High School Cross Country Kicks Off!

I'm going to try my best to add weekly coverage of some of the best meets happening in the world of WV running. I know I'll probably start slacking half way through the season so you guys can feel free to flame me on the message board to motivate me from my lethargic state. Once the season gets rolling there are going to be 50 million different meets going on every week (with all the Tues and Wed and some Thurs and Sat meets during the week), and there is no way I'm covering them all. I will try to hit on all the major hightlights of the week so if you're running great then you'll most likely get talked about on here all the time. I'll also give shout-outs to random Flyers runners and WVU Camp members no matter what they're running. I guess it's one of the added perks of being a part of those two programs.

Bobcat Classic (in case you're new to the internet - click for results)

Letitia Propst is out of the gates with an easy win at the Bobcat Classic in Buckhannon. Unless you've lived in a cave the past year (or the southern part of the state that completely lacks the internet) then you already know who this superstar is and what she can do. You might as well get used to seeing her name at the number one spot all year, because that's where she likes to be. There were no big name all-state contenders at the meet so she went unchallenged the whole race, but we'll get a chance to see where she's at pretty soon when she makes a trip to the Geico Classic for the Pre-State meet.

Skylar McCoy showed why he's one of the top stars in A-AA as he made short work of the competition in the boys race. Like Letitia he lacked any major competition and we'll have to wait for a McCoy/Roach showdown to see if Skylar looks take the AA crown. With Levi Grandt doing the A-AA runners a huge favor by graduating, it now leaves the A-AA state championship open for the mere mortals.

Jefferson Invite

I often catch flack for poking fun of the panhandle teams, but truth be told I'm a huge Cory Hampshire and Lenny Roach fan. I get a limited amount of chances to see them in action, but when I do I'm always left in awe out how tough they are (especially Roach this past year at the state meet in track). For these two guys to be going head to head against each other for the first meet of the year is a real delight for the fans. Obviously the added competition upped the intesity of this race and both of them ran the times to prove it. Hampshire bested his old course record by over 30 seconds running a 15:59! Roach ran a very aggresive race and was able to hold on for a 16:09 (under the old course record as well). In the first race of the year these two guys have set the bar for their AAA and AA competition. Now we have to wait and see if anyone can push it higher.

Also, not to be overshadowed by their teammates accomplishments, Berkley Springs runner John Mundey ran 16:59 to get by Jefferson's Bradon Doughty. These two are coming into the season in far superior shape than last year, and that's saying a lot. These guys were both able run great at the State Meet off a slower start and it will be interesting to see how high up the ladder they can climb this year.

Jefferson High School had a pretty good team showing with the help of Cory's front running, but the 1-5 split was almost 3 mins. They have a good pack but they'll really have to tighten that up or a group like St. Albans will slip a tight pack of 5 runners in before Jeffersons 3rd. It's the first meet though, so there is plenty of time to wrap up the loose ends, and make a push for the team title.

Not to be forgotten is Hampshire's Rana Conneway who had a commanding win in the women's race. She's coming off a really impessive season last year where she just missed out on All-State honors (finishing in the dreaded 11 spot). I didn't hear a peep from her in track so I was a little worried about her shape coming into Cross, but it looks like that was all for nothing. She's definitely set herself up to be where she wants to be at the end of the season. And it looks like she's going to help the Hampshire team sneak up on some people, they have a pretty impessive little crew. All it takes is the right attitudes and they can make some things happen. Definitely a team to keep your eyes on.