Running for recognition in West Virginia

By Brian Towey for DyeStat

The girls from Morgantown WV tackled a high quality field Sept. 30 at the Paul Short Run in Pennsylvania that included nationally ranked Centerville OH. The Mohigans ran well and finished second.

"That race gave my girls a lot of confidence," said seventh-year Morgantown coach Mike Ryan.

"Two of them finished within Centerville's top five. They said, 'Can we run on a national top 10 team?' I said, 'Yes, you can.'"

In a state not recognized for its cross country tradition, West Virginia, with its distinctive hilly terrain, is rising on the national level.

More runners from the state are competing in national-caliber events, like the Nike Cross Regionals, and Morgantown, the home to West Virginia University, hosts two of the state's top cross country programs, Morgantown and University.

For top-level invitationals, the state's top teams usually head out of the state, the one exception coming annually on Labor Day weekend, when Cabell Midland hosts a night meet, the St. Mary's Medical Center Cross Country Festival.

For Morgantown and University, their schedules have included trips to Pennsylvania and Virginia, with Cabell Midland traveling Sept. 30 for the Greater Louisville Classic.

"The last five or six years at the West Virginia state championship, the boys or girls championship has been won by either Morgantown or University Heights," said Ed Frohnapfel, who has coached at University High since 2006.

"Most of the time the second place team has been the other school."

The West Virginia state meet returns to Cabell Midland High School this Saturday. 

STATE MEET INDEX

In recent years West Virginians have made their presence felt at the regional level, as well.

University senior TaShala Turner finished seventh last year at NXR Southeast, following in-state counterparts like Providence College senior Millie Paladino (University High), a former Penn Relays mile champion and 2013 Foot Locker finalist, and Cody Pelliccioni, a 2010 Foot Locker finalist (Morgantown High) and former runner at North Carolina State.

"The one thing we haven't had is a team consistently performing at the regional/national level," Ryan said. "We've had individuals at that level."

In a way, Morgantown is uniquely situated to support a budding cross country culture. With 45 miles of "rail trails" or old railroad beds whose tracks have been pulled up (once the spaces are paved or covered with crushed limestone, they're friendly for runners), there is a thriving network of running paths.

"The rail trails are kind of unique to West Virginia," Frohnapfel said. "For us, putting in mileage without training on city streets is great. The road system is West Virginia's not that good. If you go out on country roads, there's not enough room for two cars, let alone two cars and a runner."

Frohnapfel, a longtime road racer and former 2:36 marathoner who joined the University program as an assistant in 2006 (the year the school won its first boys state title), following his two sons, Eric and Adam, has guided the program to three more boys titles and six girls crowns since then. He has watched his cross country team expand from 20 to 50 runners, and in the shadow of the state's largest university, has gradually seen the sport's popularity rise.

"You used to only see runners from WVU running in Morgantown," Frohnapfel said. "I think it's become much more accepted that you're a runner here."

For Ryan, a West Virginia native and former walk-on at WVU, his path to Morgantown came through the college coaching ranks. A former graduate assistant at Auburn University and the former women's cross country and assistant track and field coach at George Mason University, a PhD program at WVU in exercise physiology lured him back.

"I wanted to put things into practice (as a coach)," Ryan said.

He's won four state titles at Morgantown, three with the girls team and one with the boys.

As West Virginians target postseason meets like NXN and Foot Locker, in-state rules limit coaches' contact with athletes following the state championship meet.

Some athletes, like those at University, train with a private coach, such as Jonathan Wright, who is based in Morgantown. For other programs, state rules that allow coaches six "flex" days to use for coaching purposes are used to prepare for regional meets.

"To get our athletes ready for Nike, I usually use those flex days after the state meet," Ryan said.

In West Virginia, school-sponsored indoor track does not exist. Still, some athletes will train with club teams, like the West Virginia Flyers, based in Morgantown, to prepare for meets like New Balance Nationals Indoor or larger invitationals, like those in Louisville, Ky.

"In the winter we have the West Virginia Flyers, which is basically University and Morgantown," Turner said. "We have so many good friends on each team, and we've been going to school together for so long, that it's really not like a rivalry, except it is. ... Victoria Starcher (of Ripley High) who won the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 at the state meet, comes to train with us on Tuesdays and Saturdays. We need to keep working together (to improve the sport)."

Both Ryan and Frohnapfel agree that having an indoor season would benefit West Virginia athletes.

"The lack of an indoor season is the one thing that is holding West Virginia runners back," Ryan said.

Chris Parsons, the coach at Cabell Midland in Ona, has been coaching in the state since the mid-1980s. He runs the state cross country meet and counts Jacob Burcham, a former indoor national champion in the mile (and 4:02 prep miler) and NXN finalist as a noteworthy alum.

"As far as the biggest differences I've seen versus the 80s or 90s, you had a lot more seasonal runners," Parsons said. "That started changing in the mid-2000s. Running saw a huge change."

Another change was introduced by Burcham.

"What it did, it made everybody want to be better," said Parsons, who described Burcham as a "celebrity" among the state's runners in high school.

"It made our kids want to be better. It brought a lot of recognition not only to Cabell Midland, but also to West Virginia."

Come Saturday at the state meet, the hard work by runners across the state will again pay dividends.