WinfieldÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Trace Marshall, left, poses with Jackson Tully following the Huntington/Wayne XC Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, at the YMCA Kennedy Center in Huntington.
WinfieldÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Trace Marshall, left, poses with Jackson Tully following the Huntington/Wayne XC Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, at the YMCA Kennedy Center in Huntington.
HUNTINGTON ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Trace Marshall crossed the finish line first at the Dutch Miller Huntington High/Wayne Cross Country Invitational Saturday but still followed one runner.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI came here hoping to be like my brother, Brayden Marshall, who ran a sub-15,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Trace Marshall said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI didnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t run that, but IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll take a win, absolutely.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Trace Marshall, a junior at Winfield High School finished in 16:23.30 at the YMCA Kennedy Center, well ahead of runner-up Paxton Haddox of Hurricane. Haddox ran 16:50. MarshallÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s brother starred with the Generals and now runs for North Carolina State. The race featured 178 runners.
WinfieldÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Ari Clark placed third in 16:55.4, followed in the top five by Ethan Dowdy of Shady Spring in 16:55.70 and Sam Aulenbacher of Nitro in 16:57.90.
Winfield won the team title with 74 points. Shady Spring was second with 87, ahead of Ignite homeschool with 94, Hurricane 107, Cabell Midland 152, Wayne 176, Pikeview 186, Ravenswood 205, Huntington High 217, Parkersburg South 237, St. Albans 281, Ripley 312, Poca 332, Spring Valley 280, Fairland 382 and South Point 425.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI love this course,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Marshall said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThis is as close to a home meet as we get. I love it. IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m really thankful Huntington and Wayne put it on this year and that there were a lot of people here.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Marshall said he also loves his teammates and running through the fog with them along the Ohio River..
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve run with then since middle school,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ he said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s good to be up there with them. They kept me from getting out too fast or too slow. ThereÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a lot of potential with these boys.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Neena McClintic, a junior from Greenbrier East, won the girls race in 19:38.20. Hurricane sophomore Delainey Burger was second in 20:01.40. HurricaneÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Sofie Zappitelli placed third in 20:24.90, followed by Abigail Torman of St. Albans in 20:28.60 and Riley Sotomayor of Ravenswood in 20:34.60 in the 161-runner field.
McClintic said she thought sheÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s run well but was surprised to win.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œNot really,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ she said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThis is our first meet, and our team has never come to this course. We wanted to try it out, but I didnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t know what to expect. I liked the course. ItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s flatter than what we usually practice on.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Inite won the team title with 55 points, edging Hurricane by 3 points. St. Albans was third with 109, followed by Parkersburg South with 116, Shady Spring 146, Greenbrier East 189, Covenant 208, Fairland 213, Spring Valley 234, Ravenswood 254, Winfield 258, Huntington High 261 and Calvary Baptist 393.
Milton won the middle school boys and girls titles. Kase Legg of Winfield was the middle school boys victor in 10:53.30. Evelyn Stevens of Ignite took the girls race in 12:02.50.
