A flawless performance in sports is never a common occurrence.
Perfection in cross country is arguably the toughest of them all to obtain.
Thursday afternoon in the Coalfield Conference meet at Twin Fall State Park, the Greenbrier East girls cross country team pulled off that rare feat.
Placing all of their runners in the top-5 finishers, the Spartans earned a perfect team score of 15 points to easily secure the conference championship title over second-place Shady Spring.
“I challenged the girls this week because this is a tough course. It is not a course that you are going to run a (personal record) on. It has rolling hills, it’s narrow and it’s in the woods. You have roots all over the place,” Greenbrier East head coach Robert McClintic said. “I am super proud of them. We clustered really well today. I told them they had to get out hot because it bogs down really quick when you go into the woods. We went into the woods 1-5, so that was a good start.”
The boys race was a role reversal from the girls race with Shady Spring placing all five runners in the top-13 to cruise past Greenbrier East for the conference crown.
“Both teams ran really well. It was nice to have a full boys team for the first time in a little while,” Shady Spring head coach Eric Lawson said. “They are together at the right time and that is what I want. The boys are starting to get hungry. The conversation in the camp has shifted gears into some really good stuff. They are not wilting under the pressure and they are embracing it. They are excepting the challenge and rising to it. I couldn’t be more proud of them. What Eli (Jordan), Vaughn (York) and Gavin (Hazuka) have brought to this team is immeasurable.”
Greenbrier East sophomore sensation Neena McClintic dominated the girls race to guide the Spartans with her teammates following right behind.
The lone senior for the Spartans, Luella Mansheim, finished second and freshman Jillian Styles was third. Sophomore Kate Adkins ran fourth and junior Maddie Lilly rounded out the perfect score in fifth place. The final four runner for East finished within 35 seconds of each other.
“There was one girl that went out really fast,” Neena McClintic explained. “I was glad she did that because I needed someone to set the pace. I was really watching my footing today, but I felt great on the downhill runs. Coming back it was definitely more difficult on the hills. I saw my dad (head coach Robert McClintic) and he told me I was doing great. I didn’t get a (personal record) today, but all of the times were slower. This is a really tough course.”
“I was also really excited when I turned around and saw Luella and then I saw a group of our other three runners in the top-5,” McClintic continued. “This meet, they were all pushing each other.”
Ethan Dowdy paced the Shady Spring boys title run with a second place finish followed by fellow-sophomore Logan Malott in third place. Eli Jordan was sixth, while David Northrop was ninth and Caleb Rose crossed the line in 13th place.
Johnny Walkup from Nicholas County repeated as the individual boys conference champion. After winning last year in a dash to the finish line, the senior standout won by nearly six seconds Thursday.
“This is always a tough course, but I ended up leading for pretty much all of the race,” Walkup said. “I took the lead at the start of the trail and I led back to where we were getting off the grass onto the trail. Dakota Pettry from Summers County passed me coming up the hills, but I was able to get back past him. I opened a little bit of a gap and finished as strong as I could. I was really happy to get the win.”
Sophomore Bre Crouse led the Shady Spring girls to its runner-up finish with a seventh place run, while Gwynn McGinnis was 11th overall. Raelyn Carr (21), Emma Hopkin (24) and Taygn Milam (25), all freshman, rounded out the team scoring to edge Nicholas County by one point.
“The girls ran really well. I had some young ones step up and perform well under pressure. I am just really happy,” Lawson said. “I don’t know if it is they don’t know the magnitude of the moment and don’t know to be scared or if they just have nerves of steel. I will take either.”
“They are stepping up and I am proud of them,” Lawson went on to say. “We are running really well and Nicholas is running really well. I said early in the year Nicholas was going to be tough. They have a tough program.”
Summers County multi-sport standout Avery Lilly finished sixth, while Adrienne Truman (Nicholas) and Carli Spade (PikeView) finished eight and ninth, respectively. Clara Swank from Oak Hill rounded out the top-10.
McClintic could not hide the happiness for his boys team which has steadily improved all season and seems to be peaking just in time for the regional run next week.
Senior Jackson Carter led the Spartans in eighth place, trailed by Robby White (11), Grayson Adams (14), Kadom Broihier (23) and Isaac Bennett (33).
“I am super excited for our boys,” Coach McClintic said. “They have really been coming on. To finish second on such a tough course was great. We thought we had a shot for second place. Shady Spring is phenomenal. Eric does a great job with that program.”
Walkup’s teammate Luke Barr finished just two seconds behind Malott, followed by Pettry in fifth. Zach Neal from Princeton was seventh and Jadon Acord from Liberty was 10th.
McClintic was the top AAA runner on the girls side, while Crouse took the AA honor and Lilly was the top Class A runner.
Neal (AAA), Walkup (AA) and Pettry (A) were the honorees by classification for the boys.
Full results can be found at https://tristateracer.com/.
