By Stephen Smoot
As the leaves change from green to autumn colors and warm summer breezes relent in the face of cool fall winds, Pendleton County’s cross country team races on.
October for the squad opened in Keyser at the Charlie Kuh Invitational. A full slate of big school squads competed in the pine forest pathways flanking One Tornado Way. Those included Musselman, Washington, and Berkeley Springs, Frankfort, Grafton, East Hardy, and Tucker County.
Callie Dunn ran for a 19th place finish at 24:24.38 and Shayne Clutter placed 42nd with a 30:00.14. Allison Reuss completed the course in 32:42.03 and Makayla Turner at 33:14.60.
Four days later came the Tucker Invitational that is run just outside of Parsons. Rain had gone through early that morning and temperatures remained in the mid-50s. Pendleton County joined Tucker County, St. Mary’s, Nicholas County, and East Hardy there.
Jonas Turner, a senior runner, set a personal record on that course with a 27:26.9. On the girls’ side, Dunn set a personal record with a time of 23:55.01. This put her in eighth place. Reuss also set a personal record at 27:42.30 and finished 19th. Turner finished 21st with a time of 33:25.63.
Those impressive performances set the stage for the Potomac Valley Conference championships held at Frankfort High School in Short Gap. Conditions were not favorable with temperatures in the low 50s and a 10 to 15 mile an hour wind punctuated by occasional gusts.
There, Dunn finished 18th with a time of 25:58.5, followed by Clutter at 31:24.5 and 31st place. Turner completed the course with a 32:50.5, setting a personal record. Reuss ran for a 33:07.1.
Next up for the harriers of Pendleton County is the Region 2 championship that will determine which runners will compete at states. Other schools poised to send squads on Oct 25 are Braxton County, East Hardy, Paw Paw, Trinity Christian, Clay-Battelle, Notre Dame, and Tucker County.
The event will be held at Holly-Gray Park near Sutton. The first section extends around a flat meadow, then follows a long path uphill. Runners will then run along a forested ridgetop that forms a crescent around the park itself. Three switchback turns confront competitors on the downhill slope as they make their way to the finish area.
States will take place on Nov. 1 at Cabell Midland High School near Barboursville.
