Seas runs away with Williamsburg Invite, WUHS girls third at Wellston –
By Mark Carpenter –
The beat just goes on for Peebles senior Jenny Seas. After bringing home a state title last spring in track and field, Seas now has her eyes firmly on a repeat performance, this time in cross-country, an opportunity she missed last season because of injury. She was in usual form on Saturday, Aug. 25 as she and the Indians’ cross-country squads competed in the Williamsburg Invitational.
On Saturday, Jenny had no problems bringing home a first place finish at Williamsburg, turning in a time of 19:08.50, far ahead of the next finisher who came in at 23:58.09. Besides Seas, there were three other members of the Lady Indians on the course, Alisan Behr placing seventh (26:16.41), Makenzie Wait placing 16th (30:32.06), and Josie Chamblin 18th (34:53.82). With only four runners, the Lady Indians did not qualify for a team score, but Seas was still the individual winner.
Peebles also had four runners competing in the high school boys race at Williamsburg, paced by an 11th place finish by Cade Williams in a time of 22:28.69. Bryce Willoughby was 15th at 23:06.14 with teammate Braden Arrasmith right behind in 16th at 23:22.51. The Indians’ Ethan Lowe was 33rd with his time of 28:28.84.
The Indians had just a single runner in the junior high girls race, with a familiar last name, Jenny’s younger sister Samantha Seas. The younger sibling performed quite admirably, posting a second place finish and a time of 16:02.10. Three Indians completed the junior high boys race, Bransyn Hopkins (12th, 14:52.93), Hayden Crum (19th, 15:24.33), and Carter Vogler (22nd, 15:37.89).
Also on Saturday, the West Union cross-country teams were in action at the Wellston Golden Rocket Invitational and the Lady Dragons’ high school squad brought home a third place team finish out of eight scoring squads and a race consisting of 107 runners. Freshman Addie Shupert led the way for the WUHS girls, placing ninth with a time of 22:18.34, followed closely in 10th place by junior Anna Shupert and her time of 22:28.82. Katie Fulton finished 34th (25:09.20), Kayden Francis 37th (25:21.69), Kendra Grooms 40th (25:51.04), Christian Shivener 41st (25:55.65), and Katrina Boldman 65th (27:45.61). As a team, the Lady Dragons were third overall behind Vinton County and Athens.
The high school boys race at Wellston saw 140 runners toe the start line and the West Union contingent of nine runners was paced by junior Steven Runyan, who placed 29th with a time of 20:02.05. Braxton Blanton was 48th at 20:59.77, with Jai-Michael Knox 53rd at 21:15.52. Conner Campbell was 64th (21:52.38), Cameron Campbell 72nd (22:12.73), Grant McCarty 74th (22:19.90), Jonathan McDowell 83rd (23:03.71), Alex Grooms 89th (23:19.99), and Logan Carson 116th (25:27.54). As a team, the Dragons placed seventh overall out of 15 scoring teams,
Only two Dragons competed in the junior high boys race, Landon Fulton pulling off a top 10 finish in sixth place with a time of 13:02.18. In a field of 97 runners, West Union’s Chase Taylor was 70th with a time of 16:41.48.
The West Union junior high girls matched their high school counterparts with a third place team finish, in a field of 79 runners. Makenna Armstrong paced the younger Lady Dragons with a strong fifth place finish and time of 15:06.08. Allie McCarty was 16th at 16:11.96, Leena Blanton 25th at 16:28.51, Sara Boldman 36th at 16:53.10, and Lauren Grooms 48th at 18:04.25. The Lady Dragons as a team were third behind Athens and Whiteoak.
