The Shadow
It wasn’t how the Alleghany Mountaineers Cross Country team wanted their season to end as the girls finished runner-up for the state championship behind Clarke County, while the boys finished fourth.
“We were very happy that both teams qualified and were major players in the state meet. The girls finished runners-up and that is a great place from where we were a couple years back, but we were disappointed to not get the win because we are capable. When you are racing the state meet, there is not room for any underperforming”, said head coach, Jeremy Bartley on his teams performance at states over the weekend.
Heading into the state championships, the girls were ranked first in their class, while the boys were second.
Despite not winning a state title in either the boys or girls division, the Mountaineers had a lot of be proud of from their season.
The team won the Regional 2C championship in boys and girls, which marked the first time the girls cross country team won in 30 years.
The Mountaineers had two girls finish in the top 20.
Freshman Nevaeh Wills, led the the Mountaineers girls as she finished third overall, while Macyn Cash finished 16th.
“Nevaeh, ran a masterful race and broke the 20 minute mark finishing third place. Macyn Cash, was also impressive, running close to her personal best and missing All State honors by one place”, said Coach Bartley on Wills and Cash’s performance.
For the boys, Gabe Miller, finished eighth overall.
Miller was the only Mountaineer to finish in the top 20, while Baron Leitch finished 25th overall.
“Gabe Miller, ran smart and we were proud of his All State status. Baron Leitch and Andrew Middleton, finished their high school careers with strong races”, said coach Bartley on boys performance.
Coach Bartley added, “Historically, if you want to win states, you have to place multiple athletes in the All State range”.
Class 2 State Meet Boys Individual 5k (AHS in bold)
1. Daniel Zearfoss, Glenvar 16:20.80
2. George Austin III, East Rockingham 16:32.70
3. Cyrus Hartig Radford High School 16:35.30
4. Dorian Almer, Union 17:08.00
5. Callaway Beckett Clarke County 17:09.10
8. Gabe Miller, Alleghany 17:20.60
25. Baron Leitch, Alleghany 17:55.20
42. Levi Counts, Alleghany 18:22.20
43. Kellen Lowman, Alleghany 18:24.40
44. Andrew Middleton, Alleghany 18:29.20
67. Randall Deschler, Alleghany 19:11.60
89. Josh Anglin, Alleghany 20:24.00
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Boys Team Results (AHS in bold)
1. Union High School 0:40 1-5 Split / 17:32 Avg
2. Clarke County 1:40 1-5 Split / 17:56 Avg
3. East Rockingham High School 1:58 1-5 Split / 17:53 Avg
4. Alleghany 1:08 1-5 Split / 18:06 Avg
5. Radford High School 2:26 1-5 Split / 18:09 Avg
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Girls Individual 5k (AHS in bold)
1. Carly Wilkes, Glenvar High School 17:47.40
2. Abigail Rhudy, Tazewell 19:26.90
3. Nevaeh Wills Alleghany 19:58.20
4. Claire Keefe, Strasburg 20:10.10
5. Kate McLearen, Madison County 20:16.30
16. Macyn Cash, Alleghany 21:24.20
27. Gracie Barron, Alleghany 22:14.80
43. Alivia Hoover, Alleghany 22:58.30
49. Lucy Nicely, Alleghany 23:21.80
61. Cassy Evans, Alleghany 24:10.40
86. Sadie Moye, Alleghany 26:57.10
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Girls Team Results (AHS in bold)
1. Clarke County, 2:06 1-5 Split / 21:50 Avg
2. Alleghany High School, 3:23 1-5 Split / 21:59 Avg
3. Floyd County, 2:41 1-5 Split / 22:32 Avg
4. Virginia High School, 2:25 1-5 Split / 22:56 Avg
5. Bruton, 1:47 1-5 Split / 23:01 Avg
The following statistics were provided by MileStat.
