One of the premier cross country meets in the area, the third annual Magnolia Mudhole Invitational, will be held at the old golf course and marina in the south of town on Saturday, Sept. 17.

Sixteen high schools are expected to vie for top honors in both boys’ and girls’ races, as well as races for a middle school championship. The first race will begin at 9 a.m.

In the high school girls’ race, Weir High School’s Alexis Virtue will be back to defend her Mudhole title. She hopes to improve on her 2010 time of 20 minutes, 28 seconds, and bring home another championship.

The Blue Eagles’ top girls’ finisher last year was Christa Harshberger, now a junior, who toured the course in a fine 21:40 for 14th place. Other runners to look out for in the individual competition are number one state-ranked Maggie Drazba of St. Mary’s, Kristen Mastrontoni of Weir, Bethany Carroll of Doddridge, Katie Woods of Trinity and Oak Glen’s Kelsey Chambers.

Last year’s defending girls’ team champion Berkeley Springs will not make the three hour trip this year, putting the championship up for grabs by such state-ranked cross country powers as St. Mary’s, Oak Glen, Weir, and Williamstown.

For the second race of the morning, defending boys’ champion Johnny Hogue from Ritchie County will return to the Mudhole once again to defend his well-earned title and course record time of 16:39. Magnolia has a pair of all-state runners returning for the chase. Last year’s Mudhole runner-up, Alec Hinerman, and third place Bill Feeney will both challenge for top honors.

Other ranked runners to watch are Charlie Drazba and Jordan Whitehair of St. Mary’s, Doddridge County’s Caleb Moore and Matt Zorn, and Ritchie County’s Clinton Hardman. Also, triple-A East Fairmont will counter with their state-ranked runner, senior Tony Hayes.

In the boys’ team competition, everyone will be looking to top ranked St. Mary’s to take home top awards. Doing their best to prevent that and keep the trophy at home will be the number five ranked Magnolia Blue Eagles.

State-ranked Ritchie County will bring a fine stable of runners, as will  defending champion and state-ranked Doddridge.

The races are sponsored by the New Martinsville Middle School Running Club with help from the cross country parents and the New Martinsville Middle School Wrestling team. Also, many thanks go to Tim Shiben for the use of his golf-course property.

New Martinsville Parks and Recreation Director Bev Gibb and street commissioner Gary Willey always make sure the marina and woods area are cleaned up to make a park-like atmosphere.

Meet Director and Blue Eagle Head Coach John Holliday expressed “My thanks to all those who have worked so hard to develop this meet into the showcase it is today. Tim Shiben is always so generous and I hope the team and community realize what a great area this is for us to be able to use for our home meets. We will also be hosting the Region I A/AA Championship in October and this course is recognized as one of the best in the state.”

New Martinsville Running Club officer and Head Wrestling Coach Terry Sands added, “We are proud to host the largest sporting event in New Martinsville with 25 teams represented in both high school and middle school divisions.”