Southern Gap’s young runners stayed close together Wednesday as the Eagles earned a ninth-place finish against a large field at the UVa-Wise High School Invitational.
Only five seconds separated Southern Gap’s first three finishers in the 5,000-meter race, which featured 93 runners and 14 complete teams at the UVa-Wise Cross Country Course.
Freshman Bentley Jackson led the Eagles, placing 31st with a time of 21 minutes, 24.99 seconds.
Freshman Kyler Lester was right behind him in 32nd place at 21:28.90, while sophomore Wyatt Street crossed the finish line in 33rd at 21:29.55.
Sophomore Jaccob Smeltzer finished 55th in 23:57.96. Freshman Oliver Breeding completed Southern Gap’s scoring lineup, placing 63rd with a time of 24:14.53.
The Eagles scored 195 points, finishing only one point behind eighth-place Rye Cove. Southern Gap’s five runners averaged 22:31, with only 2:49 separating Jackson and Breeding.
The Virginia Bearcats won the team championship with 79 points. Castlewood finished second with 101, Ridgeview was third with 115, Honaker placed fourth with 140 and Wise County Central rounded out the top five with 148.
Wise County Central junior Ty Arney won the individual championship with a time of 17:34.70.
Virginia Bearcats junior Liam Pratt placed second in 17:43.65, while Rye Cove sophomore Ty Hood was third in 18:13.17. Virginia Bearcats freshman Timothe Regin finished fourth in 18:26.33, and Castlewood sophomore Isac Cooper completed the top five in 18:28.87.
Patrick Henry senior Braydon McCracken was sixth, followed by Chilhowie junior Kurt Collins, Castlewood senior Parker King, Honaker senior Hunter Dye and Ridgeview freshman Max Johnson.
CROSS COUNTRY
UVa-Wise High School Invitational
At UVa-Wise Cross Country Course
Sept. 16
BOYS
Team standings
Virginia Bearcats, 79
Castlewood, 101
Ridgeview, 115
Honaker, 140
Wise County Central, 148
Eastside, 150
Twin Springs, 188
Rye Cove, 194
Southern Gap, 195
Tazewell, 234
Chilhowie, 241
J.I. Burton, 256
Letcher County Central (Ky.), 261
Gate City, 261
Individual results
Ty Arney (Wise County Central), 17:34.70
Liam Pratt (Virginia Bearcats), 17:43.65
Ty Hood (Rye Cove), 18:13.17
Timothe Regin (Virginia Bearcats), 18:26.33
Isac Cooper (Castlewood), 18:28.87
Braydon McCracken (Patrick Henry), 18:33.34
Kurt Collins (Chilhowie), 18:40.75
Parker King (Castlewood), 19:04.51
Hunter Dye (Honaker), 19:04.71
Max Johnson (Ridgeview), 19:06.64
Ethan Baker (Tazewell), 19:07.71
Lincoln Combs (Honaker), 19:25.84
Jaxon Crisp (Letcher County Central), 19:59.72
Evan McReynolds (Eastside), 20:11.67
Dalten Keith (Castlewood), 20:13.79
Avery O’Quin (Ridgeview), 20:14.29
Landen Busler (Union), 20:14.43
Easton Phelps (Eastside), 20:20.50
Alex Kariuki (Virginia Bearcats), 20:21.03
Josh DeBusk (Virginia Bearcats), 20:27.22
Gage Garrett (Ridgeview), 20:28.98
Carson Wallace (Ridgeview), 20:32.54
Jason Correa (Eastside), 20:48.86
Grayson Hylton (Union), 20:48.95
Jeremy Wells (Wise County Central), 20:52.97
Colten Johnson (Twin Springs), 20:53.66
Aayden Mullins (Twin Springs), 21:00.97
Eli Davidson (Twin Springs), 21:05.27
Jake Osborne (Rye Cove), 21:13.92
Landon Adams (J.I. Burton), 21:21.71
Bentley Jackson (Southern Gap), 21:24.99
Kyler Lester (Southern Gap), 21:28.90
Wyatt Street (Southern Gap), 21:29.55
Landon Harris (Gate City), 21:41.37
Loften Fansler (Gate City), 21:42.34
Daniel Corell (Tazewell), 21:47.01
Salem Hall (Castlewood), 21:52.79
Brandon Edwards (Eastside), 22:01.93
Keaton Cook (Honaker), 22:20.14
Tyler Boyd (Honaker), 22:22.48
Dylan Kellog (Virginia Bearcats), 22:26.55
Logan Hamilton (Wise County Central), 22:27.55
Bryce Swisher (Twin Springs), 22:37.78
Ashton Louthian (Patrick Henry), 22:40.21
Elijah Theurer (Patrick Henry), 22:41.34
Joseph Skeen (Castlewood), 22:57.68
William Sturgill (Wise County Central), 23:21.62
Bradley Kell (Chilhowie), 23:23.52
Bentley Hopkins (Wise County Central), 23:34.63
Drayden Upchurch (Rye Cove), 23:36.37
Jude Adams (Letcher County Central), 23:41.63
Chasten Richardson (J.I. Burton), 23:44.73
Colton Blakenship (Honaker), 23:49.33
Max Gardner (J.I. Burton), 23:55.18
Jaccob Smeltzer (Southern Gap), 23:57.96
William Rogers (Rye Cove), 24:03.14
Landon Slone (Ridgeview), 24:06.13
Jordan Potter (Letcher County Central), 24:08.47
Sylas Blackwell (Chilhowie), 24:08.81
Thomas Caldwell (Virginia Bearcats), 24:10.50
Danilo Filho (Castlewood), 24:10.77
Gavin McCann (Tazewell), 24:14.49
Oliver Breeding (Southern Gap), 24:14.53
Ben Stanley (Ridgeview), 24:15.71
Seth Nunley (Tazewell), 24:19.99
Roy May (Virginia Bearcats), 24:34.20
Connor Blevins (J.I. Burton), 24:46.69
Lyfe McNew (Gate City), 24:47.21
Kodee Miller (Union), 24:51.67
Carter Dishman (Castlewood), 25:43.84
Bronston Williams (Eastside), 26:17.75
Garrett Hale (Chilhowie), 26:29.91
Robbie Stapleton (Gate City), 26:38.53
Cayden Harper (Gate City), 26:59.10
Carson Mullins (Virginia Bearcats), 27:12.55
Griffen Taylor (Rye Cove), 27:27.78
Tidus Greer (Honaker), 28:16.37
Desmond Adams (J.I. Burton), 28:27.07
Noah Dennison (Chilhowie), 28:51.89
Damon Howard (Letcher County Central), 28:56.63
Asa Rodeheaver (Tazewell), 29:12.97
Ian McKenzie (Virginia Bearcats), 29:13.66
Landon Rakes (J.I. Burton), 29:41.58
Jackson Meade (Twin Springs), 29:53.28
Tye Whitaker (Letcher County Central), 30:08.06
Noah Takach (Tazewell), 30:10.36
Xavier Lomans (Chilhowie), 30:33.17
Jaden Newsome (Honaker), 30:34.49
Carter Adams (Letcher County Central), 30:39.63
Jacob Templeton (Gate City), 32:08.23
Ryan Jennings (Gate City), 32:27.06
Cam Stidham (J.I. Burton), 34:48.20
Landon Pierce (Virginia Bearcats), 34:50.06
