Hilton Head cross country coach goes out a winner in final meet
The Hilton Head boys cross country team sent coach Bill Wrightson out a winner Saturday.
The Seahawks won their fifth straight championship in Wrightson’s last meet as coach, edging Eastside by five points. Hilton Head junior Sam Gilman won the individual title in the Class 4A meet at Sandhills Research Center.
It was the 13th straight season the HHI boys finished first or second in the state meet under Wrightson.
“Words can’t explain how great of a coach that coach Wrightson is,” Gilman said. “We have the best coaches in the country, in my opinion.”
“I always felt I was a champion to work with these kids for so long.” said Wrightson, who won 13 total state championships as boys and girls head coach. “It was really our top three doing so well and giving us a little cushion.”
Gilman’s first-place finish extends his family’s streak in the event. Gilman’s brother’ Ben, won the race the past two years, and Sam didn’t want to see that end Saturday.
“I wanted to get No. 3 for the Gilman brothers, and everything worked as planned,” Gilman said. “I could only do so much, but the boys in the lower half really stepped up and came on strong today. I’m so proud of these guys. It is unbelievable how much work we put in, and it showed today.”
Sam Gilman finished with a time of 15:36, six seconds faster than Eastside’s Noah White. HHI’s Ryan Moosbrugger (15:57) was fourth and Joshua Williams (16:12) fifth. Colton Thune was 20th.
The Hilton Head girls nearly made it a sweep. The Seahawks came in second behind Daniel. It was the 12th time in 13 years that Hilton Head Island finished in the top two under Wrightson, who coaches both teams.
HHI’s Tori Herman (18:52) was fourth, Isabel Muehleman fifth (19:00) and Sarah Cooke 15th with a 19:28 to earn all-state honors. The top 15 runners in each class earn all-state.
Beaufort’s Marlen Belden finished 11th to lead the Eagles to a sixth-place finish.
In Class 3A, May River had its best finish in school history as it came in second in the girls’ race and third in the boys’ race. Emma Peluso (20:24) was eighth Victoria Sosa (20:27) ninth and Madison Lewellen (20:34) 10th.
Bluffton’s Perla Jimenez (20:38) was 12th. The Bobcats finished 12th.
May River’s Owens Andrews (17:14) was 14th in the boys race.
Results
Class 5A Girls
Team Scores: Riverside 63; J.L. Mann 93; Dorman 99; Fort Mill 135; Wade Hampton 188; Mauldin 189; Dutch Fork 194; Byrnes 200; James Island 288; Wando 304; Hillcrest 307; River Bluff 313; Lexington 316; Nation Ford 384; Stratford 386; Summerville 391; Irmo 407; Northwestern 411; Ashley Ridge 459
All-State: Katie Pou, Nation Ford 18:31; Sydney George, Fort Mill 18:50; Morgan Moseley, J.L. Mann 18:50; Abigail Dawson, Fort Mill 18:57; Katerina Hendrix, Dorman 18:58; Jessie Crowley, Riverside; Sarah Taylor, Byrnes 19:05; Macey Morgan, Mauldin 19:09; Ava Fowler, Lexington 19:10; Katherine Rogers, Riverside 19:16; Laura Macgregor, Riverside 19:16; Camille Egbula, Hillcrest 19:25; Ellie Wood, Mauldin 19:27; Kennedy Roush J.L. Mann 19:34; Melea Sangl, T.L. Hanna 19:36.
Class 5A Boys
Team Scores: Dorman 87; Riverside 88; Summerville 177; Wando 187; Lexington 191; River Bluff 202; Spring Valley 226; Hillcrest 237; Mauldin 244; Fort Mill 261; Fort Dorchester 290; Irmo 310; Stratford 312; Boiling Springs 324; Northwestern 325; T.L. Hanna 347; Blythewood 364; James Island 386; J.L. Mann 412
All-State: Wynn Johnson, Dorman 15:38; Patrick Spychalski, Wando 15:45; Kade Gosnell, Boiling Springs 15:48; Andrew Castano, Riverside 16:04; Lucas Conti, Hillcrest 16:06, Wyatt Hall, Fort Dorchester 16:10; Victor Shellhammer, Summerville 16:14; Harper Harris, Riverside 16:14; Steven Andreen, Spring Valley 16:16; Noah Mclain, Dorman 16:18; Benjamin Eddy, Summerville 16:23; Dawson Wright, Fort Dorchester 16:26; Charlie Hyman, Mauldin 16:26; Alan Deogracias, Blythewood 16:27; Marlin Young, Riverside 16:27.
Class 4A Girls
Team Scores: Daniel 41; Hilton Head 57; Eastside 95; AC Flora 109; Wren 152; Dreher 193; Travelers Rest 220; North Myrtle Beach 270; Blue Ridge 271; Greer 310; Chapin Cane Bay 345; Colleton County 354; Aiken 365; St. James 430; Beaufort 447; Westwood 457; South Aiken 458; Hartsville 461; Lugoff Elgin 555.
All-State: Mari Cagle Lockhart, Daniel 18:13; Ally Wilson Daniel 18:23; Hannah Twine, AC Flora 18:30; Tori Herman, Hilton Head 18:52; Isabel Muehleman, Hilton Head 19:00 Olivia Esselman, South Aiken 19:03; Madison Ellis, Eastside; Taylor Houston, Greer 19:12; Maren Sorber, Daniel 19:13; Pippa Richter, AC Flora 19:14; Eliza Sorber Daniel 19:17; Olivia Henn, Eastside 19:27; Kathleen Allden, Dreher 19:27; Cara Bognar, Eastside 19:28; Sarah Cooke, Hilton Head 19:28.
Class 4A Boys
Team Scores: Hilton Head 61; Eastside 66; Greer 137; Blue Ridge 146; Aiken 147; Beaufort 185; Daniel 185; AC Flora 223; Chapin 243; Wren 293; Darlington 303; Dreher 329; South Aiken 349; Travelers Rest 369; North Augusta 394; Cane Bay 428; St. James 474; Hartsville 475; Westwood 483; Berkeley 496.
All-State: Sam Gilman, Hilton Head 15:36, Noah White, Eastside 15:42; Coen Roberts, Greer 15:56; Ryan Moosbrugger, Hilton Head 15:57; Joshua Williams, Hilton Head 16:12; Zakiah Bassett, South Aiken 16:13; Jaden Kingsley, Chapin 16:17; Bruce Nation, Aiken 16:27; Mismeh Balawi, Daniel 16:32; Kyle Thompson, Blue Ridge 16:34; Marlon Belden, Beaufort 16:35; Luc Sanchez, Eastside 16:39; Austin Lane, Blue Ridge 16:40; Grayson Martin, Eastside 16:42; Barrett Broome, Blue Ridge 16:45
Class 3A Girls
Team Scores: Waccamaw 64; May River 114; Bluffton 129; Indian Land 141; Palmetto 149; Walhalla 154; Seneca 164; Pendleton 204; Woodruff 268; Pelion 272; Southside 296; Bishop England 346; Georgetown 364 Clinton 364; Powdersville 369; Aynor 373; Gilbert 420; Crescent 437; Camden 473; Chapman 496.
All-State: Maggie Rhodes, Woodruff 19:20; Hannah Sawyer, Indian Land 19:49; Carson Towe, Seneca 19:52; Madison Crumley, Palmetto 19:59; Savannah Rex, Walhalla 20:23; Emily Arenas, Walhalla 20:23; Annabelle Scully, Waccamaw 20:23; Emma Peluso, May River 20:24; Victoria Sosa, May River 20:27; Madison Lewellen, May River 20:34; Alice Francke Waccamaw 20:35; Perla Jimenez, Bluffton 20:38; Ella Fata, Waccamaw 20:43; Morgan Roberts, Palmetto 20:51; Catherine Cann Seneca 21:03
Class 3A Boys
Team scores: Waccamaw 71; Bishop England 97; May River 139; Walhalla 171; Seneca 182; Powdersville 207; Southside 224; 8 Pelion 249; 9 Camden 253; 10 Palmetto 269; Bluffton 271; Broome 301; Wade Hampton-Hampton 323; Pendleton 339; Aynor 355; Indian Land 404; Hanahan 406; Clinton 422; Woodruff 464; Crescent 494.
All-State: Sam Boykin, Bishop England 16:36; Noah Brock, Powdersville 16:52; Perrin Jones, Waccamaw 16:52; Andrew Spearman, West-Oak 16:55; Chandler Stanley, Pelion 16:57; Elijah Stewart, Seneca 16:59; Jon Hopkins, Walhalla 17:00; Ronan O'Neill, Pendleton 17:06; Trevor Wilson, Wade Hampton 17:10; Jack Moody, Waccamaw 17:11; Garrett Lawson, Camden 17:13; Dan Whitten, Southside 17:13; Will Bearden, Palmetto 17:13; Owen Andrews, May River 17:14; Jacob Holcombe, Walhalla 17:16.
This story was originally published November 4, 2017 at 6:59 PM with the headline "Hilton Head cross country coach goes out a winner in final meet."