Coach Donnie McCarty and the West Union Lady Dragons captured the 2024 Southern Hills Athletic Conference Girls Cross-Country championship on October 12 in Ripley, winning with a team score of 35 and four runners in the top 15. (Photo provided by WUHS)
Manchester wins junior high girls crown, NA’s Wheeler is SHAC champion
The Manchester Junior High girls cross-country team is the 2024 Southern Hills Athletic Conference champions. Team members include Lyrric Hanson, Tillie Thatcher, Mariah Gadd, Alaina Cracraft and Maliry Gruber (not pictured).
The junior high girls runner-up in the 2024 SHAC Cross-Country Race was the North Adams Lady Devils. Team members include Haylee Wheeler (SHAC Champion), Jenna Work, Trinity Bosko, Reagan McAdams, and Addison Spiller (not pictured). The lady Devils were coached by Casie Reed and Kelly Boerger. (Photo provided by the Southern Hills Athletic Conference)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Ripley High School was the host on Saturday, October 12 for the 2024 Southern Hills Athletic Conference high school and junior high cross-country championships. It turned out to be a memorable one for a number of Adams County runners, especially for the West Union high school girls team and the Manchester junior high girls team, both of whom departed the river village with SHAC championship trophies in hand.
It was a banner day for Coach Donnie McCarty and his Lady Dragons as they had a dominant performance, placing four runners in the top 10 and five in the top 15 to outdistance second place Manchester. West Union was paced by a third place finish from freshman Ella Shupert in her time of 21:23.5, with senior teammate Sadie Armstrong in fourth place at 21:46.9. Lady Dragon sophomore Lydia Armstrong was ninth overall in a field of 42 runners with a time of 22:14.1, while freshman Stella Rhonemus 10th (22:16.0). The top 15 runners earn All-SHAC honors and West Union junior Emma Crawford claimed the 15th and final spot with a time of 23:33.6).
“We obviously had a great race today and more importantly, our girls continue to make progress,” said Coach McCarty. “That’s what we are looking for because we plan on our season lasting several more weeks.”
The highest high school girls finisher from the county was Manchester freshman Leotie Carman, who placed second overall with a time of 21:05.4. The Lady Hounds had two more runners earn all-conference honors, seniors Emma Hurst and Maddie Lejzerowicz, Hurst finishing seventh (22:00.2) and Lejzerowicz 11th (22:37.0).
In the high school boys race with 67 runners, Coach Sean Inman and his Manchester Greyhounds ended up with a second place overall finish in the team standings, trailing only champion Lynchburg. The Hounds placed three runners in the top 10 with their top runner being junior Ryan Butcher-Raines in fourth place with a time of 17:37.9. Right behind in fifth was MHS senior Braylan Roberts with his personal best time of 17:42.7. Greyhounds’ junior Elijah Crabtree was 10th, hitting the chute in a time of 18:38.4.
Two more runners from the county performed well enough to make the All-SHAC team. First, it was North Adams junior Dalton Pence placing 12th with a time of 18:41.2 and then it was Peebles junior Grady Myers finishing 15th with his time of 18:52.2.
The junior high girls race produced another SHAC champion from the county as the Manchester Lady Greyhounds held off North Adams too win the conference team title. The Lady Hounds were led by seventh grader Tillie Thatcher, who finished second overall in a field of 31 runners with a time of 12:38.1. The top 15 runners in the SHAC junior high races are awarded medals.and Manchester eighth grader Mariah Gadd was fourth with a time of 13:18.1 and the Lady Hounds took the final two medals, eighth grader Alaina Cracraft 14th (15:36.2) barely edging out teammate and seventh grader Maliry Gruber (15:36.3).
Th junior high girls race also featured an SHAC champion as North Adams seventh grader Haylee Wheeler was the first to cross the finish line in her championship time of 12:07.5. North Adams eighth grader Trinity Bosko was also a medalist, placing sixth in a time of 13:40.4. Two other young ladies from the county left with a medal around their neck. West Union eighth grader Tabitha Armstrong in eighth place (13”46.6) and Peebles eighth grader Lucy Krieger was 12th (15:30.2).
In the junior high boys race with 57 runners, the county produced three medalists, beginning with West Union eighth grader Ethan Caldwell, who finished in 12th place with a time of 12:10.5. North Adams seventh grader Braxton Hesler finished 13th with a time of 12:17.9 and his classmate Easton Raines was 15th at 12:31.4.
With the conference races behind them, the high school cross-country squads now look to the postseason, which will begin this Saturday with the district races, held at Rio Grande University.
2024 AHC Cross-Country Team Standings:
JH Girls- Manchester 31, North Adams 42, Eastern Brown 58, Ripley 79
JH Boys- Fairfield 44, Eastern Brown 52, Lynchburg 74, Fayetteville 80, North Adams 91
HS Girls: West Union 35, Manchester 50, Eastern Brown 54, Fairfield 107, North Adams 109, Ripley 147
HS Boys: Lynchburg 45, Manchester 62, Fairfield 108, Eastern Brown 122, Whiteoak 124, North Adams 159, Peebles 167, West Union 168, Ripley 178
