Cross Country: Greenbrier East girls dominate at Chick-fil-A Beckley Invitational Saturday

Gallery by Heather Belcher 

Last year a young Greenbrier East girls cross country squad put Class AAA Region 3 on notice that it would be a force in coming years.

Saturday morning at the Chick-fil-A Beckley Invitational, the Spartans made it known that they had arrived.

Placing all five scoring runners in the top 19 overall finishers, Greenbrier East won the title by 57 points over second place Shady Spring.

“I knew it was going to be a dogfight today between us, Shady Spring and St. Albans who is the defending (Class AAA Region 3) champions. They have some strong runners,” Greenbrier East head coach Robert McClintic said.

The Spartans were paced by defending regional champion, sophomore Neena McClintic who was second overall to Violet Wall from Jefferson Christian Academy.

The two runners battled battled back-and-forth last year trading the top spots along the way.

“I was happy with how I did,” Neena McClintic said. “Last year I was fourth at this meet and this year I was second. I had her in my sights and I wanted to stay with her. I tried to pick her off at the end, but it was hot and there was a hill. The same thing happened last year. She beat me at this meet, but I would beat her at the other meets.”

“I like racing against her,” McClintic continued. “I ran a 5k at the beach and my time was not close to this one. I ran a 19:10 today, so having her here really pushes me. That is a really good time at the beginning of the season because I want to go into the low 18’s this year. To run low 19’s this early, I know that it is possible and I want to place at states this year.”

While the younger McClintic was happy with her race, the mere mention of how her team finished the first race of the season took her excitement to an even higher level.

“I am so proud for Kate Adkins. She finished sixth this year and last year she didn’t place here. When I saw her crossing the line I just ran over to her. I was so proud of her,” McClintic said. “Jillian (Styles) got seventh right behind her and she is just a freshman. Maddie Lilly also placed in the top-10, so this is really hopeful for regionals this year.”

Luella Mansheim rounded out the team scoring for the Spartans battling through an injury early in the season.

“I told our girls that we had to cluster today. Neena had an exceptional race for us and she has really been working on her mental toughness,” McClintic said. “What really impressed me was we had sophomore Kate Adkins, freshman Jillian Styles and Maddie Lilly who all clustered. They finished six, seven and nine. Luella came out late because she has been battle a strained quad in practice. She was able to finish strong today. Our top seven all went under 25 minutes and I was really pleased with that. They have worked so hard.”

The second place finish by the Class AA Tigers preceded three Class AAA schools led by Bre Crouse in eighth place and Raelyn Carr in 13th place.

“I am absolutely floored with how Emma Hopkin ran today,” Shady Spring head coach Eric Lawson said. “Raelyn Carr ran really great today too. The youngsters that I hadn’t seen before really showed out for us. They weren’t scared of the moment today.”

Senior Avery Lilly from Summers County finished 10th after running 18th last year as a junior.

“I was worried I might be slower than last year,” Lilly said. “To be finishing where I did to start the season is really good.”

Also a basketball standout for the Bobcats, the top-10 finish did not seem to be in the cards when Lilly arrived at the course.

“It was a really tough morning. I was so nervous and I wasn’t able to sleep well. I couldn’t eat well and I couldn’t keep anything down. I really should have been ready to go, but I was so nervous. I was afraid I wasn’t going to place.”

Lilly secured her spot with an explosive burst down the stretch, leaving the runners behind her in her wake.

“I was just thinking coming into the last mile, what do I have to lose,” Lilly said. “There was a big pack of girls behind me and some talented runners in front of me that I wasn’t going to catch. I wanted to maintain my position.”

Other area runners that earned medals Saturday were Clara Swank (12) and Leila Smith (20) from Oak Hill, Skyler Ren (14) and Sofia White (18) from Woodrow Wilson, along with Carlie Spade (15) from PikeView and Asia Collins (16) from Princeton.

HS Girls