Micah Gainer wins individual OVAC title, Morgantown High sweeps team honors
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CAMBRIDGE, Ohio - A pair of state champions - both from West Virginia - became OVAC champions Saturday, one for her second time and the other his first.
Wheeling Park's Brenna Tipton and University's Micah Gainer crossed the finish line first during the 2026 OVAC Cal Pokas Cross Country championships Saturday on the 3.1-mile course circling the Cambridge Schools campus.
Tipton, who captured the 2025 West Virginia Class AAAA crown last fall, repeated her 2025 title in 18-minutes, 00.47-seconds. The junior's time was nearly 45 seconds better than Shadyside senior Chloe Meholovitch, who clocked out at 18:41.71.
"I ran a few seconds slower than I did here last year. I got a good start but I thought I should be tougher in the middle of the ace," Tipton assessed. "I know I can do it."
When asked whether this title felt better than her first, she replied, "last year was a little bit warmer and I had a lot of energy today. I was just excited to race, so it felt well."
Tipton said she's on the pace she wants to be heading into the postseason.
"I PR'd last week and I was very happy with that," she noted. "Today was slower than I would have liked, but nothing that I can't handle in getting ready for regionals."
The regionals will be run on Saturday, Oct. 24, with the state meet a week later.
Gainer, who won the West Virginia Class AAAA state title last fall as a sophomore, was runner-up at the OVAC in 2025, but not this year as his time of 15:22.21 was 14.5 seconds ahead of Bellaire senior Landen Perdue's 15:36.76.
"I finished second here last year to my teammate, Ethan Conroy, who graduated last year, so that was an incentive for me. I wanted to win that one last year, so I had to get it this year."
While not ecstatic about his time, Gainer was pleased.
"I've been running under 16 (minutes) consistently, so I'm happy with what I ran today."
Perdue was pleased with his time.
"It was a good race. I ran a minute less than I did last year on this course when I finished sixth," he mentioned. "I ran a good race today and lost to the best kid in West Virginia. I can't be upset with that."
In the team portion, all four girls’ champions were repeaters as Morgantown (Class 5A), Edison (Class 4A), Bellaire (Class 3A) and Shadyside (Class 1A/2A) topped their restive fields. The Mohigans amassed just 43 points to University's 79; while the Wildcats totaled 218 to Oak Glen's 237; the Big Reds, who finished third overall, had 99. Fort Frye was second with 261 and the Tigers finished with 233, which was 77 ahead of Trinity Christian.
Following Tipton and Meholovitch across the finish line to complete the top 10 were Shenandoah senior Ida Estadt; University senior Abigail Rogers; Morgantown sophomore Leyland Phiipls; Bellaire freshman Paisley Farrier; Bellaire's Kamdin Snider; and the Morgantown trio of Jenna Conaway, Lauren Hawkins and Megyn Amsler.
On the boys’ side, things were a little different as three new champions were crowned - Morgantown (Class 5A), Martins Ferry (Class 4A) and Shenandoah (Class 3A). The lone repeat winner was Trinity Christian. The Mohigans bested city rival University (56-64), while the Purple Riders defeated St. Clairsville (198-225); the Zeps zipped past Fort Frye (205-279) and the Warriors roared by Caldwell (219-331).
After Gainer and Perdue, the boys' top 10 was Wheeling Park junior Rylan Moore; Union Local senior Connor Bendo; Morgantown's Joshua Shrewsbury; Warren Local's Luke Rettenberger; University's Logan Conroy; Morgantown's Maxwell Abildso; Beaver Local's Luke Warrock and Shenandoah's Joel Tewksbary.