring rain produced a victory margin was 19 seconds as he pulled away from defending State Chammpion Cody Pelliccioni, a junior, of Morgantown in the last 800 meters. Pelliccioni was a gracious runner-up and took the 2nd spot in 16:51.   The 3rd consecutive junior to finish, 2nd seeded Dayton McVicker of  Fairmont Senior, was the last runner to break 17 minutes in the horrid conditions with a time of 16:56. 4th seeded Lucas Greza a senior from Morgantown took 4th place in 17:00. 5th place belonged to senior Logan Wojcik of Wheeling Park with a time of 17:08. Cabell Midland runners freshman Jacob Burcham and sophomore Tyler Salmons took 6th and 7th only 1 second apart in 17:10 and 17:11 respectively.   Grabbing the 8th spot was Patrick Stanton a Fairmont Senior junior with a time of 17:20. Senior Andy Bailey (17:24) of St. Albans and junior Austin Rigsby (17:25) of Musselman gathered in the last two spots on the podium.   Congratulations to the AAA All-State designation earners.

The 2009 WV State Cross Country Meet was run in a steady rain and muddy conditions, and produced a few surprises. Results and performances are posted. Photos by Lance McDaniel are posted.  Congratulations to Jefferson Girls and the host Cabell Midland boys on their AAA State Championship trophies.   Cabell Midland Boys AAA State Champions Jefferson Girls AAA State Champions   Alex Dent,  a senior from Hurricane, upset 2 time defending State champion Letitia Propst of Elkins to take the individual spoils in the AAA girls race. Propst finished in 3rd. Alex Dent - Photo courtesy of www.tristaterunnur   Junior Brandon Doughty of Jefferson pulled away from defending State Champion and #1 ranked Cody Pelliccioni of Morgantown. It was reported prior to the race that Pelliccioni was under the weather.  Brandon Doughty - Photo by Lance McDaniel   Congratulations to St. Marys girls and Grafton boys in capturing the AA-A State Championship hardware. St. Marys Girls AA-A State Champions Grafton Boys AA-A State Champions   Freshman Maggie Drazba of St. Marys took the AA-A girls title and Drew Woodford, a junior from Grafton, claimed the top prize for the boys AA-A race. Maggie Drazba Drew Woodford - Photos by Lance McDaniel  

The past weekend may have been a slow week as far as the number of meets, but the times posted were not slow.   Cody Pelliccioni, a junior from Morgantown, followed up his win at the Red, White, and Blue Classic with another dominating performance at the Mountaintop Combo held at Preston High School in Kingwood. Pelliccioni, posting a 16:23, ran away from the field in convincing fashion for a 23 second victory over 2nd place finisher Dayton McVicker  (16:46) of Fairmont Senior.   Lydia Martinelli, a senior from University High School, was just as impressive as she took first place honors at the Mountaintop Combo with a 34 second victory in 20:17 over Molly Summers of Grafton who crossed the finish line in 20:51.   Moving into the #2 spot for the girl’s rankings is Sami Harris a freshman from Charleston Catholic with her victory at the Battle Run Invitational held at Nicholas County Cross Country course in Summersville. Running 3 days later in the Ripley Covered Bridge Invitational she took 2nd place in 20:11 to Maggie Drazba, a freshman, of St. Marys. Drazba took top honors with her winning time of 20:02. Drazba has had several top finishes this year including an earlier victory in the A/AA race at the Geico Classic.   Forest Festival, held in Elkins, showcased several of the top ranked runners for the year and it did not disappoint.  Alex Dent , a senior from Hurricane, and the #3 ranked girl won the big invitational against some stiff competition with a time of 21:09. Brandon Doughty, a junior, from Jefferson and the 3rd ranked boy took the boy’s race by 34 seconds in 17:40.   Here are the boy’s rankings:   WV Runners High School Boy Rankings   Here is the girl’s list of the complete rankings:   WV Runners High School Girl Rankings

WV Runners Cross County High School rankings saw a big swing at the top for the boys and the top 2 remained unchanged for the girls. This weekend’s action has elevated the bar.   Defending AAA State Champion Cody Pelliccioni, a junior from Morgantown High School, left little doubt that he is back to defend his State title. This past weekend at the Red, White, and Blue Classic held at the Schenley Oval 5K course in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Pelliccioni took 2nd place in 15:36. This is a 5:02 mile pace over the 3.1 mile course.     Pelliccioni at last year's State Championship   Teammate and senior Lucas Greza placed 8th in 15:57 to move into the 2nd spot of the WV Runners rankings. It appears Greza is ready to improve on his 13th place finish at last year’s State Championship.   Brandon Doughty, a junior, from Jefferson improved his time and remained in the 3rd spot with a 2nd place finish at the 35th Annual Judges Classic held at the Kernstown Battlefield in Winchester, VA. Doughty’s time was 16:22.   Here are the boy’s rankings:   WV Runners High School Boy Rankings   Click on the article for more and the girl's rankings

  62 performances met or exceeded the Milesplit National Silver Standard. (updated 5/27/09) WV Athletes Achieving National Elite Performances   Numerous State meet records fell in the 2009 West Virginia State Championships.    State Meet Records Updated 5/23/2009   Meet Recaps:   AAA Boys   Hedgesville Senior High School easily took the boys AAA race by a 24 point margin over Jefferson 92 - 68. It was a total team effort as Jordan Reed claimed the only races for Hedgesville. Reed sprinted to the win in the 100m in 11.36 after posting a 10.85 in the preliminaries. Reed came back and slammed the field in the 200m with a time of 21.98. Reed gathered 24 points after earning points in Hedgesville’s runner-up relays in the 4 x 100m and 4 x 200m.   Zach Tennant a senior from North Marion was the outstanding performer as he broke West Virginia State meet records in the 1600m and 3200m. Tennant took 1st in the 1600m in 4:13.84 bettering the old record of 4:14.03 by Preston’s Eric Ryan in 2005. Tennant blistered the 3200m in 9:14.84 eclipsing the 29 year old record held by Mike Kominsky of Oak Hill in 1980 by 2 ½ seconds . Tennant was pushed in the 1600m race by 800m winner Craig Pritt a senior from Preston. Pritt’s time was 4:17.77. Pritt took first in the 800m in 1:55.02.   AAA Girls   The AAA girls broke 5 West Virginia State track meet records. Three were in relay events and two were by individuals. Taylor Brown a junior from Jefferson was involved with two of those records. Brown broke the State Meet record in the 300m hurdles with a clocking of 44.34. The previous record was held by Chelsea Carrier of Buckhannon-Upshur in 2006 in 44.57. Brown led Jefferson (66 pts.) to victory in a tightly contested meet with Woodrow Wilson with 61 points. Jefferson’s 4 x 100m relay team broke a 29 year old record of 49.20 held by the 1980 Wheeling Park ladies with a time of 48.58. Members of the new State Meet record relay team are: Chelsea Bryan, Taylor Brown, Chelsey Flinchum, and Brittany Carr.   Ari Kasprowicz, a senior from Preston, set the new standard in the 3200m in 10:49.15 by breaking her former teammate, Kaylyn Christopher, time of 10:55.52 that was set in 2006.   The Hurricane ladies smashed the 4 x 800m relay record by over 5 seconds with the new benchmark of 9:31.14. Preston held the previous record of 9:36.53 which was set in 2007. Members of the record breaking relay were: Sahara Assi, Alex Dent, Sarah Davis, and Josie Crouch   Wheeling Park ladies set the girls 4 x 102.5m shuttle hurdle relay State Record in 1:04.18. Members of the State Meet record shuttle hurdle relay are: Miranda Rios, Ashley Dolan, Alicia Bonar, and Hannah Gompers. Open the article to read the Double and Single A recaps.

  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

(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