The Clark Spark
Clarksburg Cross Country: A Successful Season
By Connor Choi
As the 2025-2026 season comes to an end, the Clarksburg High School cross county team has a great deal to be proud of. The Coyotes have completed a total of nine meets, five of them being invitationals, and one of them including State Championships.
A typical cross country meet has four races: Boys Varsity, Boys JV, Girls Varsity, and Girls JV. All levels have to run the same distance though, 5 kilometers, (or 3.1 miles) at every meet. The courses vary with difficulty, whether the race has hills, forests, or sharp turns, the Coyotes always finish strong.
In a race, an individual’s score is based on their place that they finished compared to the other racers. The team scores are calculated by adding the top 5 runners on the team’s scores. The lower the score, the better.
The Coyotes kicked off the season with confidence at the Seahawk Invitational. Ayaan Ahmad (12) won second place and overall won 17th place for the Boys Varsity. Madeline Kelly (11) also won second place for the Girls Varsity.
Just a few days later, the Coyotes faced Quince Orchard and Wheaton High School. Ayaan won first place but sadly lost as a team in third place. Meanwhile, the Girls Varsity team won second place with Madeline Kelly in second place followed by Emilee Carey, (9) and Nikolina Perera (10) winning third and fourth place.
On September 13, 2025, the Coyotes traveled far to the Centennial Invitational at Centennial High School. Ayaan Ahmad won third place and as a team, won 12th place. Madeline Kelly dashed to the finish line and won fifth place!
Next, at Clarksburg High School versus Damascus High School, Ayaan Ahmad won first place followed by Jonothan Chang (12) winning sixth place. The boys sadly lost against Damascus but the girls won against them. Madeline Kelly carried the team winning first place! She was followed by Neluki Sarathchandra, (12) Emilee Carey, and Nikolina Perera winning third, fourth, and fifth place.
On September 24th, 2025, The Clarksburg Coyotes faced the Seneca Valley Eagles at Black Hills Park. With Ayaan Ahmad, Jonathan Chang, Aaron Sadd, (12) and Craig (CJ) Brameyer at first, third, fourth, and fifth place for the boys team, the Coyotes beat Seneca by 21
points! On the other hand, Madeline Kelly, Emilee Carey, Neluki Sarathchandra, and Nikolina Perera carried the girls team to victory winning by 24 points at first, second, third, and fifth place.
Just 10 days later, the Clarksburg cross country team competed at the Frank Keyser Invitational. Madeline Kelly won first place, setting a new record for Clarksburg High School’s fastest 5k for a girl beating the previous winner by 0.1 seconds, bringing the Girls Varsity to sixth place! As for the Boys Varsity, Ayaan Ahmad won second place bringing Clarksburg High School to tenth place as well!
It was time for County Championships and the Clarksburg Coyotes were excited and ready. Ayaan Ahmad bolted to the finish line and won fourth place! Madeline Kelly ran, winning fifth place as well!
Regionals came around the corner and the top seven boys and top seven girls did phenomenal. Ayaan Ahmad won first place, carrying the boys team to sixth place! Madeline Kelly once again outran the girls and won third place which brought the girls team to 8th place!
The Clarksburg Coyotes concluded their season with State Championships. Of the boys, Ayaan Ahmad finished in 15th place and Madeline Kelly finished in third place! The Clarksburg Coyotes have accomplished so many great things this year. Whether it was getting a personal record or gaining resilience, the Coyotes had an outstanding season and will come back even stronger next year.