ELKINS – Buckhannon-Upshur’s Samantha Shreve overcame a mid-week illness to claim first place in the Forest Festival Invitational Saturday morning.

Shreve, who is listed second in the Class AAA RunWV rankings, dominated a field of 49 other runners posting a winning time of 21:07.93. She was over 90 seconds faster than runner-up Julia Biola of Elkins who posted a time of 22:50.39.

“Samantha looked phenomenal after battling some sickness this week,” stated Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Taylor Stacy.

B-U’s Mia Sappey had a top 10 finish running ninth with a time of 24:36.15 while Anya Morehead was 12^th with a clocking of 24:36.15.

“Mia and Anya are both stepping it up big time in those two and three spots,” noted Stacy.”

Rounding out the B-U scoring were Angelina Winter in 20^th (26:33.36) and Mallory Moss in 25^th (27:19.49).

The other two Lady Bucs runners were Pressley Bowers in 26^th (27:23.89) and Martina Mota Lobato in 46^th (35:30.47).

As a team, the Lady Bucs just missed out on the team title with 51 points, just five more than Elkins who won the event with 46 points.

“It was a good race for the girls,” concluded Stacy. “It was a good showing and helps us to gauge our middle of the season fitness levels. I am hoping to put together some nice races again next weekend before we really step into the championship part of our season. I am excited for the weeks ahead.”

The Lady Bucs will be back in action this Saturday at the Grafton Bearcat Invitational at 9 a.m.