Lady Eagles win Region 2, Class A cross country meet

By Shirley Shuman
Braxton’s girls are headed to the state cross country meet following their win of Thursday’s regional meet. Coach Robert Lloyd pointed out, “ Even though our school was reclassified in the spring, which dropped us to Class A, these ladies have now won four regional titles—three in AA and this one in A.” Doddridge finished second and Trinity Christian third.
The Lady Eagles had three girls in the top five and six in the top 10. Placing second in the meet, Laura Cain’s time of 20:15.7 was just six seconds behind the first-place finisher. In fourth place, Addison Lloyd, who was named performer of the meet, crossed the finish line next for Braxton. Lloyd’s time was 21:09.4. Teagan Huff at 21:53.1 followed in fifth place. In seventh place, Reece Carpenter’s time was 22:07.6, and Leah Payne, in eighth place, finished at 22:08.4. Tenth place went to Bethany Payne with a time of 22:35.5, and Chelsea Payne finished at 23:02 and in 11th place.
Winning First-Team All-Conference were Cain, Lloyd, Huff, Carpenter, Leah Payne and Bethany Payne. Chelsea Payne earned Second Team All-Regional. Coach Robert Lloyd pointed out that these girls had seven spots in the first 11 positions.
Coach Lloyd discussed the girls’ race and explained how they won the race. He said, “The girls hit the woods, and once they reappeared, Laura Cain and Bailey Holden of Doddridge were out in the lead, and it would be a repeat of the Braxton meet at the end, a DOG FIGHT. Our girls always keep fighting even when they are worn out,” he said.
Continuing, the coach noted, “I know I always refer to the gap the girls have, but that is what normally wins meet, every single person pushing themselves to get closer to the top runners. That is what makes our team better and so difficult to beat. We are always focused on our training, and we have a plan already lined out for this week.”
Although Braxton does not have enough runners for a boys’ team, Coach Lloyd has worked extensively with the two boys he has. He explained his advice to Jorge Campos and Conner T. “At the starting line, I went back over what these gentlemen had to do in order to have a shot at states. They took it all in and were focused even with some small nerves going on,” he said.
The coach added, “As the race went on, I heard from another coach that Jorge was in position to make States. As they were going into the wooded section I could see a bunch of guys closing in on him. Once they came out of the woods, Jorge had fallen back one position out of the qualifying runners and on his tail was Connor. As they passed me, I let them know what guy they had to pass in order to make it to States. The guys gave it all they had to make it to states, and they were also trying to achieve a PR. In the end both Jorge and Connor came up a little short but with a better understanding of how they need to attack a race like this next season.”
The WV State Cross Country Meet will be run Saturday. Braxton’s girls will run in the Class A meet beginning at 3 p.m. Awards will be at 4:45 in the Cabell Midland gymnasium which Coach Lloyd said, “is a really great production to watch.”