MHS, Trinity Christian capture regional XC titles as local teams dominate competitions
Trending
MORGANTOWN – The 2026 high school cross country season entered its postseason over the weekend as all four classes met for regional competition and the chance to qualify for the 2026 state championship meet on Saturday in Ona.
All five area schools sent runners to the course on Saturday with racers and teams from every class coming home with some hardware.
The Morgantown High School boys and girls teams won the North Region in Class AAAA. the Mohigan boys' team finished with 47 points, 14 points ahead of second-place Jefferson.
MHS was led by senior Maxwell Abildso in fifth place at 16:14.00. Five more Mohigans joined him in the top 15, with two other finishing in the top 20, making the difference in the team standings.
"We have a large group of guys who just enjoy running," MHS coach Mike Ryan said. "They've put the time in going back to track season and into the summer. They're always together and coming out for flex days getting mileage in and all that. We know that if we take that pack mentality into every race that we can be successful."
University junior Micah Gainer was the individual champion with a time of 15:24.80.
On the girls side, MHS finished with four runners inside the top ten, including sophomores Leyland Phillips and Jenna Conaway in 4th and 5th, respectively. Senior Lauren Hawkins finished 6th.
Phillips paced the Mohigans in 19:13.20 as they dominated the field, finishing with 36 points. Preston took home 2nd with 73 points, six points ahead of UHS at 79. PHS freshman Taylor Grose placed 8th with a time of 19:39.60.
In Class A, Trinity Christian boys and girls also captured regional titles. Four TCS runners finished in the top five in the boys race with sophomore Jake Stevens placing 1st in 17:20.60.
Senior Bri Blake took home the top honors in the girls competition in 21:35.00. TCS occupied the top four spots in the girls race.
Morgantown, University, Preston, Clay-Battelle, and Trinity Christian all qualified for the 2026 state meet on the boys side.
The same, minus Clay-Battelle, can be said for the girls teams.
The 2026 WVSSAC state cross-country meet is scheduled for Saturday morning at Cabell Midland High School in Ona.