Winfield's Brayden Marshall and Hurricane's Ty Steorts gave West Virginia cross country fans something to cheer about Saturday at Balboa Park in San Diego, CA, scoring 5th and 6th place overall, respectively and helping the South Region to the Team Championship.

The early going saw no one bolt to the lead as the pack stayed pretty much together for a lengthy period. I find Steorts via the hair and Marshall via the running form. Just over 400 meters in, I spy the pair in nearly identical spots. It looks like both are just outside the top 10 at this point. At 1:28, Steorts has a misstep and stumbles just a bit but doesn't go down.

Nearing 800 meters, it looks like Steorts is still in about 11th or so with Marshall just a couple spots back. The leader goes through at 2:17, but everyone is still in pretty much in a relatively large pack with no one more than 4 or 5 seconds out of the lead. The top 17 were all within 2 seconds. Officially at the half mile, Steorts is in 12th at 2:19.6 with Marshall in 19th at 2:20.1. 7 spots and 0.5 seconds.

About 3:15 into the race, Steorts moves to the outside and gains several positions. But it's so close that it doesn't really hold. At 3:45, Steorts and Marshall are in about the same spot, but they've taken opposite lines. Steorts is on the very inside of the path with Marshall on the very outside...and several people matching them stride for stride between them. At 3:53, it looks like Steorts is up to 7th and Marshall in 12th.

The leader passes through the mile at 4:44. Steorts has started to climb. He's moved into 6th place at 4:45.8. Marshall is also rising as he moves up to 14th in 4:47.5. But this thing is still wide open as the top 21 are all within 2 seconds of the lead.

Now we begin the big climb. The hill is about 400 meters in length. At about 5:39, Steorts is still in the 6-7 range, and it looks like Marshall is in 15th.

The very steep downhill comes, and Steorts lets gravity do its thing, and he blasts past the field into the lead at about the 6:12 mark and opens a gap of over 2 seconds on the field. I think Marshall moved up on the downhill as well, but I'm not sure of his spot.

Officially at the 1.5 mile mark, Ty Steorts is leading Champs Nationals by 2.9 seconds at 7:07.8! Brayden Marshall has moved up to 9th at 7:12.2 Crossing the road shortly thereafter, Marshall is up to 7th. There are still 14 guys within 5 seconds of the lead.

At 7:42, Steorts sneaks a peak behind him. There are still a ton of guys there, between 2 and 3 seconds behind him.

As we approach 9:00 in, Marshall has moved into 3rd place.

At 9:15, West Virginia holds the top 2 spots in Foot Locker Nationals. Steors continues to lead and Marshall has moved into 2nd!

Steorts crosses the 2 mile mark still in the lead at 9:47.5, but the lead has diminished slightly to 2.1 seconds. Marshall in in 3rd, but 0.2 seconds out of 2nd, but there are also 7 guys still within 2 seconds of him.

At about 10:15, we're back to West Virginia in 1-2 as Marshall moves back into 2nd. They're still in 1st and 2nd at 10:45 as they cross the road.

At 11:25, Steorts and Marshall still run 1-2 with the hill looming. There are still 7 guys very close to Marshall.

At 12:00 as they make a small ascension, Steorts and Marshall still hold the top 2 spots.

The true climb begins just after the 2.5 mile point. Steorts and Marshall still going 1-2, but there are still 9 guys within 4.3 seconds of the lead. Up the steep part of the hill, Steorts' gap on the chasers disappears. Steorts leads with Marshall in 3rd as they round a corner at 12:45. At 12:55, someone has taken the lead away, and Steorts and Marshall are running 2-3. It looks like there are just 6 guys in contention now.

The guy that took the lead is opening a bit of a gap at 13:15. Someone else has moved into 2nd, and the other 4 are together. At 13:34, Marshall is in 4th and Steorts is in 6th. The downhill is coming and both ran it well the first time around. They can't make up the ground this time around and remain in 4th and 6th.

Wtih just a tenth of a mile to go, Drew Griffith, powers away from the field to win by over 5 seconds. Ryan Pajak gaps the rest by over 4 seconds for 2nd. Marshall takes 5th in 15:18.4, an Steorts takes 6th in 15:21.2

The gutsy runs by the Putnam County duo marks the 2nd and 3rd best ever finishes for West Virginia runners at this meet, topped only by Steve Taylors 3rd place finish in 1982. Excellent work guys.