WHEELING – The W.Va. Class AAA Region I Cross Country meet turned into the City of Morgantown Invitational early Thursday morning on the 5,000-meter Wheeling Park Course high atop the Friendly City.

University High ran away from the 8-team field in the boys portion of the event as the Hawks accumulated 20 points to runner up Morgantown High’s 65. Wheeling Park finished third with 78 and will be making its fourth straight trip south. There were 53 runners.

The top 3 teams and 11 individuals qualified for the state meet on Sat., Oct. 28 at Cabell Midland High School in Ona.

On the girls side, the Mohigans tallied 30 points to the Hawks’ 40. Preston also advanced with 75. Forty-nine girls participated.

The top 3 teams and 10 individuals qualified for the state meet.

BOYS

The Patriots’ Seth Franke placed fourth and will be making a repeat trip to Ona. The senior ran a 15:58.07 on his home course.

“I’m very pleased with my time today. It’s my second time breaking 16 (minutes) in the season,” Franke said. “It was good weather to run today. It was in the mid-50s.”

He said running with the University kids really helped him.

“It’s tough. My goal was to go out and see how long I could hang with them. I knew they would pull me along to a fast time.”

As a junior, Franke placed 14th last year in a time of 16:33.87.

“Seth really stepped up,” Wheeling Park head coach Jacob Galik said. “He was pushed by the University kids and hung right in there with them. He was only three seconds back and three seconds can be anyone’s race.”

Others contributing to the bronze medal finish included juniors Isaak Nizami (14th), Redick Moore (16th), Jacob Murphy (19th) and sophomore Brian Gonzalez (25th). Moore was ninth a year ago in the state.

“It was truly a team effort today,” Galik said. “The absolute key, though, was Brian Gonzalez. His old personal record was 18:30 and he ran 17:32 today. He was the difference.”

Galik also praised Moore’s effort.

“Redick was sitting pretty in fifth place and then had some issues and faded back,” the coach noted. “However, he fell just before the finish line and crawled across to finish 16th. That showed some courage on his part.”

Galik also liked what he saw from Nizami.

“Isaak set a new PR with his time of 16:42.65. That was the first time he has run under 17 (minutes).”

University’s ‘pack’ of Drew Zundell, Tyler Umbright and Jacob West finished 1-2-3 to pace the Hawks win, with all three breaking the 16-minute barrier. The Hawks’ Ethan Conroy (5th) and Jack Overfield (9th) also finished in the top 10.

“It feels good. I’m happy for the team,” Zundell said. “Tyler and Jacob both ran a great race.”

Zundell, the OVAC titlist, had a different message across the bridge of his nose. It read ‘Now.”

“I’m worried about now … this mile, this step, this moment,” he explained. “Some people worry about the states or what they are going to do tomorrow. I just appreciate now and all the things I have. Everything behind me is behind me and I can’t change any of it. The only thing I can change is now.

Zundell placed third in 2022, while West was eighth and Umbright 11th.

Also qualifying were Bridgeport’s duo of Troy Zorick and Sam Dodson, who were sixth and seventh, respectively. Morgantown’s Quinn Murdy was eighth and teammate Andrew Carlton was 10th. Preston’s Damian Rumer grabbed the final spot.

“It’s no secret that University is the class of the state. They have a top-notch program,” Galik added. “Their coach told me they have 15 state titles. I don’t even know what to say to that.

“They are the standard of excellence. They either make you better or they make you quit.”

GIRLS

Nine of the 10 state qualifiers hailed from Monongalia County, with the other being John Marshall’s Zoe Zervos, who placed fifth after winning the OVAC Cal Pokas Title two weeks ago in Cambridge.

“It feels pretty good to be a state qualifier as a freshman,” Zervos said. “When I ran here before my time was a little faster, but given the circumstances, I was happy with my time.”

She said the weather conditions were favorable but she doesn’t like the course.

“It was hot and then some shade, but I’m not a big fan of course. It’s kind of run up a little bit and there’s a lot of gravel, but the rolling hills are nice.”

University freshman Abigail Rogers, who was second to Zervos at the OVAC Meet, toured the course in 18:45.56 for a first-place finish. She passed Morgantown’s Madeline Gump late in the race for the win. Gump, who was fourth in the state a year ago, clocked in at 18:48.18.

“I’m really happy with my time. All the girls did a great job,” Rogers said. “I liked the weather. The course was a little more hillier than I expected, but it was okay because the weather was good.

“I’m pretty excited.”

The Hawks’ Adelyn Tager, who ran seventh in last year’s state meet, was third in 19:07.73 and the Mohigans’ Maraid Johnson was fourth in 19:12.81.

The final five qualifiers included Morgantown’s Jennifer O’Palko (6th), Sophie Renner (8th) and Lauren Hawkins (10th); and University’s Claire von Boetticher (7th) and Sophia Bell (9th).

Wheeling Park’s top runner was freshman McKenna Guthoerl who placed 21st.

The Class A state meet begins with the girls race at 9 a.m. and the boys at 9:45. The Class AA girls run at noon, with the boys at 12:45 p.m. The Class AAA girls race at 3. The boys take off 45 minutes later.