The North Adams High School girls cross-country team won the Southern Hills Athletic Conference championship at the conference meet held on Oct. 16 at Ripley High School. Fron row, from left, Ainsley Grooms, Areena Goon, Marcy Shupert, and Myla Toole; Back row, from left,Shaye Goon, Taylor Shelton, Anna Armstrong,, Katelynn Boerger, Hunter Grooms, and McKenna Shelton. The North Adams girls are coached by Kelly Boerger. (SHAC Photo)
14 county high school runners earn All-SHAC honors
The West Union High School girls cross-country team finished as runners-up in the SHAC meet held on Oct, 16 in Ripley. From left,Sara Boldman, Miley Smith, Kaitlyn Vogler, Addie Shupert, Allie McCarty, Makenna Armstrong, Sadie Armstrong, and Leena Blanton. The West Union girls are coached by Donnie McCarty. (SHAC Photo)
The top 15 runners in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Cross-Country Meet earn All-Conference recognition. The 2021 All-SHAC Girls Cross-Country Team is pictured above. From left, Areena Goon (North Adams), Raelynn Ruble (Lynchburg), Annie Grimes (Eastern Brown), Sara Boldman (West Union), Macy Etienne (Lynchburg), Makenna Armstrong (West Union), Aylah Humphreys (Fairfield), Anna Armstrong (North Adams), Sadie Armstrong (West Union), McKenna Shelton (North Adams), Brandy Shular (Eastern Brown), Addie Shupert (West Union), Katelynn Boerger (North Adams), Myla Toole (north Adams), and Samantha Seas (Peebles). (SHAC Photo)
The top 15 runners in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Cross-Country Meet earn All-Conference recognition. The 2021 All-SHAC Boys Cross-Country Team is pictured above. From left, Evan DeAtley (Whiteoak), Nolan Campbell (Fairfield), Connor Butler (Whiteoak), Carter Vogler (Peebles), Bryce Van Hoy (Whiteoak), Hayden Crum (Peebles), Cody Hesler (North Adams), Wade Evans (Whiteoak). Christian Price (Whiteoak), Gabe Moore (Eastern Brown), Austin Barnhill (Lynchburg), Connor Darnell (Manchester), Landry Hattan (Fairfield), Weston Blair (Whiteoak), and Landen Eyre (Whiteoak). (SHAC Photo)
North Adams’ Beau Hesler was the champion of the 2021 Southern Hills Athletic Conference Middle School Boys cross-country race. (Provided photo)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Big crowds and lots of young runners gathered at Ripley High School on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 16 for the annual Southern Hills Athletic Conference Cross-Country Meet. High school, middle school, and elementary runners all tackled the hills and valleys around RHS in an effort to prove themselves the best of the best in the SHAC.
For the runners from Adams County it was certainly a successful day. Coach Kelly Boerger’s North Adams High School girls captured the SHAC team championship, while in the same race, Peebles’ Samantha Seas claimed the 2021 girls individual title. The West Union High School girls squad were runners-up to North Adams, while 10 runners from Adams County finished in the top 15 in the high school girls race to earn All-Conference honors. Four boys from the county were in the top 15 in the high school race to make the All-Conference Team.
In the middle school races, North Adams eighth grader Beau Hesler was the champion of the middle school boys race, with Peebles’ Grady Myers placing third. In middle school girls, West Union’s Lydia Armstrong finished second overall.
As expected, the high schoolgirls race was a battle between the top two runners in Adams County, Seas and North Adams; Myla Toole, who has been battling a stress fracture through the latter part of the season. Seas got the best of it on Saturday, finishing first in a time of 19:51 with Toole second at 20:43.
The top 15 in the high school girls race was dominated by Adams County runners, with North Adams freshman Katelynn Boerger finishing third (21:17) and West Union senior Addie Shupert close behind in fourth (21:22). Also earning All-SHAC honors in the high school girls race, which consisted of 54 runners, were: North Adams’ McKenna Shelton sixth (21:58), West Union’s Sadie Armstrong seventh (22:43), North Adams’ Anna Armstrong eighth (22:59), West Union’s Makenna Armstrong 10th (23:30), West Union’s Sara Boldman 12th (23:54), and North Adams’ Areena Goon 15th (24:35).
When the high school girls’ team totals were tallied, it was North Adams being crowned as SHAC champions with a score of 29, with West Union second with 45.
“When we started having open run last summer, the girls told me that they wanted to win All-County and the SHAC championship,” said North Adams Coach Boerger. “They haven’t let any of the obstacles they have faced get in their way of achieving those goals. We are super excited to continue our season at the District meet this weekend at Rio Grande. Also, every one of our middle school runners earned their PR today and Beau (Hesler) had another phenomenal race. He will be competing at the OHSAA State Middle School Meet this weekend as well.”
“Our high school boys team did a great job pulling together to earn third place in the meet and our high school girls really left it all on the course today. I could not be more proud of all of my runners.”
The high school boys race on Saturday was dominated by the team from Whiteoak. The Wildcats won the team championship, the individual championship (freshman Landen Eyre), and placed seven runners in the top 15. From Adams County, the top finisher was Manchester sophomore Connor Darnell, who placed fourth overall in the 67-runner field, with his time of 18:08. Three more young men from Adams County earned All-SHAC honors on Saturday- North Adams’ Cody Hesler placed ninth (18:50), and Peebles teammates Hayden Crum and Carter Vogler placed 10th and 12th respectively, with times of 18:52 and 19:00.
The middle school girls race consisted of 36 runners and the top finisher from Adams County was West Union seventh grader Lydia Armstrong who was second overall, racing down the chute in a finish time of 13:25. Armstrong’s teammate and West Union eighth grader Emma Crawford also pulled off a top 10 finish, placing 10th in a time of 14:34. Eastern Brown captured the SHAC middle school girls team crown, with West Union finishing third.
The aforementioned Beau Hesler from North Adams was the individual champion in the middle school boys race, crossing the finish in his winning time of 11:09. Peebles eighth grader Grady Myers was third in the field of 67 runners with a time of 11:36, while Manchester eighth grader Ryan Butcher-Raines placed sixth with a time of 11:54. Eastern Brown made it a clean sweep of the middle school titles, with Manchester coming in at fourth.
The high school cross-country squads now point heir attention to district competition, which will take place on Saturday, Oct. 23 at Rio Grande University, with teams and individuals looking to advance to the regional meets.
2021 SHAC XC Final Team Standings
MS Girls: Eastern Brown 33, Fayetteville 44, West Union 66, Fairfield 77, Ripley 124
MS Boys: Eastern Brown 38, Fairfield 53, Fayetteville 109, Manchester 112, Whiteoak 135, North Adams 140, Lynchburg 147, Ripley 174
HS Girls: North Adams 29, West Union 45, Eastern Brown 83, Lynchburg 85, Fairfield 124, Manchester 147, Ripley 174
HS Boys: Whiteoak 29, Fairfield 86, North Adams 93, Ripley 116, Lynchburg 123, Peebles 147, Manchester 151, Eastern Brown 196, West Union 208
