Clover, York compete in county cross-country meet
The Nation Ford girls’ and the Rock Hill boys’ teams won the York County cross-country meet Saturday at York Comprehensive High School.
The Clover boys’ finished fourth, while the Clover girls finished sixth. The York Comprehensive High School teams placed seventh.
Among the York and Clover runners, Clover’s Ben Clark was the first to cross the finish line in the boys’ race, running the course in 16:26.9.
Clark said his strategy was to pace himself with the rest of the field until the halfway point, and then make his move to the head of the field.
Clover’s Will White placed fourth with a time of 16:57.3.
“It was tough competition out there,” said White. “I really pushed myself. It takes a lot of self-motivation.”
Clover High School cross-country coach Bailey Jackson lauded Clark and White.
“Ben ran a great race and Will had a strong finish like he’s done throughout the year,” said Jackson.
Jackson said the weather conditions were favorable. “It’s starting to warm up a god bit,” he said. “If it were cloudy, it would be perfect.”
Jackson was pleased with the overall performance of the CHS cross-country teams. “We had a good race,” he said. “We had a couple kids out there that were hurt. We’re looking forward to the region meet next week.”
Among other Clover participants in the event were Leland Capps, who finished at No. 32. He was followed by Verzal Morton at 33 and Tyler Nguyen at 35.
Jessie Defalco paced the Clover girls and received accolades from Jackson for her fourth-place finish.
Other Lady Blue Eagle finishers were: Ann Marie White, 33; Cassie Caldwell, 35; Trinity Moore, 37; Vanna Sams, 43; and Riley Moss, 44.
Among the YCHS runners, Tyler Jackson was No. 26 . Matt Smarr was No. 28.
Other Cougar finishers were: Maximus, Haynes, 43; Gunner Ashford, 44; Simon Bean, 45; Tyler Blankman, 46; and Michael Dickson, 47.
YCHS girls’ cross-country finishers included: Victoria Burgess, 32; Angie Mendoza, 36; Michelle Long, 42; Eva Hinkleman, 46; Tiarra Fryer, 48; and Abby Day, 49.
“My kids competed very well,” said YCHS head cross-country coach Eddie Sanders, who coordinated the county meet. “I’m not using sour grapes or anything. I didn’t have our No. 1 girl and that affects us. But you go with what you’ve got and do the best you can do.”
Sanders said Tyler Jackson and Matt Smarr had good races Saturday.
“My varsity is two juniors and eighth-grader, seventh-grader, seventh-grader, eighth-grader, so I’m young,” he said. “It’s been a good year. The kids competed well and worked hard all summer and into the season”
Sanders considers himself fortunate to have been tutored by the late Bob Jenkins, a high school track coach who received national coach of the year recognition during his career.
“I’m getting more and more like my high school coach, Bob Jenkins,” said Sanders. “He did things the right way, and my love for him is to do things like he did it. I’m fortunate to have Chad Mitchell here.”
This story was originally published October 19, 2015 at 2:39 PM with the headline "Clover, York compete in county cross-country meet."