By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
Despite a short "off" period between races Calhoun's cross country teams came out firing on all cylinders in the Doddridge Invitational Tuesday afternoon.
The boys, led by Justin Gerwig's 15th place finish, took eighth place while Anna Sampson placed 11th to lead the girls to an 11th place finish.
Gerwig had a 19:46 for Calhoun which was off the pace of the sub-10 minute run he clocked in the Chik-fil-A meet Saturday. His slightly slower time could have been a fatigue factor since the meets were so close together.
Gerwig was followed across the finish line by Cai Clothier, who posted a season-best 20:27 for 22nd place. Team captain Josh Parsons also had a season best run with a time of 21:01 for 34th place. Teammate Zach Hanshaw was two spots behind in 36th place with a time of 21:28. Anthony Richards rounded out the field with a 23:57 for 60th place.
The race was one of those "oh so close" races again for the Red Devil boys as they ended up with a team total of 152 which was well ahead of No. 9 Robert C. Byrd while being tantalizingly close to seventh place Lincoln (149) and sixth place Ritchie (144).
On the girls side of things the Red Devils scored 248 points to batter No. 9 Lincoln.
Sampson led the way for the Red Devils with a time of 23:01 for 11th place. She trailed only two runners which she will face later in the season as the Doddridge Invitational drew a lot of strong teams from the Clarksburg area. Her time was almost exactly the same as her time at Chik-fil-A where she had a 22:59.
She was backed by Tracy King with a time of 28:41 in 50th place, Maria Kisner with a time of 31:33 in 61st place, Athena Wagoner with a time of 33:03 in 68th, Barbara Richards with a time of 36:51 in 72nd and Carrie Graffius with a time of 48:26 in 78th place. Wagoner's time was three minutes better than the 36:15 she had Saturday at Chik-fil-A. Wagoner has cut her time in every run thus far this season.
The run was the first of the year for Richards and it was a comeback for Graffius, who had injured a knee in the Chik-fil-A run. Once again the Red Devils had to run without freshman Rochelle Gerwig who missed the race to compete in a volleyball tournament.
On the middle school side Calhoun's Monica Heiney had a time of 16:39 for 52nd place while William Baker led Calhoun's boys with a time of 15:10 for 67th place. David Overbay was next for the Red Devils with a time of 17:11 for 86th while Hunter Thomas was 87th with a time of 17:14 and Cody Parson was 89th with a time of 19:27.
Calhoun returns to action Sept. 23 with the Calhoun Invitational at the Calhoun County Park in Mount Zion. Race time is 4:30 p.m.
Teams planning to be there include Charleston Catholic, Ritchie, Doddridge, Roane, Gilmer, Herbert Hoover, Capital and Calhoun among high schools and Charleston Catholic, Ritchie, Doddridge, Gilmer, Geary, Elkins, Elkview and Calhoun middle schools.
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