Warren’s Luke Rettenberger leads a small pack which includes Tyler Consolidated’s Amos Kimble, far right, and Parkersburg South’s Josh Gill, far left, during Saturday’s Belpre Invitational. Kimble placed second, Gill finished third and Rettenberger followed in fourth place in the boys race.at Civitan Park. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

BELPRE–Three words said it all as the Warren girls finally put runner-up showings upon runner-up showings behind them for at least one weekend.

“We got one,” Warren cross country coach Ryan Werry said to his girls teams after wrapping up their photo opps after winning the seventh annual Belpre Invitational, Saturday morning at Civitan Park.

Four Warren runners – Ashlee Pate (6th, 21:08), Rania Singh (8th, 21:56), Cate Edgell (15th, 22:36) and Hollyn Reed (18th, 22:48) received medals after placing among the top 25 individuals in the field and the Warriors finished with 70 points to edge Fisher Catholic by a 12-point margin. Entering the meet, their quest for an invitational title had been blocked by Fort Frye since the season began.

“It seems like we have been behind Fort Frye all year,” Werry said. “We have finished second every time and our girls just stick with it. As far as pushing it, you won’t find another group that will push it harder.”

The girls race completed quite the performance from Warren after five members – Luke Rettenberger (4th, 16:24), Spencer Rehl (21st, 17:32), Tyler Frye (22nd, 17:32), Caleb Yost (24th, 17:38) and Alex Bishop (25th, 17:42) — earned a medal and led the Warriors to a second-place showing with 89 points. Lancaster won the team title with 74 points.

Parkersburg South freshman Jalyn Eddy earned a Top 25 medal by placing fourth in the girls race during Saturday’s Belpre Invitational at Civitan Park. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“Our boys team is really young as far as our top seven guys go, so we didn’t really know what to expect coming into the season,” Werry said. “We’re excited, though. We finished first our last two races and coming into today, we knew our next three weeks would be tough. It’s good to see we are showing up.”

Eastern senior Connor Nolan didn’t emerge as a frontrunner immediately then stepped it up a mile or so into the race and won by a 15-second margin over Tyler Consolidated’s Amos Kimble. Nolan covered the course in a time of 15:33.

“I made the mistake last year of going out way too hard,” said Nolan, who placed runner-up last year at the Belpre Invitational. “I ended up running a 15:24, but I went out like a maniac. This time, I let the guys do the dirty work for about the first mile or so then put it on them the rest of the race.

“As soon as I took the lead, it gave me a good momentum boost knowing I could drop those guys. And that’s what I did. I kept opening the gap the rest of the race.”

Kimble, who finished in 15:48, was among the handful of runners who maintained an edge over Nolan until the completion of the first mile.

Warren’s Ashlee Pate, right, led the Warrior girls to the team title by finishing sixth at Saturday’s Belpre Invitational. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“About the mile mark, (Nolan) got a little bit ahead and I just kept trying to get back up to him,” said Kimble, who admitted he had a rough race the previous week because he was getting over a cold. “I didn’t want anyone to catch me at the end.”

Competing in cross country for the first time in his career, Parkersburg South senior Josh Gill is holding his own among the elite runners and on Saturday he placed third (16:00). Teammate Gatlin McLain also earned a medal with his 11th-place finish (16:40).

“I wanted to go out a little harder – we went out pretty fast, but I wanted to get a sub-16,” Gill said. “I have a lot of 16-flats this year. Hoping to break 16 the next race. Lot of good competition out here. Lot of people I don’t know.

“I don’t think (Nolan) was out front at the very start. He kind of came up later, and after seeing that I wish I would have done the same. Our first mile was like a 4:53 – that’s pretty quick.”

On the girls side, John Marshall was missing several girls from its starting lineup, but managed a third-place showing with 116 points. The Monarchs’ Zoe Servos crossed the finish line in first place with a time of 18:40. John Glenn’s Ashlynn Kuklica (2nd, 19:03).

Servos, a sophomore, credited her teammate Kalyn Reese and Kuklica with setting the right pace. Reese eventually took third (19:58).

‘At the start of the race I was with Kalyn for about the first quarter of a mile and stuck really close behind Ashlynn. Ashlynn really pushed me through the race. I did my best to stay with her through the main portion of the course. Had to keep telling myself to push through.”

“I really like this course – it’s something fun to come back to,” Servos said. “Last year, since the whole course is flat I don’t really have to save anything for hills. I don’t really have as much of a strategy than do my best and save enough for the end.

Parkersburg South freshman Jalyn Eddy placed fourth (20:53) and joined teammate Lexi McKinney (12th, 22:20) as a top 25 medalist.

“I was in the middle of everybody and I just picking them off as the race went,” Eddy said. ”

John Marshall sophomore Zoe Servos, left, won the girls race at Saturday's Belpre Invitational cross country meet at Civitan Park. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

As Warren’s top finisher, Pate made sure to push ahead of the large pack of runners out of the gate.

“I tried to go fast so I didn’t get stuck in the crowd then I tried to settle into my pace,” Pate said. “It wasn’t quite the pace I wanted it to be, but I kept pushing through the pain and heat. Over the last mile I think I picked off one person.

“Knowing we won first as a team will motivate a lot of us. Those second place finishes to Fort Frye was just a little bit frustrating.”