If you saw the colorful tents and thousands of people crowding the grounds of the old golf course in New Martinsville this past Saturday, you would know the third annual Magnolia Mudhole Cross Country Invitational is now history.

With ideal weather, almost five hundred runners took part in four races, including some of West Virginia’s best high school runners and cross country teams.

Scoring a double and coming away with championship trophies in both the girls’ and boys’ races was St. Mary’s High School. The Devil boys brought in the low score of 48 to lead the field, followed in second place by Doddridge (79). Third was Ritchie County (92) and the Magnolia Blue Eagles held on for fourth place (108) in the seventeen-school field.

In the girls’ high school race, champion St. Mary’s (51) was followed by Williamstown (92) and Trinity Christian (117) to take home the trophies. The Blue Eagles finished in eleventh place.

Leading the way for the home-standing Eagle boys was all-state Bill Feeney, who was the runner-up in 16 minutes and 49 seconds. That was just behind the course record 16:43 pace of back-to-back champion Johnny Hogue of Ritchie County.

In third place came state-ranked Jordan Whitehair of St. Mary’s (17:04), out-kicking Alec Hinerman of Magnolia (17:05) who finished fourth. The St. Mary’s team then brought in ninth, 15th and 16th places to power home before Blue Eagle James Haught came in 19th.

Finishing the scoring for the home team was Kenny Headley in 43rd place and freshman David McIlvain in the 51st position. Others running on the Magnolia team were Kyle Lancaster (54), Mikal Raber (67), and Dylan King (76).

Former girls’ state champion Maggie Drazba toured the rolling course in a record 19:33 to help St. Mary’s win the top award. The Eagles’ own Christa Harshberger forged a fine 16th place by running a 22:12 time, followed by Sarah Goddard (67), Shelby Sands (81), Katie Ensinger (85), and Julianne McIlvain (100).

Said Eagle Coach John Holliday, “This meet was a lot of work spread out over many weeks and it is gratifying to hear the compliments from coaches and fans for our course and the meet as a whole.

“The first year we held this, in 2009, I realized there were seniors on my team who had never raced at home, so this was kind of a gift from me to them. I still look at it that way and that makes all the work it requires to put one of these on worthwhile.

“We are hosting the regional championship on this same course on Oct. 20. At the ‘Mudhole,’ we got a chance to see every team in our regional competition plus some other strong teams. Some of the best teams in the state, regardless of class, are in our region and we see how much work we have in front of us if we want to extend our season.”

Continued Holliday, “Over the weeks I have thanked a lot of people for their help and will continue to do so. Rick Tuttle hauls in his own equipment to make this field look like a park, bull-dozing, brush-hogging, burning, and mowing. He has spent countless personal hours.”

“We would have been happy just setting out a path to run on, but Rick wanted it to be first class in every way. He is an example of the fine people who have helped make this a state-renowned course and we, the Magnolia Cross Country Teams, sincerely give our thanks.”

There were also two middle school races. Winning the boy’s meet was Ritchie County, followed by Doddridge, and Ohio County Middle. Long Drain School finished eighth.

Winning the girls’ middle school race was Doddridge, leading Shadyside, Ohio, and South Middle of Morgantown. Long Drain was ninth place.

The Magnolia Blue Eagles have adjusted their schedule to include the upcoming Grafton Bearcat Invitational on Sept. 24 and the Cambridge, Ohio, Invitational on Oct. 1.