Whiteoak boys cross-country team earns back-to-back SHAC championships; Eyre wins individual title
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Ripley High School was the place to be on a cool and muddy Saturday morning for the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Cross-Country Championships. It was there that the Whiteoak Wildcats returned to defend their title, and they didn’t leave much in doubt.
Whiteoak had the first two runners to finish the 3.1 mile race but also had seven of the top 15 finishers out of the field of 67. Whiteoak finished with a team score of 29 to clear themselves of their closest competitor by 57 spots.
Leading the way for the victorious Wildcats was freshman Landen Eyre, who won the race with a time of 16:55, and in doing so became only the second Whiteoak runner to be the individual league cross-country champion. Eyre joined Matt Mullenix in 1983 in select Whiteoak running history.
Right behind Eyre was teammate Weston Blair, who ran a personal-best 17:11 to take second place.
From there, Whiteoak had a nice cluster of kids to greatly represent the top 15 (also signifies all-league status): Christian Price was seventh (18:33), Wade Evans eighth (18:45), Bryce Van Hoy 11th (18:57), Connor Butler 13th (19:10) and Evan DeAtley 15th (19:13).
Also part of the championship team were Tristen Helterbrand 28th (20:31), Tyler Wessner 34th (20:58), Robbie Raines 37th (21:23), Austin Richards 54th (24:32) and Jake Ward 57th (25:00).
Coach Doug Hughes was elated with his team’s performance.
“They were all ready and focused today, from getting to school early to catch the bus to scraping themselves up from the finish line to cheer on their teammates,” Hughes said. “This is such an enjoyable group of kids. Landen Eyre winning the league title as a freshman … wow. Weston Blair was on his game today, and him being that good makes us very tough. Christian Price has been battling all season.
“Wade Evans recovering from a knee injury is peaking perfectly and is Whiteoak’s first three-time all-league runner of the last 35 years. Bryce Van Hoy is an all-league runner, and this is his first year competing. Connor Butler is peaking as a senior to join the all-conference team, and Evan DeAtley has been through the running battles and he knocked one out of the park today to crack that top 15.”
Hughes added, “But team Whiteoak is so much more.”
“Senior leader Tristen Helterbrand and senior Robbie Raines have been there through this whole process, both running from seventh grade through their senior year,” Hughes said. “Robbie came into this season as Whiteoak’s top runner each of the past two seasons when it mattered most. Two times he was all-league and was all-district last season. He put in the work this summer like never before and was ready to help lead this team, and the dreaded virus got him and his lungs just haven’t fully recovered for this grueling sport.
“Whatever we accomplish the rest of the way, they are a big part of it and part of this wonderful transition we’ve made. Great, great seniors. Jake Ward, Tyler Wessner and Austin Richards are in this thing too, and will have important duties this postseason.”
Whiteoak will compete at the University of Rio Grande next Saturday afternoon in the Southeast District Division III Championships.
Final team scores at the SHAC meet included:
1. Whiteoak (29);
2. Fairfield (86);
3. North Adams (93);
4. Ripley (116);
5: Lynchburg-Clay (123);
6. Peebles (147);
7. Manchester (151);
8. Eastern Brown (196); and
9. West Union (208).
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Whiteoak had the first two runners to finish the 3.1 mile race but also had seven of the top 15 finishers out of the field of 67. Whiteoak finished with a team score of 29 to clear themselves of their closest competitor by 57 spots.
Leading the way for the victorious Wildcats was freshman Landen Eyre, who won the race with a time of 16:55, and in doing so became only the second Whiteoak runner to be the individual league cross-country champion. Eyre joined Matt Mullenix in 1983 in select Whiteoak running history.
Right behind Eyre was teammate Weston Blair, who ran a personal-best 17:11 to take second place.
From there, Whiteoak had a nice cluster of kids to greatly represent the top 15 (also signifies all-league status): Christian Price was seventh (18:33), Wade Evans eighth (18:45), Bryce Van Hoy 11th (18:57), Connor Butler 13th (19:10) and Evan DeAtley 15th (19:13).
Also part of the championship team were Tristen Helterbrand 28th (20:31), Tyler Wessner 34th (20:58), Robbie Raines 37th (21:23), Austin Richards 54th (24:32) and Jake Ward 57th (25:00).
Coach Doug Hughes was elated with his team’s performance.
“They were all ready and focused today, from getting to school early to catch the bus to scraping themselves up from the finish line to cheer on their teammates,” Hughes said. “This is such an enjoyable group of kids. Landen Eyre winning the league title as a freshman … wow. Weston Blair was on his game today, and him being that good makes us very tough. Christian Price has been battling all season.
“Wade Evans recovering from a knee injury is peaking perfectly and is Whiteoak’s first three-time all-league runner of the last 35 years. Bryce Van Hoy is an all-league runner, and this is his first year competing. Connor Butler is peaking as a senior to join the all-conference team, and Evan DeAtley has been through the running battles and he knocked one out of the park today to crack that top 15.”
Hughes added, “But team Whiteoak is so much more.”
“Senior leader Tristen Helterbrand and senior Robbie Raines have been there through this whole process, both running from seventh grade through their senior year,” Hughes said. “Robbie came into this season as Whiteoak’s top runner each of the past two seasons when it mattered most. Two times he was all-league and was all-district last season. He put in the work this summer like never before and was ready to help lead this team, and the dreaded virus got him and his lungs just haven’t fully recovered for this grueling sport.
“Whatever we accomplish the rest of the way, they are a big part of it and part of this wonderful transition we’ve made. Great, great seniors. Jake Ward, Tyler Wessner and Austin Richards are in this thing too, and will have important duties this postseason.”
Whiteoak will compete at the University of Rio Grande next Saturday afternoon in the Southeast District Division III Championships.
Final team scores at the SHAC meet included:
1. Whiteoak (29);
2. Fairfield (86);
3. North Adams (93);
4. Ripley (116);
5: Lynchburg-Clay (123);
6. Peebles (147);
7. Manchester (151);
8. Eastern Brown (196); and
9. West Union (208).
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