MORRISTOWN — A pair of runners made things look extraordinarily easy under the glare of a scorching late-afternoon sun Wednesday as one of the area’s signature events wound its way through the campus of Union Local High School.

Bellaire’s Jacob Defibaugh and River’s Livi Beard raced to titles at the Belmont County Cross Country Championships and, for both, it was an easy day.

Despite the extremely hot and muggy conditions, both runners dominated the competition, each crossing the tape about 100 yards in front of their respective runner-up.

For Defibaugh, it was his first victory on the hilly course, one he thinks will propel him to greater things down the line.

“This and the Buckeye 8 were the two big ones (I wanted to win),” said Defibaugh, a junior who won a Belmont County crown as an eighth-grader. “I won the Buckeye 8 last week and was able to pull through (Wednesday) and win this one.”

Martins Ferry claimed the boys crown, with Defibaugh’s Big Reds third. In fact, the Purple Riders swept both team championships, with the girls outdistancing second-place Barnesville by a wide margin.

That’s what Defibaugh did to the rest of the boys field. He led a pack of runners as the entrants made their way past the back of the home football bleachers. But when the runners returned to the same location about 15 minutes later, Defibaugh was all by his lonesome, with nary another runner in sight.

“My plan was, initially, to be slower and then pick it up when we got in the woods,” Defibaugh explained. It didn’t happen exactly how I wanted it to. “I went out a little faster, but when we hit the woods, that’s when I really turned it on and tried to create a gap and I just carried it through.”

Defibaugh finished in 17:48.5. Martins Ferry’s Francis Toohey was second in 18:39.8, while Barnesville’s Tyler Jenkins, who was behind Defibaugh in the early going, claimed third in 18:47.3. Ferry’s Wyatt Wodarcyk (19:00.2) and Elijah Smith (19:11.7) were fourth and fifth, respectively, with Union Local’s 19:15.6.

Beard, a senior, won the race for the first time in two years, breaking the tape in 21:50.9 It was a little slower than she would’ve liked, but she said the heat played somewhat of a role in that.

“I tried to prepare myself mentally and drink plenty of water,” she said of the conditions, which left runners and fans, alike reaching for plenty of H2O.

“I was aiming for a minute faster. But, sometimes, you just have to accept what’s out there and go with it.”

Like Defibaugh, Beard fashioned a small early lead only to make it a more sizable one as the race reached its conclusion.

“I went out a little harder because of the hills,” Beard said.

The Martins Ferry tandem of Josie Hancock and Chloe Hill claimed second and third, respectively, with times of 22:40.2 and 22:43.9. Teammate Hannah Hupp was fifth (23:52.1).

She was sandwiched in between a pair of Bellaire runners — Katrina Davis (4th, 23:02.6) and Bethany McElfresh (6th, 24:19.6).

Union Local was second in the boys’ event, followed by Bellaire, Barnesville, Buckeye Local and Bridgeport.

Bellaire was third in the girls’ standings, with Shadyside, River and UL rounding out the scoring.

“We were hoping to win both of them,” Martins Ferry head coach Chrissy Lewis said. “This is a pride factor for a lot of the kids. You want to be the best in the county and want to be the best in the area.

“It sets us up so we feel pretty confident going into some of the bigger races coming our way.”