PROCTORVILLE – There are two words to describe the Coal Grove Hornets cross country team.

Friday, October 20, 2000

PROCTORVILLE – There are two words to describe the Coal Grove Hornets cross country team.

One is dedication. The second work is champions.

The Hornets dedicated work ethic was a key factor as they won a second straight Ohio Valley Conference cross country championship Tuesday.

Coal Grove had four runners among the top 11 to post 46 points and edge the Fairland Dragons who had 49 team points.

South Point finished third with 77 points, Rock Hill had 92, and Chesapeake did not have enough runners for a team score.

Eric Tackett and Steve Bruce led the Hornets win as they finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Ryan Young placed eighth and Scott Boyd was 11th.

Young and Bruce are both starters for the Hornets football team, but they maintain their distance workouts during the season. Mays said that work ethic was a key in the Hornets winning the meet.

"Steve has been running before school starts. He’d run before two-a-days (summer football practice). He wanted to run bad. He enjoys it. All the boys are very dedicated and work hard," said Mays.

Boyd’s finish was just ahead of Fairland’s Ben Smith, producing a two-point swing in the Hornets favor. Mays said Boyd’s performance was another factor in the win.

"That’s his best time all year. He came up when we needed it," Mays said. "That was a happy surprise."

Mays, in his third season as the Hornets head coach, said it was a good win against strong field.

"The boys did well. I’m proud of them. It was good competition this year. All the teams had good runners this year. We expected to win, but we weren’t real sure. You never know," said Mays.

The meet was run in rainy weather and led to several runners slipping and falling down, including a couple of Coal Grove runners. But Mays said the weather wasn’t really much of a factor.

"Not really, because everyone was in the same conditions. We had some kids fall, so it could have been worse. It could have been a factor," said Mays.

Ryan Madds of Rock Hill won the overall individual championship with a time of 19 minutes and Chesapeake’s Eddie Neel was second.

There were not team scores in the girls meet, but Fairland’s Chelsea Walls on another individual OVC championship with a snappy time of 22:19. Cassie Chaffins of Rock Hill was second.

Chesapeake won the junior high cross country title over Fairland, 16-to-21.

Corey Walls of Fairland had the boys fastest time at 12:08 while Anna Keffer of South Point took the girls individual crown.

Ohio Valley Conference

Cross Country Championship

Team Scores

Coal Grove 46

Fairland 49

South Point 77

Rock Hill 92

Chesapeake NTS

Top Individuals

1. Ryan Madds, Rock Hill 19:00

2. Eddie Neel, Chesapeake

3. Scott Wellman,Chesapeake

4. Eric Tackett, Coal Grove

5. Steve Bruce, Coal Grove

6. Chris Dinwiddie, Fairland

7. Paul Maxwell, Fairland

8. Ryan Young, Coal Grove

9. Zach Smith, South Point

10. Derick Rowe, Fairland

11. Scott Boyd, Coal Grove

12. Ben Smith, Fairland

13. Nix Nixon, South Point

14. Andy Marchese, Fairland

15. Peter Primay, South Point

16. Donte Pennington, South Point

17. Sam Lewis, Rock Hill

18. Beau Webb, Coal Grove

19. Luke Tackett, Coal Grove

20. Shane Nixon, South Point

21. Michael Kerns, Rock Hill

22. Eric Hawthorne, South Point

23. Joey Daniels, Fairland

24. Justin Gibson, Coal Grove

25. George Mullins, Rock Hill

26. Rickie McDonie, Rock Hill

27. Ryan Townsend, Rock Hill

28. Derrick Mitchell, South Point

Girls Individuals

1. Chelsea Walls, Fairland 22:19

2. Cassie Chaffins, Rock Hill

3. Jenny Ellensworth, Fairland

4. Vanessa Gyles, Rock Hill

5. Tina Armstead, South Point

6. Shelli White, Chesapeake

7. Sarah Ferguson, South Point

8. Sarah Musgrave, Chesapeake

9. Tara Layne, South Point

10. Julie Stevens, South Point

OVC Junior High Meet

Boys Individuals

1. Corey Walls, Fairland 12:08

2. Aaron Booster, Chesapeake

3. Jackson Craynor, Chesapeake

4. Michael White, Chesapeake

5. David Breece, South Point

6. Kyle Wise, Fairland

7. Chad Simmons, Chesapeake

8. Josh Murdock, Chesapeake

9. Daniel Bailey, South Point

10. Mark Roby, Chesapeake

11. John Warner,Chesapeake

12. Travis Leffingwell, Chesapeake

13. John McDonald, Chesapeake

14. Josh Adkins, Fairland

15. Adam Huffman, Chesapeake

16. Kermit Adkins, Chesapeake

17. Nick Adams, Fairland

18. David Vance, Fairland

Girls Individuals

1. Anna Keffer, South Point

2. Amanda Marcum, Fairland

3. Sarah Cline, South Point

4. Samantha Woods, South Point

5. Ashley Warnick, South Point

6. Sade Mayes, Fairland

7. Angela Vance, Fairland

8. Amanda Dryer, South Point