South’s Josh Gill, Warren’s Ashley Pate claim two-mile titles

PARKERSBURG — Two high school students were the first to cross the finish line during the 2-Mile Race Saturday at the The Parkersburg News and Sentinel Half Marathon.

Parkersburg South High School senior Josh Gill won the men’s race finishing with a time of 10:13. Gill is part of the cross country team at PSHS that went to state last year. He said although he has run a two-mile race before, this was his first race on a paved surface.

“It was a lot harder on the feet,” Gill said. “But I pushed through it.”

Warren High School (WHS) sophomore Ashley Pate was the first woman to cross the finish line with a time of 12:53, and the 20th overall to finish. She is on the cross-country team at WHS and said she has been running track since seventh grade. This was her second two-mile race and she finished with a time of 13:30 last year. She said she felt much stronger for this year’s race.

“I felt pretty good,” Pate said about her pace during the race. “I was right where I wanted to be.”

She said she felt a lot safer running on the streets of downtown Parkersburg.

“I don’t have to worry about tripping, or running up and down hills,” Pate said.

Gill said he also liked that he didn’t have to run up any hills. He said he had no goal set coming into the race other than trying to stay at the head of the pack.

“You want to try to get good placement coming around that first turn,” Gill said. “You don’t have time to make it up if you miss it.”

Both runners said this was a good warm-up to their upcoming cross country seasons.

Kyle Winland (10:20), Gatlin McLain (10:32), Luke Rettenberger (10:44) and Jackson Wharton (11:15) rounded out the top five finishes for the men. Haley Raper (13:02), Jalyn Eddy (13:17), Allyssa McCrady (13:22) and Jordan Delaney (13:32) finished as the top five women finishers.

The male winner for the 2-Mile walk was Wheeling’s Daniel Stewart with a time of 21:24. The female winner for the 2-Mile walk was Parkersburg’s Heather Tenney.

Full results from all of the The Parkersburg News and Sentinel Half Marathon can be found at: raceday.enmotive.com/#/events/2024-parkersburg-news-and-sentinel-half-marathon-and-two-mile-race.