Run The Arb

Athlete of the Week - Jacob Burcham

2011-06-04T20:43:00.003-04:00

The AotW for May 23-29 is Jacob Burcham of Cabell Midland. Usually I lead the AotW (when I get around to doing it, right?) with a picture, but the picture for this week has been found EVERYWHERE: Letsrun, Flotrack, Milesplit, Tristateracer, Facebook... "The Dive" In a weekend that will go as the greatest triple in the history of the WV State Track Meet (until next year), that picture captured the intensity of it all. This sophomore took everyone's best shot and showed the state just what "talented" can really mean. 9:12/4:08/1:54 was incredible to watch. The highlight in terms of raw performance was the last 1200m of the 3200m. I had it as 3:05, and that's with a dawdling first 100m! On to the post-season...

Very special hat tip to Shawnee Carnett of Concord University. She won the D-II 800m national title, and on most any other week would have been the headliner. Also a sophomore, her future is very bright. Another hat tip to Kate Harrison for winning the NCAA East Regional (or prelim, whatever they call it now) 10,000m. Congrats to all the WVU girls on their way to nationals.

Athlete of the Week - Megan Wright

2011-02-17T22:30:00.002-05:00

Watch more video of 2011 BU Valentine Invitational on flotrack.org

The AotW for February 7th-13th is Megan Wright. Megan won the 5,000m at the Valentine Invitational at BU in a Canadian Indoor Record of 15:25.15. That's the end of Megan's indoor season, and thankfully she ended it with a bang. Collegiate conference meets are this weekend and the high school outdoor season is about to start. Here comes Spring!

Athlete of the Week - Megan Wright

2011-02-17T22:10:00.004-05:00

The AotW for January 31st-February 6th is Megan Wright. Megan ran 8:52.01 at the Boston Indoor Games for third place, just squeezing by Kalkidan Gezahegne of Ethiopia, the defending 1,500m World Indoor champion. The ESPN coverage is on the Boston Indoor Games Facebook page. Megan finishes her indoor season next week, in Boston.

Special tip o' the cap to Andrew Benford for running 8:09.34. That's a ridiculous indoor 3k.

Athlete of the Week - Karly Hamric

2011-02-07T21:57:00.001-05:00

The AotW for January 24th-30th is Karly Hamric. Ms. Hamric ran at the Aviva International Match finishing third in the 1,500m in a time of 4:21.41. The first-year pro got the nod to be on the USA team and got to race in Glascow, Scotland. Running for Riadha, Karly has had a busy and fast (2:07.72/2:45.56) indoor season.

Athlete of the Week - Matt Schiffbauer

2011-01-24T21:46:00.000-05:00

The Athlete of the Week for January 17th-23rd is Matt Schiffbauer for his performance at the Gladstein Invitational in Indiana University. He ran the 3,000m in 8:20.29 in a stellar field. Great run, best of luck the rest of track season.

Athlete of the Week - Karly Hamric

2011-01-18T21:38:00.000-05:00

The AotW for January 10th-16th is Karly Hamric of Riadha. Ms. Hamric ran 2:07.72 for 800m at the Doug Raymond Invitational in Kent State. The Preston alum graduated from WVU last fall and continues to train under Sean Cleary in Morgantown.

Athlete of the Week - Dayton McVicker

2011-01-17T21:33:00.000-05:00

The AotW for January 3rd-9th is Dayton McVicker of West Fairmont High School. Dayton earns his AotW via his performance at the Fairmont Run to Read Half-Marathon, where he ran 1:17:37, good for second place. He is entering his final track season, best of luck. (Note: Justin Simpson could have won this award, but he didn't cross the finish line. How sad.)

Athlete of the Week - Santa Claus

2011-01-01T21:31:00.000-05:00

The AotW for December 20th-26th and December 27th-January 2nd is Santa Claus.

Athlete of the Week - Jacob Burcham

2010-12-21T21:26:00.000-05:00

The AotW for December 13th-19th is Jacob Burcham of Cabell Midland High School. Mr. Burcham won the Barboursville Winter Series 3miler in a time of 15:27. The sophomore wins the final AotW for 2010, which is fitting as he has been the story of the running community this year as well.

Athlete of the Week - Cody Pellicionni

2010-12-17T21:20:00.000-05:00

The AotW for December 6th-12th is Cody Pelliccioni of Morgantown High School. Cody ran at Foot Locker Nationals and finished 36th. He is only the fifth West Virginian to ever participate in this exclusive high school meet. The future NC State runner covered the course in sixteen minutes. Best of luck in track.

Athlete of the Week - Jacob Burcham

2010-12-07T10:03:00.002-05:00

The AotW for November 29th - December 5th is Jacob Burcham of Cabell Midland High School. Mr. Burcham went to NXN over the weekend and finished in 16th place against some of the best HS runners the nation has to offer. Hard to believe how quickly he's moved along just in the past two years. Clearly one of the top underclassmen in the nation, he now rolls into track carrying a MUCH higher level of fitness than this time last year. All the WV State Meet/ WV HS All-Time guys distance records are on Death Row... get ready for some bombs to get dropped this spring.

Photo: midlandrunning.com

Athlete of the Week - Cody Pelliccioni

2010-11-28T20:37:00.004-05:00

The AotW for Nov. 22-28 is Cody Pelliccioni of Morgantown High. Cody wins via his 7th place finish at Foot Locker South and qualification to Foot Locker Nationals. He joins the very, very select group of Taylor, Redman, Cox and Simpson to have the title of "Foot Locker Qualifier." His time of 15:04 is the fastest ever by a West Virginian at Foot Locker South in the McAlpine era. He ran a smart, tough race and has rightfully earned his place as one of the greatest cross country runners to ever come through West Virginia. Enjoy the trip to San Diego, live it up.

Special tip o' the cap to Jacob Burcham of Cabell Midland for his 5th place at NXN SE and resulting bid to NXN in Portland. It's another great accomplishment on his resume and I'm sure he'll do a great job representing WV out west as well. Other special tips o' the cap: the NCAA crew for their great job in Terra Hault; Katie Gillespie for her All-American for the Mountaineers; Sami Harris and Eric Graf for cracking some skulls outside the Seeded races; and Kate Harrison for winning Canadian Senior XC.

Incredible Cross '10 for the state. FL qualifier, NXN qualifier, three guys at D-I Nats, two girls at D-I Nats, one A-A, one guy to D-II Nats, a new course record at Cabell, EIGHT new top-25 WV performances at FL South, a BoP champion, a Canadian Cross champion, and the list goes on. Cross is almost over... and track has almost begun!

Athlete of the Week - Andrew Benford

2010-11-26T06:40:00.003-05:00

The AotW for November 8th-14th is Andrew Benfored of the University of Richmond. (The picture above is too awesome to only use once.) Mr. Benford ran 30:30 at the UL course to finish 10th at the Southeast Regional. His finish helped propel his team to an at-large bid to Nationals. Being an integral part of your team reaching nationals, as a senior, must be a dream come true. With Levi at the #4 spot and Steve at the helm, Richmond doing a great job bringing some WV to the national meet.

Special hat tip to Dustin Hall, Katie Gillespie and Sarah-Anne Brault for their individual qualifications to Nationals.

Athlete of the Week - Matt Schiffbauer

2010-11-09T20:17:00.003-05:00

The AotW for November 1st-7th is Matt Schiffbauer. Schiffy wins via his third place finish at Conference USAs, where he helped the Thundering Herd to a fourth place finish. He covered the course in 23:42, twelve seconds off the winner. Next up is Regionals, this weekend, in Penn State. Best of luck to Schiffy and everyone else gunning for a place on the start line in Terra Haute.

Hat tip to the WVIAC runners, especially WJU guys and Concord women. Congrats on the win, best of luck at Regionals. Also, hat tip to Jacob Burcham and Jorden Thorton for winning the Third Ave. Mile down in Huntington.

Athlete of the Week - Andrew Benford

2010-10-31T20:26:00.005-04:00

The AotW for October 25th-31st is Andrew Benford of the University of Richmond. Mr. Benford won the Atlantic-10 Championships over the weekend in a time of 24:12, leading his team to the team title as well. He is a graduate of Ravenswood High and won numerous state titles in his time there. His next stop should be Regionals where he'll try to qualify for nationals. Best of luck to him as he continues to storm through his season.

Bunch of Tips 'o the Cap this week... CMHS for the incredible job with the State Meet, honestly the WVSSAC should just award it to them on a 10-year basis... Jacob Burcham for the jaw-dropping performance to win AAA Boys. Gonna be fun to see the scalps he takes at NXN... Sarah McCauley for that thunderous move in AA-A Girls... Midland boys for putting together one of the top WV team performances I've ever seen... University girls for refusing to lose, again... Propst for closing things out in style... Woodford for running the hard race and repeating... and to all the kids (collegiates too) who hit their goals this weekend.

Regionals, Nationals, BoP, NXN and Footlockers... let's finish this one off.

What I think that I think.

2010-10-26T13:31:00.003-04:00

Here's your 1,000% certified W-preview of the 2010 West Virginia State XC Meet. Like always, there won't be any real predictions but remember to turn up the tunes! (Some tunes are slightly NSFW, for naughty language reasons.)

10:00 am -- AA-A Boys

On the individual side, there's two Shaffers and a Woodford who seem to have somewhat seperated themselves from the rest of the state. On the team side, it looks like it's a fight between Grafton, St. Mary's and maybe Phillip Barbour. But, this is AA-A boys. If anything over the past couple years, AA-A boys has been chaos. Those three individuals could win, someone out of the field could win, those three teams could win, some group of dudes could come out of the sticks and 15 point the state. I don't know and neither does anyone else. I miss the old predictable days of Ravenswood dominance, where no one had to care about point totals because we all knew the outcome. This race will be fun, just remember to buy a program beforehand. I guarantee you'll need to use it.

10:45 -- AA-A Girls

This looks like it'll be the Philip Barbour show on the team side of things. While they've got the girls up front to run away with this thing, it only takes one bad race to let Scott and others slip by. But, all eyes are going to be on...

HARRIS v. MCCAULEY... cage match! The girl who can run forever versus the girl with an incredibly explosive kick. The immovable object versus the unstoppable force. Yin versus Yang. Water versus Fire. Spikes versus trail shoes. Defending champ Maggie Drazba will be protecting her title and has the firepower to do so, but it'll take an upset at this point to get by both the favorites.

1:00 -- The Main Event

There's going to be three intense battles within this race: Individual title, the last All-State spot and the team title. Individually, this will be a race that will go down in WV distance running lore. It's far to close to call, but the winner will certainly come out of the Big Four of Burcham, Cody, Dayton, and Doughty. How this will play out is a complete and total mystery. Each of these runners are fully-trained and apparently healthy. There will be no excuses and no rankings or polls to fall back on. The winner will be better than the other three, period. If you want to step onto the track with a shot a victory, the price of admission is going to be sub-5min/mi pace. Good luck.

The last All-State spot will be a wild finish. If you consider that the Big Four will almost certainly take four All-State spots and E. Graff-Salmons will likely take two more, all of a sudden you have the rest of the state running for only four places! Born-StobbeBrown-Schwarzenberg were within one second at NCACs. Waugh-Campbell-Harmon-King were within 13 seconds at MSAC. I expect these seven, and a few more, to merge into a monster third chase pack. There's going to be ten to twelve guys trying to squeeze into those four spots and not everyone is going to fit.

In the team title, everyone seems to have annointed Cabell Midland as the 2010 champions. I think they're the favorites but that the race is much closer than most people are saying. Jefferson has an outside chance on a normal day, but can close the projected gap very quickly with only one person running an above-average race. The State Meet can be a very strange place, and as Mark Twain said, “It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.”

1:45 -- AAA Girls

This should end up being your convential WV State Meet race. A prohibitive favorite (Propst), the rest of the field in a long string behind her, and a couple teams fighting it out for the team title. The only thing that could beat Propst is something unforeseen: an injury, a fall, someone who runs out of their mind, ect. It would be an upset, to put it mildly.

The field behind Propst is pretty murky. Scherich and Phillips are obviously having great seasons and there's a slew of ladies only a few strides behind them. Really, everything from 2nd place to last place is up for grabs. There will certainly be some unexpected finishes and a top-15 dominated by freshmen...

The team title will have dozens of parents counting finishers and crunching numbers as if their lives depended on it. UHS and Preston are incredibly close, seperated by only 2 points at NCACs. Only those two teams can win because no one else has a chance against the Mon/Preston powerhouses, right? Well, Hampshire seems to have been taking notes from another Eastern Panhandle team last year... I smell an ambush. It'll be a wild ride and the top three teams will probably be seperated by less than ten points.

There you go, that should be all the major players. The typical best viewing strategy is to watch the start, climb the hill behind the track to the one mile/two mile marks, then run back down the hill and catch the finish. Things to watch for that could make or break races: Grafton's #5 guy v. St. Mary's #5, where is Scott's #5 girl, how hard can Harris take the first mile out, where is Jefferson's #5 guy, are Cabell's #4 and#5 guys in the top-15, can the other three break Doughty by 2mi, and how far up the field is the Hampsire girls' pack located. The weather looks beautiful and it should be a great day of racing.

Good luck to everyone... you're gonna need it.

Athlete of the Week - Stewart Jones

2010-10-25T09:19:00.001-04:00

The AotW for October 18th-24th is Stewart Jones of Wheeling Jesuit. Mr. Jones wins his AotW by finishing third at the Walsh/Malone Invitational (3K) in a time of 9:07. Mr. Jones is a 2007 graduate of Weir High School and is in his third year at WJU. Next up for him should be the WVIAC Championships on 07 November. Best of luck to him.

Athlete of the Week - Clara Grandt

2010-10-20T09:52:00.006-04:00

The Aotw for October 11-17 is Clara Grandt. Clara ran the Tuft's 10K on Monday and finished as the fifth American in 33:23. Tuft's 10K served as the USATF women's 10K road national championship. Clara moved up to 12th in the USARC standings with her finish. Great job Clara, best of luck through the rest of the year. (Feel free to play "Where's Waldo" with this picture and find Clara...)

Very special tip 'o the cap to Andrew Benford. Mr. Benford won an AotW a few weeks ago and came within 40m of winning another on Saturday. If you haven't seen his finish at pre-nats, go here and fast-forward to about 24:00. The next time someone gives you the old cliche of "I gave 100%!" have them watch that video. How he could draw so much out of his body that he hit the literal point of collapse is a testament to toughness. Best of luck to him through the rest of his season, here's hoping he brings home an All-American.

Athlete of the Week - Dayton McVicker

2010-10-10T20:18:00.005-04:00

The AotW for October 4th to 10th is Dayton McVicker. The senior at West Fairmont earns his AotW via his 16:28 win at the 23rd Times Invitational. His time was the fastest recorded at Times in the RunWV.com era. An impressive win over stiff competition. Best of luck to Dayton through the rest of the fall.

Special tip 'o the cap to the middle school runners that were at Times. Both races were extremely deep and fun to watch. The future looks promising.

(Photo: www.tristaterunnur.com - Where there's also video and further, in-depth coverage.)

Athlete of the Week - Andrew Benford

2010-10-05T10:59:00.004-04:00

The AotW for September 27th to October 3rd is Andrew Benford of the University of Richmond. The Ravenswood High graduate earns his AotW by placing third at the Paul Short meet in Lehigh, Pa. He covered the 8k in 23:52 for third place, trailing THE Sam Chelenga by only 18 seconds. This outstanding result helped lead his team up to sixth place. Best of luck to Andrew throughout the rest of his season.

Tip o' the cap to the high schoolers this past week for taking some big, out-of-state scalps... it's almost time.

Athlete of the Week - Cody Pelliccioni

2010-09-30T10:18:00.002-04:00

The AotW for September 20-26 is Cody Pelliccioni of Morgantown High School. The '08 AAA XC champ won the Oatlands Invitational, for the second consecutive year, in 16:10. Cody is a senior and one of the favorites to win the AAA crown this year. Next stop for Mr. Pelliccioni is the Great American Cross Country Festival, in Cary, NC this weekend. Best of luck.

Athlete of the Week - Jacob Burcham

2010-09-25T19:01:00.003-04:00

The AotW for September 13-19 is Jacob Burcham of Cabell Midland High School. Mr. Burcham ran 15:19 at the Trinity/Valkyrie Invitational (5K) for third place. He led his team over a very fast course to a fifth place finish. This is one of the biggest meets in Kentucky and draws several of the nation's best teams. Outstanding finish, and best of luck through the rest of the season.

Athlete of the Week - Clara Grandt

2010-09-13T15:45:00.003-04:00

Race is here.

The AotW for September 6th-12th is Clara Grandt. Clara finished fourth at the USA 20km Championship in a time of 1:09:02 (5:34 pace). I could not figure out how to embed her race, but it's linked above at runnerspace. Great race for Ms. Grandt, and a real breakthrough into the road racing circuit. Best of luck to Clara in her long awaited marathon debut later this Fall.

Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads.

2010-09-11T17:06:00.009-04:00

What's the best way to fight terrorism on 9/11? You can either scam Libyan terrorists with a bomb casing full of used pinball machine parts... or you can driving six hours through three states to watch four races! Here's a righteous recap of W and JS's trip to the 2010 Red, White and Blue Invitational and the 2010 Chic-Fil-A Invitational. Soundtrack is here.

We left my fortified compound in Morgantown at 6:30am and drove directly to McDonalds to pick up a Bacon, Egg and Cheese McGriddle and a large coffee (both were essential). We got up to Schenley Park in Pittsburgh around 8:00, in plenty of time for the guys race to go off at 8:50. The race was run on what was essentially a loop course. The start is at the end of a field on the top of a hill, the runners run across the field, down a short hill, across a road and then waaaaaaaay down a packed limestone hill. The hill they have to descend/climb is very long. If you hustle, you can catch the start and then make it to the bottom of the hill and see ~2000m mark. After the runner reach the bottom of this hill, they stay on the crushed limestone path and start their ascent. Again, if you hustle, you can make it from the bottom of the hill, over the top and catch a last section of their run up the hill. The path ends up at the field they started on. They then run one big loop, still on crushed limestone, around the field and finish. The loop at the end is very long, maybe 1,000m. You can watch almost the entire last 1,000m pretty easily. There is no admission fee and no concession stand.

This meet is huge, with almost 300 runners in the varsity guys race alone. The gun went off for the guys race and we ran down the hill to the ~2000m mark. The only WV team in the race was Morgantown, so that's who we were watching. Cody Pelliccioni came through around 8th, at the back of a pack of seven. The leader at this point would later fade back pretty far, if I recall correctly. Cam Greza came through in the 30s and then we had to start running up the hill to catch the finish. By the top of the hill, Cody's pack was down to about four guys and the eventual winner was a couple strides ahead of the other three. As they went around the long loop at the top, the winner stretched out his lead and Cody fought off the third guy, finishing in 15:23. Cam hung tough, finishing 34th.

The girls race went off promptly after the guys had finished. At the bottom of the hill, Sydney Pineault was around 12th and in a long string of girls. Brynn Harshbarger was moving up the field, back in the 30s. At the top of the hill, Sydney had picked off quite a few girls and was up to 9th, Brynn had charged up the field and was around 18th with a large pack of nine girls in front of her. On the long loop at the top, Sydney pulled out Old Painless and put a couple girls out of their misery, getting up to 6th in 19:06. Brynn worked her way into 16th at 19:29. The team managed 6th place out of 32 teams.

Immediately following the finish of the girls race, we jumped into the car. It was 9:50 and the AAA race at Chic-Fil-A started at 12:40. We pulled onto the interstate, got up to 88 miles per hour and blew through the state of Ohio. Then we got mildly lost in Mineral Wells, which is odd in a town with no stoplights.

The course at Mineral Wells is basically loops in fields, cutting in and out of some woods. Mostly flat, it can be very fast. We positioned ourselves at the one mile mark and could then jog to the two mile mark and the finish line. Both mile marks had clocks. The weather was great, with cloud cover setting in right before the gun first went off for the AAA races. There was a $4 Student/$5 Adult admission fee and a Chic-Fil-A (of course) concession stand.

The guys race started about ten minutes after we rolled into the parking lot. We were standing at the mile mark and Dayton McVicker came through in 4:57 with a large lead over Joe Kirtner of Winfield. Dayton came through two miles at 9:59 and won in 16:14. He denied that he stopped for a delicious chicken sandwich during that last mile. Kirtner got second by a pretty large margin over third place, in 16:52. Unbelievably, the Chic-Fil-A concession stand then starting selling chicken sandwiches two for one. Needless to say, we missed the start of the girls race.

Alyssa Scherich had such a large lead at the first mile that initially I thought she was lost and had cut the course. She maintained that lead for the duration of the race (19:37), while Emma Harrison got away from Erica Voreh for second. Parkersburg crushed all comers for both team titles.

All in all, it was a beautiful day and pretty fun to catch both meets. I think I used up my meet-watching quota for the rest of the month, so I probably won't make it out again until Times. I would encourage other WV teams to go up and give the Red, White and Blue Invite a shot at some point in the future. The competition is pretty intense, it's a well-run meet and it's early enough in the day that you can do other things. Chic-Fil-A was a good show, as usual, even though we missed all the early action. Would have been nice to have seen McCauley v. Harris, but we would have needed a time machine.

Athlete of the Week - Brandon Doughty

2010-09-05T23:01:00.009-04:00

The AotW for August 30th to September 5th is Brandon Doughty of Jefferson High School. Mr. Doughty won the Interstate Classic in a course record time of 15:44, also leading his team to a dominating win. Brandon is a senior and one of the "Big Four" competing for the AAA state title. As his team proved at Knight Night, and again this weekend, they are also in a dead-heat for the AAA team title.

Special hat tip to Jacob Burcham for his course record at GEICO, to Letitia Propst for her victory at GEICO, and to Jason Pyles and Maria Busienei for their victories at the Charleston Distance Run.

-----

I've noticed that the Ogden 20k has changed to a half-marathon, and now the CDR has eliminated prize money and is in discussions to move to the 13.1 distance as well. Whatever the motivations, and I have to be a little disappointed with the loss of history, I think these standardizations presents an interesting opportunity. In the Parkersburg half results, they show the combined times of the Parkersburg and Ogden finishers. For 2010, WV could now have a perfectly spread out half marathon schedule, in the geographical and calendar sense. January - Run to Read in Fairmont, May - Ogden in Wheeling, June - Decker's Creek in Morgantown, August - Sentinel in Parkersburg, September - CDR in Charleston, October - Beckley Half in Beckley and Freedom's Run in Shepardstown, November - Marshall Half in Huntington. Basically every area of population in WV would be covered, spaced out rather evenly over the course of the year.

My thought is that this is a perfect setup for some sort of half marathon series. Maybe total time for a runner's best three races, maybe total runners beat, maybe age-graded total time for best three races, maybe some sort of bonus system for competing in more than the minimum, maybe some sort of cash prize, certainly an award for running every race. At any rate, the mechanics would be up to the race directors. If we sacrifice some of our WV road racing history by standardize into the half marathon distance, maybe we should use this as an opportunity to start a new chapter in that history.

Athlete of the Week - Megan (Metcalfe) Wright

2010-08-29T15:56:00.002-04:00

The AotW for August 23rd-29th is Megan (Metcalfe) Wright of Morgantown. Megan earns her AotW by running 8:44.29 and finishing 4th at the Reiti Meeting over in Italy. (That's ~9:22 3200m for the HS crowd.) That's a PB and makes her around the 6th fastest outdoor 3k performer in Canadian history. Next up for Megan is a 5,000m at the Continental Cup in Split, Croatia on Sunday.

Hat tip to the high schoolers who opened up their cross country season this past weekend. Only 12 more weeks until Foot Locker...

Athlete of the Week - Sami Harris

2010-08-29T15:26:00.003-04:00

The AotW for August 16th-22nd is Sami Harris of Charleston Catholic High School. Ms. Harris headlined a busy weekend by running 1:26:57 (6:39 pace!) at the Parkersburg Half-marathon. That is a pretty intense time for a 15yo girl on that course. Jason Pyles led the WV men, Clara Grandt (went off course) led the WV women. Best of luck to Ms. Harris as she kicks off her sophomore XC campaign and chases that elusive State XC title.

Athlete of the Week - Marian Pyles

2010-08-29T15:19:00.003-04:00

The AotW for August 9th-15th is Marian Pyles. Mrs. Pyles is the Assistant XC/Track coach at UC and earns her AotW by being the first female across the line at the Chief Logan 5K in Logan, WV. She ran 19:25 to take the win. Best of luck to her this Fall, in racing and coaching.

Athlete of the Week - Clara Grandt

2010-08-12T15:47:00.003-04:00

The AotW for August 2nd-8th is Clara Grandt. Clara earns her AotW by being the first female at the Debbie Green 5K in a time of 16:29. Clara is a recent graduate of WVU and is sponsored by Riadha (http://www.riahda.org/). She is still training in Morgantown under Sean Cleary. Best of luck to her as she rolls through the Fall road racing schedule.

Athlete of the Week - David Bias

2010-08-06T14:15:00.003-04:00

The AotW for July 26th to August 1st is David Bias. Mr. Bias earns his AotW through his 15:39 win at the Bun Run 5K in Huntington. Megan Truelove won the women's side of the race in 19:20. David is a 2008 graduate of Cabell Midland High School, where he capped off his high school career with a 1:56.22 victory in the 800m. Nice job over the weekend and best of luck in the future.

Athlete of the Week - Dayton McVicker

2010-08-06T13:57:00.003-04:00

The AotW for July 19-25 is Dayton McVicker of West Fairmont High School. Mr. McVicker earns his AtoW via his victory at the Wisconsin Camp of Champions time trial. He put up a time of 13:17 on a 2.7 mile grass course and inserted himself as the tenth guy on their all-time top-10 list for the camp. Some of the last names also on that list include Bairu, Watson, Solinsky, Jennings and Jager. Pretty cool historical company to keep. Best of luck to Dayton through the XC campaign.

Athlete of the Week - Riley Freeman

2010-08-06T13:52:00.002-04:00

The AotW for July 12-18 is Riley Freeman. Mr. Freeman recently graduated from Philip Barbour High School and wins his AotW via his 17:17 win at the Durbin Days Back Road 5K. He just came off of an outdoor campaign where he finished runner-up in the 800m and 1600m and third in the 3200m, in Class AA. I could not find a picture of Riley Freeman (although apparently that is also the name of a Boondocks character...) but would add one if someone would send it to me. Best of luck to Mr. Freeman in his future endeavors.

Athlete of the Week - Keri Bland

2010-07-16T13:25:00.003-04:00

The AotW for July 5th-11th is Keri Bland. Keri represented the United States down at the U-23 NACAC Championship, in Miramar, Florida and won the 1500m. She ran 4:24.38, winning by just over a second in the tactical and very hot race. Jessica O'Connell, who was racing for America's Hat, finished second and gave the Mountaineers a 1-2 sweep. Great job representing your country, girls

Athlete of the Week - Megan (Metcalfe) Wright

2010-07-14T07:12:00.003-04:00

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

The AotW for June 28 to July 4 is Megan Wright. Formerly Megan Metcalfe, Mrs. Wright wins her AotW via her 7th place finish at the Prefontaine Classic. She ran 15:20.70 at historic Heyward Field. (I've embedded her race at Harry Jerome from 7/5 because it's more interesting to watch than the video of her Pre race.) She is a 2005 graduate from WVU who still lives in Morgantown and trains under Sean Cleary. Megan is chasing the Commonwealth Games standards of 15:16.99 and 4:10.24.

Athlete of the Week - Josh Simpson

2010-07-13T12:45:00.003-04:00

The AotW for June 21-27 is Josh Simpson of the New York Athletic Club. Josh, an '03 Oak Glen graduate who trains out of Morgantown, finished 6th at the USATF National Championships in the 10,000m. He ran the tactical race in a time of 29:22.43, after blowing his foot apart with 800m to go. Get well soon Josh and good luck this Fall.
Hat tip to the other West Virginians at USATFs: Keri Bland (800m, North Marion), Clara Grandt (10,000m, Doddridge) and Karly Hamric (1,500m, Preston).

Athlete of the Week - Jacob Burcham

2010-07-13T12:11:00.003-04:00

The AotW for June 14-20 is Jacob Burcham of Cabell Midland High School. Jacob wins his 7th AotW via his 17th place performance at New Balance Nationals, where he ran 4:15.10 for the mile. Other outstanding preformances at the meet include Dayton McVicker (15:26.90 for 5,000m) and Cam Viney (53.78 for 400H and 14.83 for 110H). If this site were not distance oriented, Mr. Viney would be the man of the week for that crazy 400H time.
Hat tip to the folks down at the WV 5K Championship for another superb event, looking forward to the 2011 edition.

Athlete of the Week - Marie Louise Asselin

2010-06-16T09:16:00.004-04:00

The AotW for June 7th-13th is Marie Louise Asselin of WVU. Marie finished 2nd in the 5,000m at NCAAs in a time of 15:53.93. Marie ran one of the most brutally tough races of the meet, going out with Koll and Blizzari at such a pace that Blizzari cracked and collapsed into the infield at 3400m. Marie then held off a hard-charging Kosinski with a 69 second final lap. With Koll graduating, Marie will be the top returner in 2011.

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Special tip 'o the cap to Marie, Clara Grandt (4th, 10,000m), Karli Hamric (6th, 1,500m) and Keri Bland (9th, 1,500m). This distance squad scored 16 points at NCAAs and secured 15th place for WVU. While Clara and Karli now move on to the post-collegiate scene, Marie and Keri will be back next year for one final push on the track.

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Reminder that the WV 5K Championship is this Saturday. Last I saw, this race had over 500 registered and there is also race day registration. Should be a good week with NB Nationals, WV 5K and the Clarksburg 10K. Good luck to everyone.

Athlete of the Week - Jacob Burcham

2010-06-16T09:00:00.004-04:00

The AotW for May 31st to June 5th is Jacob Burcham of Cabell Midland High School. Over the weekend Jacob won the Beat Beethoven 5K in a stellar time of 15:39. That was an impressive win after a long track season. Next up for Mr. Burcham appears to be New Balance Nationals, where he'll run the Mile. Cam Viney (hurdles) and Dayton McVicker (5,000m) are also going to be competing. The meet runs from Thursday to Saturday (17th-19th) and will be webcast at http://www.newbalancenationals.com/ and on flotrack.org. Good luck to all three and a hat tip to you guys for having the stones to go to a big, out-of-state, post-season meet.

Athlete of the Week - Clara Grandt

2010-06-02T10:56:00.003-04:00

The AotW for May 24-30 is Clara Grandt, a Doddridge County High School graduate. This was essentially a four-way tie between the four WVU distance ladies who qualified for nationals and Clara won by the trusty coin-flip tiebreaker. She won the 10,000m at the East Regional in a time of 34:29.86, Keri Bland (North Marion) qualified in the 1500m by winning her heat in 4:18.92, Karly Hamric (Preston) qualified in the 1500m right behind Keri in 4:19.98 and Marie-Louise Asselin qualified by winning her heat of the 5,000m in 16:20.43. NCAAs will be in Eugene from June 9th to the 12th.

Photo Courtesy: Michael Scott

W Interviews ... W

2010-06-01T13:09:00.001-04:00

As the victor of the 2010 Fantasy Track Extravaganza, "W" has won an exclusive front page interview, conducting by... himself.

First off, are you really going to conduct this interview in the third-person?
Well, that's a great question. Yes, I'm going to. The grand prize this year was an interview by W, so I think I owe it to myself for myself to conduct the interview of myself.

I think that's a pretty stupid idea, but let's get this over with. How did you get involved at Run The Arb?
It was just a progression. I got so involved on the message board with the Best Performance List and AotW that eventually people identified me as the owner of the site. Eventually, the Casey handed over the keys to castle, so to speak.

Your choices for AotW leave much to be desired. Is there a thought process behind it, or do you just draw names out of a hat?
There is actually quite a bit of thought put into it. The choice is made subjectively, but there are a lot of race results, comparisons, opinions to compile before I award it. Because it is a weekly award, there are usually two to three comparable athletes to choose from on a weekly basis. Some times the week is a very busy week and I've having to split hairs in order to chose between All Americans. Other weeks, I literally have to scroll through random 40-people road races in order to find anyone to hand an AotW. There is a process to it, and, believe it or not, I do try pretty hard to stay neutral on the matter and not let any biases take effect.

Can you please stop some of the stupidity on the message board?
At times, I wish I could. However, users would be surprised at just which topics people consider to be stupidity. I've had both sides of a debate come to me and ask me to delete (or, in essence, censor) the other side because it was the other side that was so stupid. That's where I have to try to take a hands-off approach, aside from the few rules listed. If people want to make absurd statements that don't break the rules, refute them. Presenting some logic goes a lot further than simple deletion.

Can't you just require registration?
No, that's not going to happen. Anonymous posting has benefits that registration just can't match. Just as one example, there won't be a critical mass of posts to keep any discussion going if everyone was required to register. The board would suffocate in weeks. I do wish more people would adopt handles and stick to them. I have not posted as anything but "W" since I created that moniker. I get enjoyment out of being accountable and being a member of a community, as opposed to being a faceless anon. But, to each his own. I understand the choice to be anonymous.

Which high schoolers do you think are going to win XC '10?
Whoever works the hardest, the longest. It is nearly impossible to predict the finish of an October race based on observations in the track season. I mean, there's a five month period between state track and state cross. Smart runners are progressing during those off seasons, not getting drastically out-of-shape then working like a dog to get back into average shape by September. It's always the smart, progressing runners that screw up everyone's predictions, and it's impossible to know who those runners will be, unless you know their training. Hence, the futility of early season predictions.

Are you a quality or quantity guy?
Quantity, probably to a fault. The compounding effects of mileage are pretty amazing if looked at on a longer timescale. Speed is a good quick fix, but mileage is a long-term steamroller. The problem I run into most with HS'ers and some collegiates is that there isn't any growth in mileage because they're always trying to get back to previous totals, while racing. The training log looks like a roller coaster, and because of their racing schedule there isn't the proper time to build up to a healthy total. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice...

What's your favorite workout to give?
Probably 12x400m cutdown w/ 75sec recovery. I don't like to give it too often, but there's some primal about those last three or four quarters.

What's your favorite workout to run?
Any sort of hill workout. Usual choices are Towers hills or Arb hills. I would rather be in the Arb, but I'm just happy to do hills.

Ok, well congratulations on winning the Fantasy Extravaganza... I think you're going to be banned from prizes next year.
Thanks, just as long as I can defend my title, I'll be happy.

Athlete of the Week - Brandon Doughty

2010-05-24T00:17:00.004-04:00

The AotW for May 17th to 23rd is Brandon Doughty of Jefferson High School. Brandon ran a 1:56.66/4:14.30/9:23.20 triple, anchored the 2nd place 4x800m team, won the 2010 AAA High Point and helped push his team to a AAA Team Championship. Mr. Doughty is a junior and the defending AAA Cross Country Boys Champion. We've now had three different boys go sub-4:15 at the State Meet from 2005-2010. There were zero from 1979-2004.

Special Tip o' the Cap to just about everyone who was down in Charleston over the weekend. That was a crazy meet. Class A girls 800 and 1600 records were 1.25 combined seconds from both being broken by a freshman. Class A boys saw their 800 record broken by two guys. Class AA girls had 2 girls under 2:20 (one a freshman) and were less than a second away from the 1600 record falling. Class AA boys had some of the tightest finshes of the weekend and two boys under 1:59. Class AAA girls almost saw their 800 record broken and sub-11:00. Class AAA boys finished the record book re-write that started last year with the 800 record getting smashed with authority; saw the one-year-old 3200 record go down in one of the most exciting finishes there's been in a while; and saw three boys sub-4:20 and one of them sub-4:15.

Bring on Cross Country and Foot Locker.

(Photo: www.tristaterunnur.com)

Athlete of the Week - Keri Bland

2010-05-23T09:12:00.003-04:00

The AotW for May 10th - 16th is Keri Bland of WVU. Keri ran 4:14.52 and 2:07.04 over the week. The 1500m time is the seventh fastest time in the NCAA, and the second fastest in school history. Unbelievably, Kari Hamric ran 4:15.32 and 2:08.02 this week. WVU is home to two of the top-ten 1500m girls in the NCAA, and both are from West Virginia. Good luck to both through the rest of their seasons.

Tip of the Cap to all the kids that qualified for States, and a Special Tip of the Cap to Andy Bailey of Saint Albans for putting up 1:53.93 in the 800m to win Region IV in stunning fashion.

Athlete of the Week - Josie Crouch

2010-05-19T12:42:00.003-04:00

The AotW for May 3rd-9th is Josie Crouch of Hurricane High School. Ms. Crouch wins her AotW via her 2:13.80 800m at the MSAC Championships. Someone is going to need a rocket and rollerskates to beat Josie at States in the 800m. Best of luck to her as she finishes out her senior year.

Athlete of the Week - Jacob Burcham

2010-05-02T22:31:00.004-04:00

The AotW for April 26th - May 2nd is Jacob Burcham, a freshman at Cabell Midland High School. Jacob earns his AotW by his 1:56/4:14/9:20 triple. The best way to describe how great his weekend was would be to just say that he topped what was probably one of the best distance weekends in the history of the state. We had three Big East Champions (two WV natives), a dude run 13:41, a 2:15 girl, a 5:04/10:57 girl, 1:53 guy at WVIAC, a 1:55/4:19/9:23 boy, a 4:20/9:33 boy, a girl run 5:10 solo (and no one seem to notice...) and on, and on. Tip 'o the hat to the entire state... unbelievable week.

Athlete of the Week - Jacob Burcham

2010-05-02T22:16:00.003-04:00

The AotW for April 19th - 25th is Jacob Burcham of Cabell Midland High School. Jacob, a freshman, ran 4:16.40 at the Eastern Relays in Louisville. This earned him a real thread on LetsRun and it also brought him up to "Where were you when you heard Burcham ran 4:16?" status. (I was in a Subway in Grafton, ordering lunch.) Basically, the game changed for the guys in the state. This is an (obviously) astounding time for a kid this young, and it establishes him as a very, very rare talent.
(Photo: tristaterunnur.com)

Athlete of the Week - Josie Crouch

2010-05-02T22:08:00.005-04:00

The AotW for April 11th - 18th is Josie Crouch of Hurricane High School. Ms. Crouch wins her AotW via her 2:16.02 800m at the Russ Parson Invitational. Josie, like always, has a hammer-lock on the 800m within the state. She is headed to WVU next year to run for the Mountaineers.

Athlete of the Week - Keri Bland

2010-05-02T21:56:00.002-04:00

The AotW for April 5th - 11th is Keri Bland. Keri ran 4:19.84 for the 1500m at the Sun Devil Invitational in Arizona State. In the same race were teammates Jessica O'Connell (4:22.29), Karly Hamric (4:22.95) and Kaylyn Christopher (4:27.39). Great evening of races for all these girls.

Athlete of the Week - Matt Schiffbauer

2010-04-11T10:16:00.003-04:00

The AotW for March 29th - April 4th is Matt Schiffbauer. Matt ran a 1:55.14/3:55.75 double at the Duke Invitational. Matt is a University High graduate who now runs for the Herd down in Huntington. Best of luck to him through the rest of year.

Athlete of the Week - Clara Grandt

2010-04-11T10:06:00.002-04:00

I'm not going to bother putting her picture up again, just scroll down and you'll find it 8 or 9 times. The AotW for March 22nd-28th is Clara Grandt. Clara ran 16:01.18 at the Stanford Invite, leading a large group of Mountaineers (Kate Harrison 16:24.40, Sarah Anne Brault 16:27.66, Ahna Lewis 16:29.94, Stephanie Caruso 17:26.28) in the 5000m. Four Mountaineers under 16:30 is a pretty good day.

Athlete of the Week - Dustin Hall

2010-04-11T09:52:00.003-04:00

The AotW for March 15th-21st is Dustin Hall. Mr. Hall ran 15:06.71 for the 5000m down at the Wake Forest Invitational. Dustin was part of a great meet for the WVIAC, and Wheeling Jesuit in particular. Best of luck to him for the rest of his outdoor season.

Athlete of the Week - Chelsea Carrier

2010-04-11T09:46:00.003-04:00

The AotW for March 8th - 14th is Chelsea Carrier. Normally a multi wouldn't qualify for AotW (we are a distance site, after all) but the 800m is an event in the hept, so I'm going to make an exception here. Ms. Carrier ran 2:19.49 at the end of the hept to climb the leaderboard to 4th place at NCAA Indoors. A graduate of Buchannon-Upshur, Chelsea also earned an All-America award in the 60H, helping the Mountaineers to a 10th place finish as a team.

Athlete of the Week - Keri Bland

2010-04-11T09:42:00.002-04:00

The AotW for March 1st - 7th is Keri Bland. Keri ran 4:37.17 and led the Mountianeers to a stellar meet up at the Armory. Basically everyone that needed a qualifier for nationals, got their qualifier for nationals. Great job everyone. (Yes, I'm doing this a month late, I've been busy...)

Athlete of the Week - Jason Pyles

2010-03-05T16:05:00.004-05:00

The AotW for February 22nd-28th is Jason Pyles of Charleston. Jason won Event #3 of the Huntington Winter Series (5 Miles) in a time of 25:49. His wife Marian won the women's side in 29:38. Mr. Pyles is in his first year as the head coach at the University of Charleston. Special tip o' the cap to Pat Riley for putting on a great series of road races and fighting through some really bad weather to do so.

Athlete of the Week - Marie Louise Asselin

2010-02-24T20:33:00.003-05:00

The AotW for February 15th to 21st is Marie Louise Asselin of WVU. Marie Louise ran 15:58.15 at the Big East Indoor Track Championship, winning the 5,000m. She set a WVU school record for the indoor 5,000m and then helped the team to a third place finish in the 4x800m. Clara Grandt was also in the 5,000 and ran 16:04.24. Her mark was also under the old record, which Clara owned. Both girls got their auto qualifiers for nationals.
Special hit tips to the high schoolers who went after some real competition at Kentucky and Akron, hit tip to the collegiates who did well and special hat tip to Chelsea Carrier for winning the BE indoor heptathlon and the 60mH. If this were not a distance site, she's be your AotW.

Athlete of the Week - Zach Tennant

2010-02-15T14:13:00.003-05:00

The AotW for February 8th-14th is Zach Tennant of William & Mary. After setting two state meet records last year and winning 4 AotWs in 7 weeks, Mr. Tennant disappeared into the hinterlands of Williamsburg, Va. Well, he's popped back on the radar this weekend with a 4:16.70 showing in the mile, winning AotW. 4:16 during indoors bodes very well for Zach this spring. Best of luck to him. Tip o' the cap to everyone competing this past weekend, we're fast approaching indoor championship season...

Athlete of the Week - Marie Louise Asselin

2010-02-09T10:11:00.003-05:00

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

The AotW for February 1st-7th is Marie Louise Asselin. Marie Louise won the 3,000m at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in a time of 9:25.79. Directly behind her were Kaylyn Christopher (WVU/Preston) in 9:30.95 and Clara Grandt (WVU/Doddridge) in 9:33.57. Kaylyn's time puts her into the top-5 all-time list at WVU for the indoor 3,000m. Nice job ladies, good luck at Big East.

Athlete of the Week - Clara Grandt

2010-02-03T11:37:00.003-05:00

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

The AotW for January 25th-31st is Clara Grandt of WVU. Clara won the Women's Invitational Mile at the Penn State National Meet, in a time of 4:48.40. She led a slew of good times for the WVU girls at PSU. The ladies are headed back up to PSU this weekend for another meet, best of luck.

Athlete of the Week - Travis Hamrick

2010-02-03T11:10:00.003-05:00

The AotW for January 18th-24th is Travis Hamrick of Wheeling Jesuit University. Mr. Hamrick ran 1:55.46i over that weekend and is now the #2 800m guy in WV for 2010. Travis is an East Fairmont High School graduate (Go Bees!) and ran 1:52 last year. The fight in the WVIAC for 800m supremacy ought to be a good one yet again.

Athlete of the Week - Josh Simpson

2010-01-17T09:27:00.004-05:00

The AotW for January 11th-17th is Josh Simpson. Josh ran 1:03:26 at the Houston Half Marathon, also the USATF Half Marathon Championship, for 8th place. He's been getting in some great workouts in the Shell, and this is the result. (Artistic representation of training in the Shell building here.) Josh's next stop is USATF Cross, where he'll try to qualify for World XC. Best of luck. Special tip o' the cap to Alex Dent and Josie Crouch. If any other AAA girl harbors a desire to win a distance title this spring, you had better be training terrified.

Athlete of the Week - Jacob Burcham

2010-01-12T11:16:00.004-05:00

The AotW for January 4th - 10th is Jacob Burcham a freshman at Cabell Midland High School. Over the weekend Mr. Burcham completed a 4:35.82/2:07.30 double at the Marietta College HS Open Meet #1, winning the 1600m and placing 2nd in the 800m. This weekend essentially kicked off the indoor season and Jacob looks to be a force on the track all through the winter and spring. Special tip 'o the cap to the other high schoolers who got their indoor seasons started, especially Josie Crouch (2:22.87) and Alex Dent (5:21.29). Track has finally returned...

Athlete of the Week - Santa Claus

2009-12-28T11:29:00.004-05:00

The AotW for December 14th - January 3rd is, once again, Santa Claus. Santa worked pretty hard this year and executed another perfect Christmas. 2009 is coming to a close, which can only mean one thing...

Athlete of the Week - Josh Simpson

2009-12-21T15:48:00.003-05:00

The AotW for December 7th-13th is Josh Simpson. Josh ran 29:27 (10K, XC) at the USATF Club Nationals to finish 2nd in a tough field. Abandoned for dead after 18 months of injuries and sickness (and obviously over-the-hill at the elderly age of 25), Josh has rebounded back to his accustomed elite level. With another month of training in his legs, the early part of 2010 ought to be exciting. There are a few interviews of him after the race at flotrack, if you are so inclined. Josh trains out of Morgantown, is coached by Sean Cleary and is sponsored by the New York Athletic Club. Next on his agenda is the Houston Half Marathon and then USATF Cross Country Nationals. Best of luck to him in January.

Athlete of the Week - Alex Dent

2009-12-15T07:01:00.002-05:00

The AotW for November 30th to December 6th is Alex Dent of Hurricane High School. Ms. Dent wins her AotW for her race the weekend prior at Foot Locker South. Alex ran 18:14, which is the third fastest time on that course by a West Virginian girl, and placed an outstanding 35th. Ms. Dent has put in thousands of miles and it's great to see the big payoff from all that work. Good luck to her as she finishes out her high school career later in the spring.

Athlete of the Week - Clara Grandt

2009-11-30T09:57:00.004-05:00

Live from sunny Costa Rica, it´s Athlete of the Week! We don´t have access to pictures today, so this will be a bit rough. The AotW for November 23rd to November 29th is Clara Grandt. Clara finished 14th at the NCAA Championships in Terra Huate, Indiana. Ms. Grandt capped off her final year of cross country with her best performance ever at NCAAs. She, as well as Marie Louise Asselin and Keri Bland, won an All America Award for her efforts. Best of luck to her as she moves on from collegiate cross country. Also, congrats to Coach Cleary for his 6th place team. This was the greatest three year stretch of any WVU nonrifle team in the past several decades. Take a minute and pat yourself on the back. Ok, now reload and do it again, haha...

Special tip of the cap to all those who went down to Foot Locker Nationals. Alex Dent was clearly the story coming out of the race with her 1814. Congrats to her... now, I´m off to the beach.

Athlete of the Week - Karly Hamric

2009-11-23T11:04:00.004-05:00

The AotW for November 16th-22nd is Karly Hamric. Karly earns her award by placing 15th at ECACs over the weekend, helping lead her team to a fifth place finish. Ms. Hamric is a red-shirt senior and this was her final cross country race as a Mountaineer. Karly is a Preston County native and will now be turning her attention to her final track season. Best of luck.

Tip of the cap to all those who went to BoP, and good luck to all those running at Foot Locker South this Saturday.

Athlete of the Week - Clara Grandt

2009-11-20T13:41:00.004-05:00

The AotW for Nov. 9th - 15th is Clara Grandt. Clara earns her 8th (!) AotW via her 8th place performance at Regionals over the weekend. Ms. Grandt led the Mountaineers to a third place finish, which allowed them into nationals on at-large points. The Mid-Atlantic region was the hardest women's region in the nation (five teams qualified) and Clara made a fine showing. Other performances of note were Marie-Louise (13th), Keri Bland (18th), Kate Harrison (19th) and Ahna Lews (24th) in the girl's race, and Matt Schiffbauer (25th) in the guy's race. Nice job everyone, now it's on to nationals for WVU girls...

Athlete of the Week - Sarah Campanelli

2009-11-20T13:31:00.003-05:00

The AotW for Nov. 2nd to Nov. 8th is Sarah Campanelli of Wheeling Jesuit. Ms. Campanelli finished 11th at the Division II Mid-Atlantic Regional with a 6K time of 22:04 (nipping A-B's Ashley Teets by 9 seconds). This was a solid run that landed her just outside of the qualifiers for nationals. She is a junior, so she'll have one more shot at nationals next year. This ended the cross country season for the WVIAC so now it's off into indoors. Best of luck to everyone.

Athlete of the Week - Clara Grandt

2009-11-20T13:17:00.003-05:00

The AotW for Oct. 26 - Nov. 1st (apologies for the tardiness) is Clara Grandt. Clara finished 5th at the Big East Championships in Wisconsin. She finised the 6K course in a time of 21:20. Kudos to Clara for finishing off her final Big East meet in fashion. She's starting her 5th and final year as a Mountaineer on the right path. Best of luck to her at Nationals.
Tip 'o the cap to the high school kids. Tough conditions and some strong performances, well done.

Halloween '09 Recap

2009-11-01T13:48:00.011-05:00

Three hours, seven races, one pretty intense Halloween. Happy Dia de los Muertes, now let's get down to a righteous recap.

Big East -

5 Clara Grandt SR 21:20

7 Marie Louise Asselin SR 21:26

13 Keri Bland SR 21:46

21 Kate Harrison JR 22:00

28 Kaylyn Christopher JR 22:19

( 30) Jessica O'Connell JR 22:20

( 35) Maria Dalzot JR 22:27

Team Score:

Villanova 30 pts

WVU 74 pts

Well, that wasn't exactly the team goal. With Sarah-Anne Brault out, the road to a title got a little more rough, but this was a pretty suprising result. The course was reportedly in very bad shape, hopefully this will be the low-point of the season.

Conference USA -

9 Matthew Schiffbauer 25:08

23 Chris Cole 26:15

29 Joshua Feather 26:33

30 Eric Frohnapel 26:37

32 David Caldwell 26:39

41 Cory Hampshirt 27:03 (ECU)

47 Peter Starnes 27:27

49 Alex Zurbuch 27:40

50 Adam Frohnapfel 28:11

Team - 4th

Well, it wasn't much of a year-over-year improvement for the Marshall team, but they held their own and Chris Cole certainly had a very good race. Schiffy just missed out on First Team All-Conference, but it was a very solid race considering the competition. I think they're going to have a great Regionals if everyone comes to play. (The Marshall girls were last.)

The West Virginia State Meet -

First off, great job putting on the meet by the Midland folks. I'm not sure how people could complain, especially the fans. The fact that they had their gym open so that the fans did not drown outside made them heroes in my book. The course was in average shape (the starting area was really torn to shreds, but the rest of the course was in better-than-predicted condition). The fans were in a more jovial mood than GEICO and I think everyone had a pretty good time.

Hats off to all the winners. It's not an easy thing to do (your author still rues the fact that he let his titles slip away) and you ought to be very, very proud. We'll start with AAA Boys.

Brandon Doughty executed one heck of a race. After track '09, it was apparent that if you were going to beat Brandon Doughty, you had better run away from him early because he can close. Well, he closed at Cabell Midland. He marked his targets, he didn't waste energy (more on that later) and when he made his move, he made it with aggression. It was a beautiful thing.

Others that deserve mention: Logan Wojcik put together a great race, I was really impressed with his ability to run away from his chase pack (I was not impressed when he called me "sir" after the race... I'm still young, dammit.) Tyler Salmons, every year someone always comes out of left-field and takes his All-State award, nice job. Andy Bailey is going to run very, very fast this spring. Cabell Midland had not won States in four years... they may not lose States over the next four years.

AAA Girls

Alex Dent made me (and the rest of the state) look dumb. I watched '09 AAA girls 1600 and 3200 and the 2009 GEICO meet. I bought into the whole, "It doesn't matter how illogical it is, Alex Dent is going to always go out too hard and fade the second half." Well, she fooled everyone. I don't know if it was strategy, but she ran a fool-proof tactical race. She knew that everyone (I must have heard 15 people up on the hill remark, "Don't worry about her, she'll fade" when Dent was starting to run away) thought she was going to fade. So, she goes out at a very reasonable pace, then leaks away a little after the 800m mark. Everyone lets her go, without realizing that SHE DIDN'T GO OUT TOO HARD, SHE WENT OUT WITH YOU! She stayed relaxed the whole race and no one ever challenged her. It was a terrific thing to see. Like Doughty, she picked her spot and executed her race.

Others of mention: Chelsea Clark ran like a tank, running away from three others for second. Jordon Thorton is really, really good and has gotten much better as the year has gone on. What a way for Jefferson to win the state title. They came, they saw, they conquered. Having three All-State runners is going to win you a title the vast majority of the time.

AA-A

I couldn't stay for AA-A, but from the results, I can give out a tip o' the cap to Grafton on the boys side. Any time you can win the team title by 40+ and win the individual title, you've had a really, really good day. Also, fantastic job by Maggie Drazba and St. Mary's in winning an ultra-competitive girls' race. The spread from 1st to 4th in the team race was only eight points and 2nd to 4th was only two points!

This was certainly a trend-busting State Championship. A southern girls individual AAA winner, an eastern panhandle AAA girls team champ and boys individual AAA winner, and a AA-A boys team winner who'd never won a boy's title. The only dynasty that didn't take a hit was the Cabell Midland boys, who dominated (and that's not a strong enough word) the state.

Great job by everyone and now the countdown begins to BoP and Foot Locker, good luck.

The Best Halloween of 2009

2009-10-28T09:54:00.006-04:00

Welcome to the greatest Halloween cross country preview by W, ever. Get excited, jump up and down a couple times, grab a drink, pull up a chair and let's rock. Uhh... or, let's rock. This Halloween is going to have everything you could ever ask for in life. We've got candy, we've got ridiculously revealing girl's costumes, we've got A-10s, we've got Conference USAs, we've got Big Easts, we've got The State Meet and we've got W... all of which are essential to happiness. Let's get it on...

Atlantic 10 Conference Championship - St. Louis, Mo - 10:00am EST - Steve Taylor leads the Richmond Spiders into the battle for A-10 supremacy. Levi Grandt (Doddridge Co. '08) [EDIT: reportly a medical redshirt]. Emma Berry (Morgantown '08) runs for the Spiders on the women's side, but has had a tough 2009 campaign and I don't know if she'll be in the meet.

Conference USA Championship - Houston, Tx - 10:00am EST - Matt Schiffbauer (University '08) and the Thundering Herd are aiming to improve on their 4th placed finish from last year. Marshall's history in C-USA is 6th, 6th, 4th, 4th. This year they are a strong contender to finish 3rd if they all run their race. Last year Eric Frohnapfel (University '07) and Schiffy were 14th and 15th. If Marshall is to capture third, they'll need a third person (I'm looking at you David Caldwell [South Charleston '09]) to crack the top 20. Look for this race to be Schiffbauer's coming-out party. If he's going to nationals, he better be able to run with the big dogs in C-USA. The person with the most pressure on his shoulders is probably Cory Hampshire (Jefferson '09) who gets his first shot at the Marshall team. Running for the Pirates of East Carolina, Mr. Hampshire has to know that this race will be used for current bragging rights within the '09 class.

Big East Championship - Kenosha, Wisc. - 12:50am EST - WVU v. 'nova, round 37. In what should essentially be a dual meet, The Mountaineers and Villanova go at it for the umpteenth time. Last year, the Wildcats stole the championship 40-48. Considering the emphasis WVU puts on Big East championships, I know that Cleary wants this one badly. This is a very deep Mountaineer squad led by Keri Bland (North Marion '06), Clara Grandt (Doddridge '05) and Marie-Louise Asselin. The question will be where #4 and #5 end up. They have to be with Villanova's #4 and #5 or else the numbers will not add up. This will be the most pressure the women have on their shoulders until Terra Haute, so we'll have to wait and see who shows up to fill those last two scoring spots. I've got faith in Cleary-magic, but 'nova has some mighty powerful voo-doo of their own.

The West Virginia State Meet - Ona, West Virginia - 10:00am EST - All previews subject to swine flu and weather nullification. Seriously, this State Meet has the highest possibility I've ever seen of "Oh Em Gee, the pre-race favorite is out with (insert problem here)!" There's a strong possibility that a team with a lock on winning the state meet could wake up on Saturday with their #2, #4 and #5 runners unable to get out of bed and throwing up. And if everyone is healthy, there's a real possibility that the weather is going to wreak havoc and major players in the individual and team races could take a random fall in the mud and be out. I'd be amazed if blind luck didn't dictate at least one of the following 8 titles...

AAA Girls - "Propst can't lose States." "Dent has steamrolled the state." "No one respects Boucher, Nickerson and the panhandle." You could scratch out Dent for Kasprowicz and mark out Boucher, Nickerson for Yeager and we've got 2008 all over again. I see this as a four girl race, with only Chelsea Clark being the possible dark horse. Nickerson is a gamer with a pedigree (3rd '09 1600m, 6th '08 XC) as strong as Dent's. Boucher has run with Nickerson all year and Jefferson always has their people trained tough. Dent is the South's great hope for 2009 XC. She dominated the WV-contingent of GEICO and hasn't really had much of a challenge by an in-state runner. But, she also hasn't run against the #2, #3 and #4 runners on RunWV.com's CC Runner's Rankings on a typical cross country course. Letitia Propst is the most destructive force in West Virginia high school running today. She cannot be properly quantified. If you don't fear her, you should. I do not know if she can be beaten by any person of similiar fitness, in a big-time race. She has kicked down Allison Pettit for the '07 XC title, kicked down Alex Dent for 4th in the '08 3200m, kicked down Courtney Yeager for the '08 XC title in The Comeback, kicked down Sarah Martinelli for 2nd in the '09 3200m and kicked down four girls for the runner-up spot in the '09 800m. She only loses championship races when people have drastically better fitness than her (Crouch in '08 and '09, Kasprowicz in the '09 3200m). So, the question is, did her injury this Fall sap enough of her fitness that Dent & Co. can run away from her and avoid her closing speed? I don't really know, but I have to doubt it. My crystal ball says Propst pulls away from Nickerson right before going onto the track, but the injuries, mud and the swine flu cloud the picture. While Propst is the solid favorite, any of the above girls have a real shot at winning with the right race execution. (Note: the last eight AAA individual girls champions were from the NCAC.)

In the team competition, it's been Hurricane all year long. They dominated University at GEICO by nearly 40 points. Jefferson has looked strong and they only lost to Hurricane by 15 at Forest Festival. Both of these results, however are from mid-September. I think Jefferson is one girl short of a championship squad. If that one girl shows up, Jefferson could steamroll. University is mystifying right now. They left the North Marion NCAC meet as one team and showed up as a completely different team at the NCAC Championship meet two weeks later. They obviously got much better at the #3, #4 and #5 spots, but did they improve enough to take on Hurricane? My crystal ball says maybe. University is going to need some help from Hurricane to pull off the upset. If Hurricane runs the race they ran at MSAC and Regionals, I don't think University can beat them. If Hurricane runs the race they ran at GEICO and any of their top-3 runners slightly slip up, I think University or Jefferson will get out of town with another championship. Barring the swine flu, Hurricane should win the 2009 AAA title. (It should be noted that no team outside of the NCAC (13) and Parkersburg (3) has won a AAA girls title since 1992. Also, the AAA girls title has not left Monongalia County since 2003.)

AAA boys - Cody Pelliccioni should win the 2009 AAA championship. He put together the most impressive four week streak of meets that we've seen in a long time. He's undefeated in real meets this season and has been torching the competition. But... the barbarians are at the gate. His times in-state have not been jaw-dropping. Both his Mountaintop and his NCAC times were on par with member of the Class of '09, and therefore certainly beatable. Dayton McVicker has been getting better at a monstrous pace over the last 45 days and was within 10 seconds of Cody at NCACs. Cody hasn't faced Jacob Burcham this year and [EDIT] only faced Doughty once, in a large meet in Virginia, back in September. Burcham has been toying with his competition down south and has only been soundly beaten twice, both in Ohio. Doughty was the guy who ran 7:27 at Knight Night, 9:43 at '09 Track and won Forest Festival with ease. I would be stunned if someone outside these four won the '09 AAA title. Cody is the obvious favorite. He has gone out at a hard effort most races this year and I think he will stick to that down in Ona. It's a question of the tactics of the other three that will dictate just how much Cody is favored. I do think that no matter how well Cody races, he'll likely have multiple guys within 15 seconds of him at the 2mile mark for the first time in WV this season. How he reacts in that situation will dictate his success or failure. I anticipate Cody to be the 2009 AAA State Champion, but they run the race for a reason. (Note: six of the last nine boys AAA champions were from the NCAC.)

In the team competition, there's a two-horse race between Cabell Midland and West Fairmont. West Fairmont took Round 1 at GEICO, but it's this Saturday that really matters. Cabell Midland has one of the deepest teams I think I've ever seen and they've exerted their yearly, vast superiority over their portion of the state. West Fairmont has also dominated its portion of the state. It really is almost unknown how these two teams matchup. I know that they faced each other at GEICO, but those were completely different teams than the ones that face each other now. At GEICO, the spread from Burcham to CM's #5 was 1:35. It has narrowed considerably on a consistent basis since then. If any of West Fairmont's top-5 are off, they are crippled and would need a miracle to win. I have to say that the odds favor a Cabell Midland victory, if only ever so slightly. (Note: Since Cabell Midland was established in 1994, it has never gone this long [4 years] without a AAA boys cross country title. Since 1992, only the NCAC [9], Wheeling Park [2], St. Albans [1] and Cabell Midland [5] have won the AAA boys title.)

AA-A girls - The top-3 in RunWV.com's 2009 CC Runner Rankings were ranked (NR-8th grade), 30th and (NR-8th grade) in 2008. Maggie Drazba of St. Mary's is the favorite to win. She's crushed the AA-A portion of the state and I don't recall her losing this entire season. Sarah McCauley ran her close at GEICO and has looked very strong at times, while Sami Harris and Erica Hayes have done very well for themselves this year. These four have appeared to separate themselves from the field, but there's always someone lurking to spring the trap. I think the real battle will be between Drazba and either Hayes or McCauley. How Drazba reacts to the myriad of variables (pressure, inexperience, weather, pressure to win the team title) will dictate her chances. I like Maggie to win, but if either Hayes or McCauley are really "on," then all bets are off. (Note: Since AA-A was started in 1986, there have been three 4-time state cross country champions on the girls side. No other category has one.)

In the team competition, it looks like a three-way race between St. Mary's, Grafton and Berkley Springs. When all three went at it at GEICO, St. Mary's squeaked out on the strength of their top-3. There's room for huge jumps by all three team's #4 and #5 runners, leaving the window wide open for one runner on a team to completely change the course of the meet. One runner will likely do just that, but which runner is impossible to predict. (Note: In the last twenty years, there has been only one team to repeat as girls AA-A state cross country champion: Grafton '99 and '00.)

AA-A boys - John Mundey faced just about every foe he has when he went down to GEICO and he emerged victorious with a :17 victory. The host of guys that can upset him goes nearly 10 deep and we will just refer to them as "the field." I think that Mundey's obvious composure and experience that he displayed at GEICO will certainly nullify any butterflies. I'm sure that many in the field will try to take him down, it's a question of if any of these almost dozen guys can do it. So far this year, they've shown that they cannot. (Note: Berkeley Springs has won an individual AA-A title [boy or girl] every year starting from 2002 to the present. Ravenswood AA-A boys team winning streak is only two years longer.)

In the team competition, it's the closing of one of the most dominant stretches in the history of WV cross country. The last time a team other than Ravenswood won the AA-A boys team title, I was in high school and it was Doddridge that had just won their fifth out of sixth years. Considering that a high school team must completely turn over every four years, a nine year run of dominance is just incredible. This year, Ravenswood is out of the hunt, but Berkeley Springs, Grafton and Phillip Barbour all have the title within their grasp. It'll take a great race from Phillip Barbour's #5, and if they can't pull that out, they'll be hurting. Berkely Springs and Grafton are very evenly matched. Both have a big gun and both are at least 6 deep. The point-counting at the line will be furious for the parents of both sides. Best of luck. (Note: Only Magnolia, Doddridge County and Ravenswood have ever won a AA-A boys cross country team title. Ever.)

I hope everyone has enjoyed this, or at least enjoyed a part of this. There really is something special about having so many big-time races cooincide on one day. I hope everyone stops by RunWV.com's prediction zone, he does a much more indepth (and better) analysis than I do. And, as always, feel free to slag me on the message board for whatever bias you can find. Hope to see everyone down at Midland on Saturday.

-W

Athlete of the Week - Alex Dent

2009-10-28T09:43:00.003-04:00

The AotW for October 19th-25th is Alex Dent of Hurricane High School. Alex wins her AotW by virtue of her winning performance at the Region IV meet. This is the fourth consecutive year that Ms. Dent has won this meet. Alex beat her closest challenger by 46 seconds and now has her eye on that elusive individual State Championship. Best of luck to her, and all the rest of the qualifiers, at the State Meet this weekend.

Athlete of the Week - Jason Pyles

2009-10-28T09:24:00.005-04:00

The AotW for October 12th-18th is Jason Pyles of Charleston. Pyles ran at the Columbus Marathon, where he finished 6th in a time of 2:29:34. You can read his personal recap of the race here: http://runpyles.blogspot.com/. His wife, Marian also finished 2nd in the half-marathon there in a PR time of 1:21:09. Congrats to Jason, keep up the hard work.

Tip of the cap to Keri Bland and the rest of the Mountaineers for their strong showing in Loch Haven, as well as a tip of the cap to the high schoolers who succeeded at their conference meets.

Athlete of the Week - Matt Schiffbauer

2009-10-14T10:53:00.002-04:00

The AotW for October 5th-11th is Matt Schiffbauer of The Thundering Herd. Matt won the Furman Invitational on Saturday in a time of 26:32, beating second place by ten seconds. Mr. Schiffbauer also earned a second consecutive Conference USA Cross Country Male Athlete of the Week for his efforts. Marshall won the meet. Matt and Marshall go to Evansville, Ind. this weekend then have two weeks before the Conf. USA championships on Halloween. Best of luck to him throughout the rest of his cross country season.

Tip of the cap to Ron Hamric's sub-3 marathon and to everyone who finished that Glenville St. meet without acquiring mad cow disease.

Athlete of the Week - Cody Pelliccioni

2009-10-06T11:15:00.003-04:00

The AotW for September 28th - October 4th is Cody Pelliccioni of Morgantown High School. He wins the award (for the 3rd time in 4 weeks) by virtue of his dominating victory at the McQuaid Invitational (14:53 for 3 miles) in upstate New York. Over the past month Cody had won two major out-of-state meets and finished second in another. He's having a cross season for the ages and is now the overwhelming favorite for AAA boys. Good luck to Cody and here's hoping that his cross country season extends into December.

Athlete of the Week - Cody Pelliccioni

2009-09-29T10:14:00.003-04:00

The AotW for September 21st-27th is Cody Pelliccioni of Morgantown High School. Cody won the Oatlands Invitational on Saturday in a time of 15:49, beating the cream of the crop from a large portion of Virginia. His race consisted of 260 finishers and 39 teams, while the B race consisted of 386 finishers and 58 teams. Cody has certainly established himself as the favorite to win AAA Boys with this performance. Special tip of the cap to all the collegiates this past weekend, good job representing the state at your respective meets.

Athlete of the Week - Clara Grandt

2009-09-29T10:07:00.003-04:00

The AotW for September 14th-20th is Clara Grandt. Clara won the Midwest Open in Kenosha, Wisconsin (site of this year's Big East Championship) and also earned Big East Runner of the Week honors. I'm sure she'll forget about the Big East award now that she's added to her AotW total. Ms. Grandt runs for the Mountaineers and is in her final cross country season there. Here's hoping that she can go out with a bang.

Athlete of the Week - Cody Pelliccioni

2009-09-17T13:47:00.004-04:00

The AotW for September 7th-13th is Cody Pelliccioni of Morgantown High School. Cody was runner-up in Pittsburgh over that weekend at the Red, White and Blue Invitational, in a time of 15:36. The field consisted of 29 schools and 242 runners. Mr. Pelliccioni looks to defend his AAA title later this Fall, best of luck to him.

Tip of the Cap to all the other high school and college runners out there. It was a busy weekend and we had plenty of fine performances.

P.S. - WVU girls are ranked 4th nationally and 1st regionally in the first USTFCCCA poll. (Nationally: 1. Washington, 2. Oregon, 3. Fla. St., 4. WVU, 5. Villanova. Regionally: 1. WVU, 2. Villanova, 3. Princeton, 4. Georgetown, 5. Penn St.) Other schools of interest: Syracuse women (23rd/2nd) Illinois women (10th/2nd) Auburn women (NR/4th) Richmond women (NR/9th) Virginia Tech women (NR/12th) William & Mary men (15th/1st) Richmond men (NR/8th). Full poll is here: http://www.ustfccca.org/rankings/division-i-rankings

Athlete of the Week - Megan Metcalfe

2009-09-09T10:24:00.003-04:00

The AotW for August 31st-September 6th is Megan Metcalfe. Megan ran two 3,000m races during that week, in Gateshead and Rieti, the second being much better than the first (9:12/9:01). Megan is based out of Morgantown and coached by Sean Cleary. This was the beginning and the end of her injury-plagued 2009 season. She will now enjoy the Fall and get ready for a much better 2010 campaign.

Special tip of the cap to Andrew Benford for his 13th place finish at the World Mountain Running Championships. He would have won AotW during almost any of the previous eleven weeks, but as is sometimes the case, a big performance ran up against a big performance. Good luck to him during his upcoming senior cross season.

Athlete of the Week - Brandon Doughty

2009-09-06T12:40:00.004-04:00

The AotW for August 24th-30th is Brandon Doughty of Jefferson High School. Mr. Doughty ran 7:27.9 at the Knight Night Relays. Coached by Scott Biola, Brandon is set up to contend for the AAA boy's title later this Fall. His time was 24 seconds faster than the next fastest time and his anchor leg ensured Jefferson's victory. Brandon is coming off of a fine 2009 track campaign that saw him post marks of 2:00.72/4:29.93/9:43.58. He is a junior and should make an impact within the state over his final two years. Good luck to him.

Athlete of the Week - Maria Busienei

2009-09-06T12:24:00.004-04:00

The AotW for August 17th-23rd is Maria Busienei of Charleston, WV. Ms. Busienei earned her AotW by virtue of her 9th female finish at the Parkersburg Half-Marathon. Maria moved to Charleston several years ago and, as best as I can tell, races almost exclusively on the roads. A native of Kenya, she has had good finishes at just about every major road race in WV this year. best of luck to her over the rest of her racing year.

P.S. - The winner of the Parkersburg Half-Marathon, Alena Reta, is a convicted drug cheat who has recently been suspected of more drug shenanigans. I wish the Parkersburg Half would consider barring him from the 2010 race.

Athlete of the Week - Sami Harris

2009-08-22T10:31:00.004-04:00

The AotW for August 10th-16th is Sami Harris of Charleston Catholic High School. Sami is an incoming freshman who capped off her extensive summer racing by being the top woman at the Run for the Health of It 5K in Hurricane, with a time of 19:56. Ms. Harris is an incoming freshman at Charleston Catholic and will almost certainly make a huge impact in AA-A at states. Some of the results that come up when googling her are (deep breath) Dirty Dog 15K trail run 2nd female 1:23.59, Run for the Health of It 5K road top female 19:56, WV Road 5K Championship 4th female 19:42, Thomas Memorial Hospital 5K road 2nd female 18:50, WV Troops to Teachers 5K 1st female 21:16, Firecracker road 2 miler 2nd female 11:58, Richmond Xduro 21K Trail Run 7th female 1:50:42, Independence Day 5K road 3rd female 18:50, Homecoming Scotland Run road 10K (in Central Park!) 2nd 12-19 43:17, and I'm stopping there. That's alot of racing. Best of luck to Sami as she starts her high school career. (Tip of the cap to the Concord men for their nice cross race over the weekend.)

Athlete of the Week - Alex Dent

2009-08-22T10:20:00.002-04:00

The AotW for August 3rd-9th is Alex Dent of Hurricane High School. Alex wins her AotW by virtue of her 18:39 victory at the 2009 Thomas Memorial Hospital Road Cruise 5K. In 2008 she ran 19:16 at the same race, so her training must be going very, very well at the moment. She's the daughter of previous AotW winner Bubby Dent. Alex is about to go into her senior year at Hurricane and will no doubt be aiming for individual and team championships. Best of luck to her as she kicks off her final high school cross country campaign.

God save me from my friends; from my enemies I can defend myself.

2009-08-06T09:13:00.004-04:00

Take a hard look at the girl in the picture. Blayke Hall was 9th in AA-A cross back in 2007 as a freshman. She currently has no coach, no program and probably won't get to compete this year. (http://www.times-news.com/localsports/local_story_217233243.html) Now, the Moorefield Athletic Boosters passes the buck because they don't have the money. The Hardy County BOE passes the buck because they're 700 large in debt. The WVSSAC passes the buck because the rules are the rules and she can't run for another school, even though her lack of a program is in no way her fault. If you doubt the sincerity of the lack of funds, you should note that the principal at Moorefield even uses a quote from Spock to describe the situation, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few [or the one]." Now, normally I don't care, not my problem. Today, for whatever reason, I went wild and tilted at windmills on my way there.

I don't know who's in charge at the WVSSAC, but those people do more to hurt kids in this state than help them. How in the blazes of hell and damnation can there possibly be justification to bar this girl from running at Frankfort or some other program? Frankfort lost their 2, 3 and 4 runners from last year. THEY DID NOT HAVE FIVE GIRLS TO RUN IN 2007! Are you kidding me? You're going to deny a girl who has no track program and was 15th in her cross region last year from joining a program that did not have five girls finish their regional meet two years ago? What possible impact could occur that anyone would deem unfair? All this and the girl in question has done absolutely nothing! An exception could be crafted in the rules for "students of financially unviable districts" in about three and a half minutes. Instead the moles at WVSSAC burrow into the dirt and hide amongst their rules.

The main justification for the Moorefield Athletic Boosters is that they can't pay for a coach. This brings about the idea that maybe some non-teacher would volunteer their time to coach for free. Do you know how much it costs to volunteer coach with the WVSSAC? It costs you a full weekend in a classroom at the cost of $250, a trip to the police station for a fingerprint card at an unknown cost, a trip to the BOE office for approval and $49 to apply. And after all that, if you have a great time coaching and are successful, any yahoo with a teaching certificate has the right to apply for your position next year and they will get it, by statute. If the WVSSAC wanted to make sure that the coaching application process excluded any non-teacher with sense, they succeeded.

At any rate, bravo to all those involved for letting this kid down. Hopefully either the incompetent jackals at WVSSAC bail this girl out with some common sense, the Boosters get their books in order or some money appears from nowhere to save the day.

(photo courtesy tristaterunnur.com)

Athlete of the Week - Megan Metcalfe

2009-08-03T11:23:00.004-04:00

The AotW for July 27th - August 2nd is Megan Metcalfe. Megan raced at the Debbie Green Memorial 5K on Saturday night and was the second overall female in a time of 16:08. Megan appears to be back on track to have a good late-summer track season. She is supposed to race in Gateshead (3,000m) on the 31st and in Brussells (5,000m) on September 4th. After a slew of health issues, hopefully Megan can still turn out a solid 2009. Good job to all the road runners out there this weekend, it was full of action.

*****Editorial*****
Today is August 3rd. High school cross country practice starts today and all the kids are busy handing in physicals, getting lectured about the evils of hazing and plotting the hazing that they're going to do anyways. One thing that may happen, depending on the athlete and the coach, is the formulation of goals for this season. Let me beg and plead with the fairer sex of this state, their parents and coaches: please include Foot Locker South in your plans. The last West Virginian girl to run the seeded race was in 2006. This is the most intense, fastest and highly competitive high school race that any WV kid can enter. You will be a better runner for experiencing it. Please make at least an attempt to run this race.

Athlete of the Week - Andrew Benford

2009-07-27T12:58:00.005-04:00

The AotW for July 20th-26th is Andrew Benford of the University of Richmond. Mr. Benford finished second in the Cheyenne Canon Mountain Race in Colorado Springs, Co. over the weekend. That finish puts him on the 2009 USA Mountain Running Team. He now gets to travel to Italy on September 6th to race in the World Championships for mountain running. Andrew is going to be a senior this year for the Spiders and runs for Steve Taylor. This past track season he was the 2009 A-10 Track Athlete of the Year. Hopefully his mountain running exploits serve as a springboard to great cross country sucess this Fall. Best of luck to Andrew in Italy.

Athlete of the Week - Savannah Rutherford

2009-07-22T10:31:00.005-04:00

The AotW for July 13th-19th is Savannah Rutherford of Spring Valley High School. Ms. Rutherford earns her AotW for her :58/2:21 double at the USATF Region V Junior Olympic meeet in Charleston. (If anyone has an shot of Savannah running, please forward it to me.) It's nice to see a mid-distance girl doing some summer season racing. Ms. Rutherford will be part of the terrific 400/800 group of returning girls next year in AAA. Best of luck to her in her senior year.

Athlete of the Week - Bubby Dent

2009-07-22T10:20:00.004-04:00

The AotW for July 6th-12th is Bubby Dent. Mr. Dent ran the USATF Master's Nationals 5000m in Wisconsin on July 9th and finished 8th in a time of 16:47. He also has some sub-16 minute finishes to his credit on the roads this summer. He ran in college at Glenville State (fixed) and still holds the 800m AAA State Meet record. On top of that, he's the dad of some very fast girls and, apparently, cross-trains by savings lives. (http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/50549972.html) It's great to see a West Virginian athlete go and seek out the roughest competition. Hopefully Bubby will inspire others to do the same.

Athlete of the Week - Jennifer Davis

2009-07-22T09:06:00.003-04:00

The AotW for June 29th to July 5th is Jennifer Davis. Ms. Davis is an Assistant Coach at WVU and trains under Sean Cleary. During the July 4th weekend she ventured up to Pittsburgh and won the Brentwood 5K in 17:02. That is a very impressive time and an indication that her training is going very well at the moment. Jen and her twin Susan were an integral part to the 2005 WVU women's squad who had (prior to the current Dream Team) the highest finish at NCAAs in program history. Best of luck to Jen as she moves through the rest of the road racing season and, hopefully, into a sucessful year on the track.

Athlete of the Week - Matt Schiffbauer

2009-06-29T12:51:00.003-04:00

The AotW for June 29th through July 5th is Matt Schiffbauer of Marshall University. Schiffy went out to Eugene over the weekend and ran 3:50.95 and 3:52.65 on back-to-back days to finish 5th in the 1500m at USATF Junior Nationals. TriStateRacer.com also went out to Eugene to watch the action. He wrote some great re-caps and took some incredible photos (like the one above) while at the meet. Everyone ought to take a few minutes and check it out, the photos alone are worth your while. At any rate, great job by Schiffy, clearly he is being well-coached and he will be going great places sooner rather than later. Best of luck as he prepares for his cross country campaign.

Special mention to Clara Grandt for running 34:13 in Oregon off of a tough two-week turn around from NCAAs. Great season, Clara.

Athlete of the Week - Zach Tennant

2009-06-25T23:53:00.003-04:00

The AotW for June 22nd-28th is Zach Tennant of North Marion High School. Zach's final race of the year was at Nike Outdoor Nationals and he ran 4:19.09. He was at the head of the chase pack with 225m to go, but faded and lost a lot of time in the final half of the lap. This was his final race of the summer, so he'll be off the front page for quite a while. Congrats to Zach for a fantastic senior season, it's always great to see kids seeking out tough post-season competition.

Special mention to Jacob Burcham, he ran 4:43 at a meet down in Cabell Midland last weekend. After this weekend (USATFs), we'll be into the road racing season for the majority of the summer. Best of luck to everyone out there and I'm sure we'll see some new faces on AotW.

Athlete of the Week - Clara Grandt

2009-06-13T00:15:00.002-04:00

The AotW for June 15th-21st is Clara Grandt. Clara wins her AotW via her 4th place finish in the 10,000m at the NCAA Championships. Clara ran 33:45 in a tough race, leading a very large portion of it. Clara is a fourth-year Mountaineer, trained by Sean Cleary. This is Ms. Grandt's first All-American performance, and it was an improvement of 7 spots from her finish last year. She is a Doddridge County graduate. She also has the qualifier for USATFs, but I have not heard if she's headed out to Eugene or not. Tip of the cap to everyone involved, it really is something special to see a girl go from leading the WV State Meet to leading deep into the 10,000m at NCAAs. A special mention about Tone Belt (Berkeley Springs) who finished 7th with a HJ of 7' 1 1/2".

Athlete of the Week - Zach Tennant

2009-06-08T10:44:00.002-04:00

The AotW for June 8th-14th is Zach Tennant of North Marion High School. Zach earns his award (his 3rd in the last 5 weeks...) by virtue of his invasion of Virginia over the weekend. He attended the Milesplit.com Elite Gala and dominated the 1500m in a time of 3:54.89. Mr. Tennant is coached by Josh Simpson and is headed to William & Mary this Fall. Kudos to him for pursuing post-State Meet competition and for his stellar times. I've heard that he is going to run at Nike Outdoor Nationals later this month. Zach narrowly beat out some of the great performances down in Huntington over the weekend. Noteables were Bubby Dent who ran 15:59 at the age of 42, Andrew Benford who won the event, and Jacob Burcham who ran 16:32 at 1/3 the age of Mr. Dent. Tip of the cap to Pat Riley for putting on a first-class event and hopefully starting a new, yearly big-time race in WV.

This week will continue a great streak of WV running action with the NCAA T&F Championships starting on Wednesday and the Festival of Excellence up in Toronto on Thursday, in both events we'll have athletes up against some of the best in the world.

A Brief Chat with Wes McKinney

2009-06-01T12:35:00.003-04:00

As the victor of the 2009 Fantasy Track Extravaganza, Wes McKinney won an front page interview... let's see what he has to say!

What got you involved in running? Do you still play any other sports?
Well, my cousin Tim ran at Preston High then later at West Virginia Wesleyan. I guess you could say he pushed me a little. Also, I've never been a great basketball player so I thought if I tried running I could be good at it. I do play basketball in a community league.

What is Coach Martin like to train under?
Coach Martin makes running fun. He does tend to demand a lot, but that's to keep the tradition alive. Although he does demand a lot, he does it in a positive and encouragining way.

Can you give us an example of a bread-and-butter workout that he has you frequently do?
In cross country, a common workout would be 90-60-30s (90 seconds hard, 90 seconds easy, 60 seconds hard, 60 seconds easy, 30 seconds hard, 30 seconds easy.) In track, probably a common workout is 10x400 or 10x4 good buddy.

What's the workout he gives that you dread the most?
Nickels and dimes (3-1000s and 4-500s)

How has your weekly mileage changed through the years?
As a freshman I was doing about 30 miles a week. As a sophomore and junior I upped the mileage to about 40 miles a week during the summer. Also, about halfway through my junior I begin to understand the importance of a long run. Finally, as a senior I begin to run 50 miles a week.

I noticed that you made a big break-through this year going to 10:20s in the 3200m and getting 32nd at State Cross. What do you think happened between your Junior and Senior year that allowed this to happen?
I credit my breakthrough to the group of guys we have on our cross team. During the summer, it began as five of us pushing each other through every workout with Craig and Sterling being the leaders. As the season progressed we began to have other guys join in our workouts with us. Once again, Coach Martin also put the pressure on the seniors to lead the team back to states. So I think that was motivation as well.

What's your personal training regime like in the summer and winter breaks?
In the summer, my training schedule is more precise because of the good weather. I just accumulate general base mileage until August rolls around. During the winter, it's a little tougher to get out and get good runs because of the harsh winter weather we experience in Preston County.

You were the #3 guy for Preston this year on the 4th place AAA team, how satisfying was it to create some more "Preston History" during your senior year?
I wasn't always the #3 guy for Preston. Luke and Clint Bowman and I flipped-flopped between 3 and 5 all year. So having the Bowman brothers right on my hip took pressure off of me knowing I didn't have to the perfect race all the time and they would step into the 3 and 4 spots if I was off my game one day. As far as continuing the tradition, it felt great to get the so called monkey off our back. Because this year's team had only had one guy experience the state meet (Pritt), so to qualify was a relief to the other seniors.

Did you feel pressure following in the footsteps of the recent powerhouse Preston runners and teams?
When you put on the Preston uniform you automatically feel pressured. Knowing the names of Ryan, Gemberling, Feather, and now Pritt is like now the names of Greek gods. Coach Martin told us one time that future runners at Preston won't know those first three guys like this senior class does. So it's our responsibility to make our own history.

Would you change anything about your years of running for the Knights?
I wish we would've gone to states all three years I was on varsity. Other than that I wouldn't change a thing.

Any rivals from the past that you'd still like to get even with?
Not really. Fairmont Senior and Preston have had some good battles for the conference crown here recently. I think that will continue on down the road.

If you could choose any girl in the state to go on a long run with, who would it be?
Alex Dent

Any superstitions when you race?
I have a few superstitions. I always wear the same socks for every race. I also put on my spikes in a certain sequence. I put on my left one first, then my right, then tie my right shoe, then my left.

You obviously had the inside scoop, picking Pritt and Kasprowicz for your fantasy team. What were they doing in practice that caused you to pick them?
After watching Mr. Pritt at Gazettes in the 800. I knew he had a pretty good shot to win the 800. I also expected a strong showing from him in the 1600. As for Ari, I knew it was due time she became a state champ after coming so close at the State XC Meet.

I've read that you're headed to Concord this Fall with Pritt and Sterling Snyder. What swayed you to go to Concord? Any chance Concord will be changing its name to Preston High School, Southern Campus?
Concord is in a nice quiet town like my hometown of Masontown or any other town in Preston County. I also see a lot of Coach Martin's personality in Coach Cox. From what I've seen at Concord, the academics are excellent and the atmosphere is great. I'll have to mention to Coach Cox about creating a pipeline from Kingwood to Athens.

Have you set any goals for your time at Concord?
The main goal is to continue their running tradition. Concord has been in contention several times at the conference level and they've even won the conference crown in cross country twice since Coach Cox came to the school.

What are your summer plans to prepare yourself for this Fall?
Well going from high school 5Ks to college 8Ks requires more training. I think that Sterling, Craig, and I are going to meet everyday possible to run together so we'll be able to push each other.

Athlete of the Week - Marie-Louise Asselin

2009-06-01T09:02:00.004-04:00

The AotW for June 1st-6th is Marie-Louise Asselin. Marie runs for WVU under Sean Cleary and is a Sarnia, Ontario native. This past weekend she won the NCAA East Regional 5000m in a

time of 16:03.29, the second fastest time in WVU history. Some of her reported splits were 4:53 for 1600m and 9:19 for 3000m. She out-kicked Frances Koons down the homestretch. Her win qualifies her for the NCAA Championships June 10th-13th. West Virginians entered (as best as I can find) are: Tone Belt (Berkeley Springs/Louisville) in the LJ and HJ, Jasmine Cotten (Fayetteville/Cincinnatti) in the Heptathlon, Marie-Louise Asselin (WVU) in the 5,000m, Chelsea Carrier (Buckhannon-Upshur/WVU) in the 100h and Clara Grandt (Doddridge/WVU) in the 10,000m. Best of luck to everyone going to NCAAs.

Athlete of the Week - Zach Tennant

2009-05-25T20:47:00.002-04:00

The AotW for May 25th-31st is Zach Tennant of North Marion High School. Zach set new AAA 3200m and 1600m records and finished third in the 800m. It was a 9:14/4:13/1:57 triple. Mr. Tennant had one of the best distance state meets in history and should be commended for capping his senior year in such a fashion. The future is bright for this guy and William & Mary is lucky to have him. Congrats to all the numerous deserving athletes out there for their weekends as well. That was certainly the best distance state meet we have had in a long, long time, if not ever.

Athlete of the Week - Karly Hamric

2009-05-19T09:35:00.007-04:00

The Athlete of the Week for May 18th-24th is Karly Hamric. Ms. Hamric is a Preston High School product who now runs for the Mountaineers. She ran 4:22.89 over the weekend, finishing 2nd in the 1500m at ECACs. That was a break-through race for Ms. Hamric and qualifies her in the 1500m for Regionals. Best of luck to Karly and congratulations on a terrific new personal best.

Athlete of the Week - Zach Tennant

2009-05-11T11:09:00.005-04:00

The AotW for May 11th- 17th is Zach Tennant of North Marion High School. Zach earned his award by running a 4:16.99/1:58.87 double at NCACs this past Thursday. Mr. Tennant also has a 9:25.67 performance this season. After having his cross country season cut short by injury, the defending AAA 1600m champion appears prepared to defend his title and more. He is coached by Josh Simpson and plans on running for William & Mary in the Fall. Best of luck to Zach later this month in Charleston.

The First Annual Official W Fantasy Track Extravaganza

2009-05-05T13:28:00.000-04:00

Ever wanted to prove to the rest of the state that you’re the smartest track mind in West Virginia?
Ever wanted to win fabulous prizes?
Ever wanted to humiliate your friends with your genius?

Well, you might be the perfect contestant for The First Annual Official W Fantasy Track Extravaganza! The W Fantasy Track Extravaganza is a contest open to the public where people pick 5 athletes and earn points based off their athletes’ performances at the WV State Meet. Winners earn bragging rights and fabulous prizes!

Here’s how the game works:

1. You email me your name and your team name by midnight on May 16th. (“John Smith” and “The War Gophers”)
2. I post all the entry names on the 17th and all the people being impersonated ask that their names be removed.
3. You email me your list of FIVE high school athletes and the tiebreaker (see #5) by midnight May 20th. I'll then post all the rosters so people can follow along as the results come in.
4. During the State Meet, you earn points based on the following system:

-- 1 point per team point your athlete scores in the 800m, 1600m and 3200m. (10 for 1st, 8 for 2nd, ect.)
-- 4 points per State Meet Record your athlete sets in the 800m, 1600m and 3200m
-- Athletes must run under standards of 2:01/4:36/9:50 (boys) and 2:26/5:30/11:40 (girls) in order to accrue any points in the respective events.
-- No points are earned for relays or any events other than the 800/1600/3200.

Example:
John Smith’s “The War Gophers” pick Zach Tennant, Chelsea Callaway, Alex Dent, David Caldwell and Nathan Rees. Zach Tennant runs the 1600 and 3200. He wins the 1600 in 4:38 and gets 2nd in the 3200 in 9:31. “The War Gophers” score ZERO points for Zach’s 1600 performance (4:38 is too slow) and score 8 points for his 3200 performance. The points for the other 4 runners are then added up in similar fashion and “The War Gophers” get a point total.

5. For a tiebreaker, you must guess the cumulative winning time for all classes of the boy’s 1600m. Any further ties will be broken by coin flip.

Example:
“The War Gophers” think Class A will be won in 4:37.12, Class AA will be won in 4:31.76 and Class AAA will be won in 4:16.97. So, he submits a guess of “13:25.85”. If he ties with another team, the team closest to the actual total will win.

6. Prizes: There are 3 fabulous prizes. The Grand Champion gets the first pick of the prizes, First Runner-up gets the second choice and Second Runner-up gets left with the scraps.
-- You get an extensive, front-page interview on runthearb.com, conducted by the famous W. Even eastern panhandle folk can win this prize, so this might be their big chance.
-- You and your friends get to go on a run with W and Megan Metcalfe at a location of your choice (within reason) at a distance of your choice (within reason) at a pace of your choice (within reason).
-- You and three friends get a summer cookout on the Metcalfe/W porch in Morgantown. Special guests may be in attendance.

I encourage everyone to play, so please post any questions you have. Remember to email me your team names at w-arb@hotmail.com at any time before midnight on May 16th and email your athlete rosters at any time before midnight on May 20th. Let’s have some fun and may the smartest person win.

Athlete of the Week - Clara Grandt

2009-05-04T13:15:00.004-04:00

The AotW for May 4th-May 10th is Clara Grandt. Clara earned her award via her first place finish in the 5000m at the Big East Championships with a stellar time of 16:07.55. Ms. Grandt is now on quite the roll of NACAC Cross Country Champion, 33:16 10000m and Big East 5000m Champion in 16:07. Clara continues to headline a fantastic spring by the state and hopefully she can really shine at Nationals next month.

Great weekend by the state in general, from the middle schoolers to the open road runners out there. I hope everyone is looking forward to the upcoming championship season.

Athlete of the Week - Heather Parks

2009-04-27T11:07:00.003-04:00

The AotW for April 27th- May 3rd is Heather Parks. Heather ran the Boston Marathon last Monday and finished 35th in a time of 2:52:45. Mrs. Parks graduated from WVU in the 90s and now resides in Preston County. Heather qualified for the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials in the Steeplechase and the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials in the Marathon. Since then, Heather has given birth to a son, gotten back into shape and continued to be one of the driving forces behind the Flyer's program in Morgantown. Best of luck to Heather as she rests those weary legs.