Blackmon leads Fort Mill to Upper State title; six area teams advance to state meet

From staff reports

Qualifying meets for the state cross country championship for all classes next Saturday at Columbia's Sandhills Research Center were held on Saturday at several locations around the state.

Teams qualified depending on how many regions competed at each. Region 3-AAA was in a field of 17 teams at Dorman High School. The top seven boys and girls squads made the state and six Herald-area teams advanced.

The top team finisher was Fort Mill's boys, who won the Upper State championship with 69 points, 29 better than second-place Dorman. Local teams joining the Yellow Jackets in the top seven were Clover, fifth with 172 points, and Nation Ford, sixth with 221.

Two time defending state champ Mark Blackmon, a sophomore at Fort Mill, was the individual champion with a time of 16:17.

Other local top-10 boys finishers were Nation Ford's Kevin Ketner (third), Fort Mill's Avery Martin (eighth), and Clover's Mick Francis (ninth).

Dorman won the 14-team girls title with 59 points. Herald-area teams advancing were Fort Mill, third with 73 points, Northwestern, fifth with 157, and Nation Ford, seventh with 190.

The individual champion was Mauldin's Alexa Neilin. She beat out Fort Mill's Meredith Kilburn by two seconds, 19:42 to 19:44.

The other local top-10 finisher was Northwestern's Sarah Baker at 10th.

Lancaster, Rock Hill and South Pointe competed in the 12-team Mid-State meet at Sandhills. None of the boys teams advanced. Rock Hill missed by one spot at No. 6, 11 points out of fifth.

The winner was Ridge View, which nipped Lexington 42-44.

But the local boys weren't shut out. Any individual runner not on a qualifying team but finishing in the top 20 earned a trip the state meet. Rock Hill's Bo Hutchinson was 15th and Lancaster's Wylie Penegar was 20th.

It was an even more frustrating meet for Region 4-AAAA's girls. No area team or individual qualified.