BARBOURSVILLE – The Buckhannon-Upshur Lady Bucs finished eighth in their appearance in the 2021 West Virginia State Cross-Country Championships Saturday at Cabell Midland High School.

Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Taylor Stacy was hopeful his team could crack the top five, but it wasn’t meant to be.

The Lady Bucs were predicted to finish eighth by RunWV.com’s state predictions and finished there out of 12 teams.

“We finished eighth as predicted,” noted Stacy. “I felt our girls ran a solid race.”

The Lady Bucs compiled 176 points.

Morgantown, the favorite going into the state championship, won it with just 21 points while University was second with 89 and Jefferson was third with 114 points.

Buckhannon-Upshur freshman Samantha Shreve was the top runner for the Lady Bucs as she placed 11^th with a time of 20:24.30.

Shreve just missed out on all-state honors which went to the top 10.

Stacy was still impressed with his freshman’s performance.

“She missed all-state by seven seconds as a freshman,” noted Stacy. “She was the second fastest freshman competing in Class AAA. What a year for her.”

Mia Sappey placed 31^st for the Lady Bucs with a time of 21:45.32 while Jessica Williams was 35^th in 21:56.13, Miah Reger was 45^th with a time of 22:37.15, Malia Bowers ran 70^th with a clocking of 25:26.21, Pressley Bowers was 74^th with a time of 26:29.65 and Harlee Gillum took 82^nd with a time of 29:02.31.

Morgantown’s Irene Riggs, the top runner in Class AAA, won the individual title with a time of 18:24.88, while Allie Martin of Preston was runner-up with a time of 18:59.69.

“Running at states was a great experience for our girls that they won’t soon forget,” remarked Stacy. “More importantly, they got a taste of the big stage and now they are hungry to continue working.”

The 2021 appearance at states could be just the first of many for Stacy and his Lady Bucs as all seven runners that competed Saturday will return next year.

“We have the entire seven returning next year, so we can’t wait to see what the future holds,” stated Stacy. “It has been an amazing season for both the boys and the girls. These athletes are one-of-a-kind and have grown into a family over these last few months. I’ve been blessed to coach a lot of them since sixth grade. They should all be proud of themselves and their accomplishments this season. I know I sure am.”