West Virginia Star Slashes 20 Seconds Off Katelyn Tuohy's Course Record

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Irene Riggs of Morgantown WV zipped the 5-kilometer course at WakeMed Athletic Complex in Cary, N.C. in a stunning time of 16:02.1. 

Riggs, who broke the junior class record in the 3,200 meters on the track last spring, broke the well-worn course's record by 20 seconds. The previous high school girls record for 5 kilometers at the venue was 16:22.8 by Katelyn Tuohy in 2019. 

Riggs finished 84 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor, Stella Kermes of victorious Cuthbertson XC of North Carolina. 

"I'm really excited and a little shocked," Riggs said. "At the state meet I ran like 16:32 and that's one of the harder courses I run, so I knew I could run faster here, I just didn't know how much faster."

Cuthbertson, with one of the most highly touted girls teams in the country, scored 53 points to win the regional title. A surprise was second-place Spartans RC (Webb School of Knoxville TN), which scored 126 points to nail down the second automatic team qualifying berth to next week's NXN in Portland. 

A tight boys race that saw three teams finish within 10 points produced two national qualifiers in Farragut TN and Miami Havana (Belen Jesuit FL). Farragut scored 105 points and Miami Havana 111. McCallie Ridge of Tennessee was third with 115, but was ultimately not chosen for one of the four at-large berths that were announced Saturday night. 

Conner Rutherford from Blacksburg VA won the boys race in 15:02.2, just ahead of Knox Young from Palmetto United SC (15:05.7) and Miami Havana's Joshua Ruiz (15:07.3). 

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