HS Cross Country: Summers County runner Dakota Pettry has taken his efforts to a higher level

The Bobcats senior dominated the Shady Spring Invitational boys event Saturday at Little Beaver State Park

Summers County standout runner Dakota Pettry capped a strong junior cross country season with an all-state honor at the state meet at Cabell Midland High School.

This season, the Bobcat senior has already taken his efforts to a new level.

Saturday afternoon, Pettry dominated the Shady Spring Invitational, just two weeks after winning the Boone Memorial Health Invitational at Chief Logan State Park, where he ran a personal best time.

Success however, is nothing knew this season for Pettry who had a second place finish at the Riverside Cornfield Crawl Invitational to open the year.

A week later he placed seventh at the prestigious XC Festival of Lights at Cabell Midland High School among a field of 129 AA-A varsity runners.

Last year in his 11 races, Pettry finished top-10 eight times, including a win at the Princeton Invitational.

With the regional meet just one month away, Pettry stands as the top-ranked Class AA runner in Region 3 and the No. 4 Class AA runner across the Mountain State, according to Athletic.net

The Class AA regional will be contested at Westside High School on Saturday, Oct. 25, while the state meet will once again be at Cabell Midland High School on Saturday, Nov. 1.

The Summers County senior talked about his race Saturday and his running career.