Prep Roundup: HHH runners dominate Lower State meet

CROSS COUNTRY

Class 3-A Lower State qualifier: The top-ranked Hilton Head High boys and girls teams each cruised to victory Saturday at Sandhills Research Park in Columbia, a feat the Seahawks would like to duplicate next week when the state meet is held at the same site.

Jack Felix edged teammate Jack Manesiotis to win the boys race, and the Seahawks had three other runners place in the top 10 as they finished far ahead of the field.

"The kids ran as a group really well, very consistent," Hilton Head High coach Bill Wrightson said. "Hopefully we saved something for next week."

Battery Creek placed all five of its runners in the top 25 -- led by Rhakeem Brown's fifth-place finish -- to cruise to second place. The return of a couple of key runners helped the Dolphins, including Mark Rennix, who placed 11th.

"He had been out for a few weeks because of injury, and he came back pretty close to the same time he had at the beginning of the season on the same course," Battery Creek coach Terry Fillmore said of Rennix.

Bluffton's boys placed sixth to qualify for next weekend's state meet.

On the girls' side, all seven of Hilton Head High's runners placed in the top 15. Sara Manesiotis led the way, winning in a time of 18 minutes, 53 seconds. Faith Lifer, Emily Crick and Rosie Dungan also placed in the top 10.

Bluffton finished second in the team standings, led by Vannica Williams' sixth-place finish.

Battery Creek's lone representative in the girls race, Courtney Wright, qualified for the state meet by placing 22nd.

Class 3-A Lower State meet

At Sandhills Research Park, Columbia

(Top 12 teams, top 45 individuals qualify)

BOYS

Team scores: 1. Hilton Head High 19, 2. Battery Creek 66, 3. Myrtle Beach 121, 4. South Aiken 129, 5. Dreher 151, 6. Bluffton 169, 7. Georgetown 195, 8. Socastee 222, 9. Darlington 236, 10. Lower Richland 261, 11. Wilson 282, 12. St. James 291

Hilton Head High -- 1. Jack Felix 16:26, 2. Jack Manesiotis 16:26, 4. Mackenzie Johnston 16:56, 6. Michael Brewer 17:39, 10. T.J. Melanson 18:04, 17. Alex Couch 18:28, 21. Sean McMahon 18:41

Battery Creek -- 5. Rhakeem Brown 17:24, 11. Mark Rennix 18:07, 18. Demetrius Smalls 18:33, 19. Ronald Wayne 18:37, 22. Raymond Wayne 18:44

Bluffton -- 23. Joshua Tierney 18:46, 30. Landon House 18:57, 35. Clark Sinclair 19:12, 46. Harris Reeves 19:42, 49. Ryan Blizzard 19:45, 52. Adam Warner 19:49, 63. Andy Cortez 20:07

GIRLS

Team scores: 1. Hilton Head High 31, 2. Bluffton 66, 3. South Aiken 109, 4. North Myrtle Beach 139, 5. Myrtle Beach 183, 6. AC Flora 185, 7. Dreher 188, 8. Darlington 211, 9. Airport 217, 10. St. James 223, 11. Socastee 280, 12. Brookland-Cayce 288

Hilton Head High -- 1. Sara Manesiotis 18:53, 3. Faith Lifer 19:24, 5. Emily Crick 20:12, 10. Rosie Dungan 20:55, 12. Abi Short 21:05, 14. Avery Fine 21:12, 15. Nikki Schoning 21:15

Bluffton -- 6. Vannica Williams 20:21, 8. Brittany Fulton 20:43, 13. Madison Putich 21:10, 19. Scottie House 21:53, 20. Alex Bailey 21:57, 21. Casey Witkowski 22:12, 29. Kio Yoshida 22:58

Battery Creek -- 22. Courtney Wright 22:21

Class 4-A Lower State qualifier: Beaufort High's boys and girls both placed sixth Saturday at James Island County Park, qualifying for next weekend's Class 4-A state meet, which will be held at Sandhills Research Park in Columbia.

Tim Aune finished in 18:00 to place ninth individually, while Olivia Fawcett was the top finisher for Beaufort's girls, taking 27th in a time of 23:16.

Class 4-A Lower State meet

At James Island County Park

BOYS

Team scores: 1. Stratford 39, 2. Wando 70, 3. Summerville 95, 4. Carolina Forest 115, 5. Berkeley 144, 6. Beaufort High 155, 7. Sumter 202, 8. James Island 203, 9. West Ashley 233, 10. South Florence 238, 11. West Florence 329, 12. Hartsville 382

Beaufort High -- 9. Timothy Aune 18:00, 29. Taylor Mason 19:12, 31. Darrin Sawn 19:16, 42. Steven Pasternak 19:42, 44. David Butt 19:48, 61. Luke Norton 20:50, 75. Matthew Born 22:07

GIRLS

Team score: 1. Wando 35, 2. Stratford 53, 3. Summerville 64, 4. Sumter 139, 5. James Island 158, 6. Beaufort High 158, 7. Fort Dorchester 180, 8. West Florence 248, 9. Carolina Forest 253, 10. Colleton County 290, 11. South Florence 301, 12. Hartsville 334

Beaufort High -- 27. Olivia Fawcett 23:16, 28. Madeline Aune 23:21, 30. Teylor Phetkhamyath 23:33, 34. Ashley Zapp 23:49, 40. Caitlin Howe 24:27, 57. Briana Hohmann 25:59, 60. Rebecca Fisher 26:20

SCISAA Class 3-A State Championships: The Hilton Head Prep boys and girls each took seventh place in Saturday's state meet at Heathwood Hall in Columbia. St. Joseph Catholic won both the boys and girls titles.

Jarrett Nixon was the top finisher for Prep's boys, placing 22nd in a time of 19:01. Marian Matney set a personal best with a time of 22:33 to place 26th, leading a young Prep girls squad that saw every runner set a personal best on Saturday.

SCISAA Class 3-A State Championships

At Heathwood Hall, Columbia

BOYS

Team scores: 1. St. Joseph 33, 2. Porter-Gaud 41, 3. Heathwood Hall 98, 4. Ben Lippen 133, 5. Wilson Hall 134, 6. Pinewood Prep 164, 7. Hilton Head Prep 179, 8. Hammond School 234, 9. Cardinal Newman 257, 10. Orangeburg Prep 261

Hilton Head Prep -- 22. Jarrett Nixon 19:01, 34. Lyle Izzillo 19:53, 36. Franklyn Bakala 20:00, 43. Timmy Oschner 20:29, 44. Jake Post 20:32, 59. Kevin Deloach 21:09, 61. Chris Cardamone 21:18

GIRLS

Team scores: 1. St. Joseph 19, 2. Ashley Hall 64, 3. Hammond School 96, 4. Heathwood Hall 131, 5. Ben Lippen 159, 6. Porter-Gaud 209, 7. Hilton Head Prep 211, 8. Wilson Hall 215, 9. Cardinal Newman 222, 10. Augusta Christian 225

Hilton Head Prep -- 26. Marian Matney 22:33, 41. Kate Brunori 23:47, 42. Laurel Woerheide 24:00, 45. Taylor Clark 24:18, 62. Ellery Newcomer 26:04, 65. Alex McIntyre 26:59, 70. Manda Martin 27:34