CAMBRIDGE — Going into Saturday’s OVAC Cross Country championship at Cambridge High School, Barnesville coach Mark Brown knew it was between him and a couple teams that were going to take home the Class 3A title. When it came down to it, the Shamrocks were the ones taking home the hardware.

Sophomore Aubrey Johnson’s 18th place finish (21:18) paced the Shamrocks to the title while.

“We knew it was going to be between us and Buckeye Trail. We’ve been real close all year,” Brown said. “And Linsly, they haven’t run much and we haven’t seen them and Ferry ran well, too. It’s nice to win this. It’s been about 10 years since we won one in the girls, so it’s finally nice to get one again.”

What’s even more special is that there are no seniors on the team for the Shamrocks.

Mara Bethel, a freshman placed 27th in a time of 21:41 while Emma Helmick (junior, 22:12) got 37th.

A pair of freshmen rounded out the scoring for Barnesville in Layna Kuhn (24:25) and Kylee Moore (25:11).

Barnesville defeated runner-up Buckeye Trail, which was paced by Kathryn Williams (eighth, 20:46) by 40 points.

In Class 4A, St. Clairsville reclaimed the throne winning the title for the first time since 2017.

Allyson Evonek secured a Top 10 overall spot pacing the Red Devils with a 20:59 good enough for 10th.

“This is one of the first times, I think, that my top seven came together as a team and were able to compete, which is something we need this year,” St. Clairsville coach Tony Ciroli said. “We need that practice competing because we’ve been cut out of (a couple of invitationals). The girls came together really well (Saturday) and I hope we continue this on into districts.”

Maggie Marody was also solid for the Red Devils as she placed 26th in a time of 21:40.

St. Clairsville’s final three scorers all came within 26 seconds of each other. Kylie McKeegan crossed the finish line in a time of 24:51 while Victoria Trouten finished in 25:02. Mattie Arbenz clocked in at 25:15.

In Class 5A, University went home victorious as Caroline Kirby paced the Hawks with a second place finish (19:33).

Morgantown’s Irene Riggs ran away from the competition securing the individual title in a time of 18:18.

Caldwell took home the Class 1A/2A championship as it was paced by Page Speck (20th, 21:25).

Harrison Central’s Jasmine Arnold was the top local placer finishing in fifth (20:09) while John Marshall’s Zara Zervos finished seventh (20:39).

River’s Mara Beard also placed in the Top 10 finishing ninth (20:58).

Other local racers that earned All-OVAC honors (Top 30) were Martins Ferry’s Josie Hancock (11th, 21:00); Wheeling Park’s Lacey Wright (17th, 21:16); Oak Glen’s Sophia Arner (21st, 21:32); Bellaire’s Bethany McElfresh (25th, 21:39) and Linsly’s Haley Heitz (30th, 21:49).