Photo by Seth Staskey Barnesville’s Aubrey Johnson finished third overall at Tuesday’s MOVL Championship meet.

SARAHSVILLE — The team races at Tuesday afternoon’s Mid Ohio Valley League cross country championship meet on the campus of the Noble Local Schools were relatively anticlimactic.

However, Barnesville head coach Mark Brown was excited his teams were able to get some good work in as the Pumpkin Festival approaches this weekend and the season really starts to amp up in the next couple of weeks as the OVAC Cal Pokas Cross Country Championship is just over two weeks away.

The Shamrocks took care of their business by winning the boys title over host Shenandoah, 16-45, and the Barnesville girls were the only school in the league that sponsored a full team of five or more runners.

“We shoot for these championship meets, but it’s just a shame that more of these schools don’t have full teams,” Brown said. “The big (meets) are starting and we don’t have one this weekend. We ran pretty well (Tuesday) and I think the weekend off comes at a good time for us, so we’ll get some good (training) work in and get ready for the meets down the road.”

The Shamrock boys produced the MOVL champion for the second straight season. With Tyler Jenkins graduated and now competing at Rio Grande, sophomore Connor Starr seized the opportunity. He raced to an 18:12, which was 14 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor.

“It felt pretty good for the first mile and a half, but then it started to get kind of tiring and hot,” Starr said. “We’ve not ran in a lot of weather this (warm), so it was kind of like a shock. This is my first bigger (meet) win, so that’s exciting and it’s exciting for our team to win this, too.”

All told, the Shamrocks placed four runners on the All-MOVL team, which included the overall top eight. Senior Logan Dodd was fourth, sophomore Braedon Willis was fifth and sophomore Shepard Richey was sixth. Connor Warrington rounded out the team scoring in ninth place.

Caldwell, which was competing in its first MOVL championship event after joining in August, took three spots on the All-MOVL squad. They were sophomore Chuck Estadt, who was second overall; Blake Miller, who was third overall and freshman Alex Sheanshang, who was eighth.

Shenandoah’s Jarrett Wentworth was seventh to garner All-MOVL

GIRLS

The Shamrocks had the team title locked up as long as they were able to get five runners across line. They actually did more than they. They had two All-MOVL runners.

Leading the way for the Shamrocks was senior Aubrey Johnson, who was third overall in 21:28. She was pushed by junior Marah Bethel, who was fourth in 22:03.

Other Shamrocks in their top five were sophomore Delana Jenkins, junior Ayla Yater and freshman Lydia Fuchs.

River junior Mara Beard successfully defended her MOVL title from a season ago when she ran away from the field for the title in a time of 20:44.

It’s been an up and down season for Beard, who was coming off a strong showing at Watkins Memorial and by her own admission a not-so-memorable showing at Youngstown Boardman last weekend.

“I was really kind of dreading this meet because I didn’t run well on this course last year,” Beard said. “I felt good, so I just went for it. The season has been a struggle for me for (different) reasons, but I hope I am starting to get it going and hope to continue to get better.”

Shadyside senior Kenzy Beckett, who has been enjoying a strong season for the Tigers, finished second in 21:21 to garner All-MOVL.

Beard was joined on the All-MOVL squad by freshman Mallory Brake, who was fifth overall in 22:07.

The remaining three All-league spots went to Caldwell’s trio of Emalee Laswell, Jusdena Clark and Emma Lowe.