CROSS COUNTRY

XC Kickoff Classic: Both the Bluffton High School boys and girls varsity teams finished second in the XC Kickoff Classic on Saturday at Daffin Park in Savannah. Winder-Barrow (Ga.) won both titles.

Casey Witkowski and Scottie House led the Bluffton girls, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively. Witkowski clocked a time of 21 minutes, 33 seconds, and House came in two seconds later.

Joshua Tierney took sixth for Bluffton's boys, registering a time of 17:35.

Wesley Long won the JV boys race for Bluffton, which finished second.

Led by Brandon Pratt's 16th-place time of 17:56, the Beaufort High School varsity boys team finished 13th.

Beaufort's girls team was led by Alex Zapp, who finished 32nd in 23:18.

The varsity field consisted of 26 boys teams and 19 girls teams.

Bluffton results

Girls -- 6. Casey Witkowski 21:33; 7. Scottie House 21:35; 11. Lea Tierney 22:17; 19. Madison Putich 22:52; 38. Amber Klitzsch 23:45; 40. Taylor Klitzsch 23:56; 41. Emily Pierce 24:00

Boys -- 6. Joshua Tierney 17:35; 17. Evans Beach 18:11; 22. Nahuel Coronel 18:36; 24. Anthony Chissell 18:37; 28. William Holland 18:54; 38. Daniel Falcocchio 19:06; 78. Aaron Kimball 19:58

Beaufort High results

Girls -- 32. Alex Zapp 23:18.8; 54. Molly Murphy, 24:21.8; 86. Rebecca Fisher 25:53.8; 147. Ariana Tkach, 30:23.4

Boys -- 16. Brandon Pratt 17:56; 71. Braham Gideon 19:52; 74. Ciaran Cordial 19:56; 94. John Morefield 20:21; 124. Austin Mix 21:20.

Providence Invitational: The Hilton Head Island High School cross country team got its season started Saturday in Charlotte, making its annual trip to the powerhouse Providence Invitational.

Hilton Head's Jack Manesiotis nearly won the boys 'A' division, finishing two seconds behind Bakri Abushouk of Cary, N.C. Manesiotis was second with a time of 15 minutes, 22 seconds.

Manesiotis helped the Seahawks finish seventh out of 44 teams. Sean McMahon finished 15th in 16:09.

Faith Lifer had a top-10 finish for Hilton Head's girls, placing seventh in 18:36. The Seahawks were 11th out of 38 girls teams.

Hilton Head High's team will be in action again at the Coaches Classic on Sept. 8 in Columbia.

Hilton Head High results

Girls -- 7. Faith Lifer 18:36; 36. Carly McGlinn 20:12; 68. Esther Anderson 21:02; 129. Ciara McMahon 22:01; 133. Rebeka Parent 22:09

Boys -- 2. Jack Manesiotis 15:22; 15. Sean McMahon 16:09; 33. Colton Hennessey 16:38; 90. Sam Beattie 17:26; 91. Jack Beattie 17:26

SWIMMING

Northwood Invitational: Beaufort Academy's boys started their season off with a bang, finishing first in their division and third overall at the 12-team Northwood Invitational.

Senior Finn Koppernaes finished as the sixth best swimmer in the boys events, winning the 100 freestyle and helping Beaufort Academy to a second and a third in two relay events.

Beaufort Academy's girls were sixth in the meet of SCISAA teams. Their top finish came in the 400 freestyle relay, where Ashley Taylor, Kate Gray, Madeleine Gray and Laura Roddey finished third.

Charlie Guenther won the boys 100 breaststroke (1:10.70) for Hilton Head Christian Academy, which qualified 16 of its swimmers and two relays for the SCISAA state meet.

Beaufort Academy results

Boys -- 100 freestyle: Finn Koppernaes, 1st, 57.12; 200 medley relay: 2nd, 2:04.05 (Finn Koppernaes, Grant Hetherington, Charles Sanford, Preston Suber); 400 freestyle relay: 3rd, 3:52.58 (Koppernaes, Hetherington, Sanford, Suber); 50 freestyle: Suber, 3rd, 25.08

Girls -- 400 freestyle relay: 3rd, 4:42.49 (Ashley Taylor, Kate Gray, Madeleine Gray, Laura Roddey)

Hilton Head Christian results

Girls -- 200 medley relay: 5th, 2:09.37; 200 IM: Ashley Weaver, 6th, 2:36.73; 50 freestyle: Audrey Robinson, 4th, 29.99; 100 butterfly: Weaver, 4th, 1:13.48; 100 freestyle: Robinson, 5th, 1:06.60

Boys -- 100 breaststroke: Charlie Guenther, 1st, 1:10.70; 100 freestyle: Guenther, 6th, 1:00.00

VOLLEYBALL

Battery Creek: The Dolphins opened the season in Charleston with a win and two losses.

Battery Creek defeated Charleston Math and Science 25-19, 25-15. Stall handed the Dolphins their first loss, 25-13, 9-25, 15-13, and Berkeley downed Battery Creek 25-19, 25-16.

Amy Cederholm posted a tournament-total 19 aces to lead the Dolphins. Jayde Little chipped in 14 aces and Sarah Anderson rang up five kills and five aces.

The Dolphins next host Whale Branch on Tuesday.