Despite giving the Tiger faithful an early fright by getting out to a comparatively slow start, George and his teammates proved themselves more potent than the rest of the pack.

In the end, George’s second-half surges wore out his closest rival, Frankfort senior Ryan Hughes.

The EHS sophomore’s time of 16:09 gapped Hughes by 15 seconds.

George’s individual win was the first such title by an EHS boy since Tim Lucas’ victory in 1986.

Elkins High School’s Emilia Tenney is shown during Saturday’s state meet. Tenney placed third overall.

The Tiger boys also picked up their first team championship since the Will Shaw-era boys teams from EHS won back-to-back titles in 1978 and 1979.

In capturing the 2024 AA title, Elkins’ front six all established new personal best times.

Ben Tenney (third, 16:33), Josh Bodkins (fourth, 16:35) and Gavin Brown (ninth, 16:42) also joined teammate George on the All-State podium with top 10 finishes.

The fifth scorer was freshman Treven Schaefer, who bettered his previous time on the Cabell Midland course by 1 minute and 41 seconds.

Schaefer’s 29th place finish in 17:48 sealed the victory for the Tigers, who tallied 39 points to best runner-up Frankfort’s 60 points.

Grafton took third in the boys competition with 79 points.

“It’s a little scary watching them hang back,” said EHS boys coach Scott Biola. “But the thing is, they passed a combined total of 142 runners over the last four kilometers…they are pretty attuned to their paces and their strategy paid off.”

Other qualifiers for the EHS boys included Bobby Valentine (32nd, 17:55) and Preston Nixon (53rd, 18:41).

The EHS girls also had two All-State performances with Emilia Tenney leading the way with a third-place finish in 18:55 and Julia Biola placing sixth in 20:13.

Other scorers for the Lady Tiger girls included Mallory Bennett (31st, 22:34), Emma Gilbert (39th, 23:01) and Mya Mendelson (47th, 23:34).

Delia White (48th, 23:42) and Taylor Lanham (70th, 25:32) were the other two state meet participants for the EHS girls.

The Lady Tigers placed third as a team with 100 points to finish behind Williamstown’s winning 36 points and Frankfort’s 95.

“I am really proud of the girls and what they have accomplished this season and how they have grown and progressed over the past several years,” said EHS girls coach Amanda Carter. “They have put many hours into this program and their growth individually and as a team has shown in the success they have had. I am very excited to see what next season brings!”