Indians sweep Cross Country Invitational

October 7, 2011

"There is no place like home," Dorothy said. “There is no place like home."

Those lines from the Wizard of Oz may not of inspired the Berkeley Springs High School Cross Country Teams, but they did prove to be prophetic, as both the girls and boys team won the annual Berkeley Springs Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, October 1.

The girls team scored 23 points to runner-up Martinsburg's 35. Mercersburg Academy was third with 81, followed by Southern Fulton with 85. Hedgesville and Cameron had incomplete scores.

"The course was the sloppiest that I've ever seen it for a home meet," said Berkeley Springs coach John Rowland. “Our kids were undeterred by the conditions and did a good job."

Danielle Haynes led the girls with a second place finish. Kayla Mundey was fourth, Sara Younker finished seventh, Macy Houck 10th and Keri Shetler 16th to round out the scoring. Charla McDaniel was 22nd.

Fallon Stone from Hedgesville won the overall title, completing the 3.1 miles course in 21:47.

"Our girls continue to improve," Rowland said. “Keri Shetler, in particular, had a very good meet. She shaved more than a minute off her best time this year, and she did it on a wet and sloppy course."

The boys team scored 28 points to easily outdistance runner-up Martinsburg (60). Hedgesville (74) was third, followed by Southern Fulton 97, Cameron 99 and Mercersburg Academy 164. Paw Paw had an incomplete score.

Casey Doxzen (18:28), Patrick Peck and Corey Shetler swept the top three spots, while Justin Glass and Dylan Reynolds rounded out the scoring, finishing eighth and 23rd overall. Kirk Spielman was 24th.

"I was very pleased with the fact that our boys went 1,2,3," said Rowland. “They went out, took the lead and never relinquished it. All three were beaten at the beginning of the year by Martinsburg's Vladamir Bauer, who finished fourth on Saturday. So I think that shows that we are getting stronger. I had challenged the guys to defend their home turf, so I hope this meet marked a rallying point for the boys team."

Berkeley Springs will host the Potomac Valley Conference Class AA Championship at Warm Springs Middle School on October 11. The first race begins at 4:15 p.m.