illiamstown senior Alyssa Sauro will seek an individual state title in Class AA at Saturday’s WVSSAC High School State Meet at Cabell Midland High School in Ona. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

PARKERSBURG – State championship Saturday is once again set for Ona and Cabell Midland High School as the best in the Mountain State converge for the final race of the season, which will feature Class A concluding the meet.

However, at 9 a.m. the Class AA girls race will get underway with Williamstown senior Alyssa Sauro out to capture her first double-A crown after winning back-to-back Class A championships.

The Williamstown girls of head coach Mike Taylor, who were Little Kanawha Conference champions with Sauro placing first, are seeking a three-peat, albeit in a different classification this season.

“The team right now is healthy as it’s been the whole season. Hitting on all cylinders at the moment so to speak,” said coach Taylor, who will have Herbert Hoover freshman Maysen Fletcher vying for the individual title along with Sauro, while Elkins sophomore Emilia Tenney and ‘Jacket 10th-grader Cassie Sites are predicted to finish third and fourth, respectively, by runwv.com. “We talked about winning the LKC, regional and state. The girls have two of those under their belts and hopefully this weekend they perform like they have the last three weeks and we should be in good shape.”

Sauro finished state runner-up as a freshman and has battled with Fletcher throughout the season. Sites broke onto the scene a year ago and finished third at state behind Charleston Catholic’s Bella Boggs.

Williamstown’s Julian Johnson (59) is seeking a top 10 individual finish in the boys division at the state meet. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Williamstown senior Ava Lightfritz is seeking a third straight top 10 effort to earn all-state honors again. Lightfritz and fellow classmate Lexi Wynn are predicted to finish in the top 15, while WHS also boasts Sylvia Harris (21st), Kate Florence and Isabella Bryant, all of whom are juniors.

“Experience means a lot,” added coach Taylor. “Even though I got three juniors on the team, last year they were our 5-6-7 runners. They’ve moved up a little bit on the team. That experience from Alyssa and Ava and Lexi is really important on the team. Alyssa was out there a couple three weeks with injuries and Lexi kind of stepped up and took control of the team, but once Alyssa came back the team caught on fire and we’ve been rolling ever since.

“Our girls have been ranked from the preseason all the way through the season and been ranked number one in double-A. Of course, you always got to go to the meet and game plan and race with determination, but we’re sitting in a good position. Frankfort is the number two ranked school. We haven’t raced them. They have a very, very good team and a good program, both the guys and the girls teams. We’ll have competition down there. We can’t take anything for granted.”

The Williamstown boys of head man Cliff Taylor are also expected to make some noise, although a podium team finish will take some work.

Julian Johnson, who is predicted to place seventh with fellow seniors Frank Conner (9th) and Will Coiner (11th) not far back, will try and end his career with a third all-state effort.

The St. Marys’ boys is projected to be in the hunt for a Class A state title at Saturday’s WVSSAC High School State Meet at Cabell Midland High School in Ona. (Photo Provided)

“He ran out a little timid last year and it cost him and that won’t happen,” coach Taylor added of Johnson, who a year ago finished in 11th place. “Julian’s the gutsiest runner I’ve ever really coached.”

The ‘Jacket boys topped St. Marys for the LKC crown as Johnson and Conner finished 2-3 behind Tyler Consolidated sophomore champ Amos Kimble, who has been tabbed the runner to beat for the Class A individual title.

Cliff Taylor’s squad also features sophomores Chase Pickering and Zander Boyce along with freshmen Josh Shamblin and Sylas Shotwell.

“In the LKC (freshman) Dutch Sandy, someone stepped on the side of his foot and it kind of messed up his Achilles and he’s not going to be able to run for us at the state meet,” said coach Taylor. “He’s a wrestler. He’s running to get in shape for wrestling, but he ran well for us. He started limping and after the swelling went down they said something was pulled.

“(In the regional) three of the top four teams ranked in the state were at Elkins and we ended up third, which it qualified us. We were only 11 points out of second place. Elkins is just by far superior right now. Like Mike said about the girls, we haven’t seen Frankfort and they are ranked second. Then Grafton is third and we’re fourth. That was a big hit on us moving up to double-A there on the boys side, but we have three guys up there who are seniors on any given day they are a top 10 finisher.”

he St. Marys’ girls is projected to be in the hunt for a Class A state title at Saturday’s WVSSAC High School State Meet at Cabell Midland High School in Ona. (Photo Provided)

Coach Cliff Taylor also noted it was a rare occurrence for both ‘Jacket programs to capture the LKC.

“That was big and a neat thing,” he said. “The boys are prepared. Let’s put it that way. The boys are prepared to be in the hunt and make the podium.”

The only other Class AA runner, boy or girl, predicted for a top 25 finish is Roane County sophomore Adalaide Taylor.

CLASS A

The single-A girls race is set to get underway at 3 p.m. with the boys closing out the state meet at 3:45 p.m.

Suffice it to say the LKC will have a lot to say about how things go.

Although Kimble and sophomore teammate Travis Moore (predicted 5th) lead the way for the Silver Knights, they are picked to finish fifth just behind Magnolia with Charleston Catholic holding a slight edge for the team title over St. Marys as Doddridge County lurks in third place.

Last year’s state runner-up Landen Davis of Magnolia has one more shot at tasting victory, although he’s predicted second behind Paw Paw’s Donovan Tanouye and just ahead of another senior in Ritchie County’s Dylan Malolepszy. Davis placed seventh two years ago, Kimble was seventh last fall and the Rebel cracked the top 10 to earn all-state in eighth place as a junior.

Doddridge County’s Carter Sias, who was fourth as a freshman and sixth as a sophomore in 2023, was picked sixth with Bulldog 10th-grader Samuel Gola 10th.

St. Marys head coach Steven Nutter’s Blue Devils are led on the boys’ side by Max Dauch. The junior placed fifth in Ona a year ago and is picked sixth. However, junior teammate Bryce Bills (11th) and senior Reece Westfall (12th) as well as sophomore Parker Barnes (15th) also will try to factor into the podium picture.

“We were blessed to have 24 amazing young men and women on the roster this season,” stated coach Nutter, whose runners will be challenged by the likes of area qualifiers Matthew Balis of Wirt County (13th), Magnolia’s Riley Dennis (17th), Bulldog Gunner Kimball (19th), Silver Knight Brody Nice (20th), Wood County Christian’s Koa Navarro (23rd) and Ravenswood’s Gavin Wilburn (24th).

The Red Devils are predicted to finish eighth as a team.

“The coaches value each individual and are so thankful that we have the opportunity to coach these special young men and women,” added coach Nutter.

Like the boys, the St. Marys girls also won a regional title. Braxton County is the team to beat for the Class A girls, but the Blue Devils are predicted just behind expected runner-up Doddridge County. Ravenswood is picked fifth behind the Irish.

Although Boggs from CCHS is predicted to win, she’s followed by St. Marys sophomore Anna Bennett, Braxton County senior Laura Cain, Ritchie County junior Bentlee Williams and Doddridge County 12th-grader Bailey Holden in the top five.