Hilton Head Island, May River capture state cross country championships
Two Lowcountry teams captured two state championships Tuesday at the South Carolina High School League cross country championships.
Hilton Head Island won the Class 4A girls title while May River won the Class 3A boys crown at Camden’s Colonial Cup. The meet, originally scheduled for Saturday, was moved to Tuesday because of rain.
It was the Hilton Head girls’ sixth state title but first since 2013 when it was 3A. The Seahawks have a strong tradition in cross country with the boys team coming into the race winning nine of the past 10 titles.
But it was the Seahawks’ girls turn on on Tuesday.
“The guys had won nine of the last 10 so it was time for the girls to win one. It was nice for them to win today,” Hilton Head coach Max Mayo said. “We overcame a lot of adversity to get here. Two of our top runners were injured the last couple months and we were injured but we came through today.”
The Sehawks had three runners in the top 11. Sarah Neville (18:53) was fourth while Cynthia Gudaitis (19:16) came in ninth and Tori Herman (19:19) 11th. Mayo said Herman was one of the runners who had battled injuries over the past few months.
Beaufort’s Shannon Smith (18:45) came in second and the Eagles’ Charlize Antia (18:51) finished behind her teammate Smith in third place. As a team, Beaufort finished eighth.
May River’s championship is the first in program history and continues a run of recent state titles for the school. The boys track and boys soccer team won state championships last season.
“It is awesome,” May River coach Katherine Rosenblum said. “This is our first four-year senior class so it is incredible and they worked hard to get here. We got a lot of boys that just started really as freshman and made it through the four years. They were able to get their state championship.
“This is an awesome group of kids who are easy to coach and they make it fun.”
The Sharks had three runners finish in the top nine led by Tristan Kaplan and Colin Keck. Kaplan was fourth with a time of 16:19 and Keck fifth with a 16:30. Owen Andrews was ninth with a time of 16:47.
In 4A boys, Hilton Head was third and Beaufort fourth. Beaufort’s Marlon Belden (15:10) finished second in 4A boys and Nash Mills (16:09) was 10th. The Seahawks’ Logan Seifert (16:18) was 13th and Jasper Reinhardt (16:25) 14th.
In 3A girls, May River’s Emma Peluso (18:44) was eighth. The Sharks finished sixth.
Cross Country state championship results
Class 5A
Boys Champion: Dorman Top finisher: Zane Jackson, Cane Bay, 15:18
Girls Champion: JL Mann Top finisher: Katie Pou, Nation Ford, 18:19
Class 4A
Boys Champion: Greer Top finisher: Coen Roberts, Greer, 15:04
Girls Champion: Hilton Head Island Top finisher: Mari Cagle Lockhart, Daniel, 18:16
Class 3A
Boys Champion: May River Top finisher: Ronan O’Neill, Pendleton, 15:58
Girls Champion: Seneca Top finisher: Maggie Rhodes, 19:19
Class 2A
Boys Champion: Greer Middle College Top finisher: Noah Ward, Phillip Simmons, 15:36
Girls Champion: Greer Middle College Top finisher: Ava Dobson, St. Joseph’s 16:58 (State record)
Class A
Boys Champion: Dixie Top finisher: Daniel Boyd, Dixie, 17:36
This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 6:30 PM.
