Clover High School runners bring home medals

The Clover High School cross-country team competed Sept. 5 against eight teams at the Trojan Invitational at Northwestern High School in Rock Hill.

The teams competing were Irmo, Clover, South Pointe, Fort Mill, Northwestern, Southside Christian, Lancaster and York County Trailbrazers.

Ben Clark took the lead midway through the varsity boys race and finished with a 11 second lead to win the race in 16:27 receiving a first place medal. Will White came in eighth place with a time of 17:42 and Yusei Kikuta, a foreign exchange student from Brazil, finished 11th at 18:07. They both received medals for finishing in top 15 of varsity.

Leland Capps was the 18th finisher with a time of 18:26. Verzal Morton completed the race in 18:58 in 24th place. Luke Darling completed the race in 34th place with a time of 19:30. Christian Ariza came in 41st place with a finishing time of 20:12.

The varsity boys came in second place overall and received a plaque.

Dakota Harvey came in second place in the JV race with a time of 19:25 and received a medal for finishing in the top eight of JV. Tyler Nguyen placed eighth with a time of 19:56 with Luke Barz at ninth with a time of 20:13. Christian DeFalco added to the team with a time of 20:52 and James Westergard helped secure the Clover’s third place finishing at 21:14.

Jesse DeFalco finished third for the varsity girls with a time of 20:31. She received a medal for finishing in the top 15 varsity girls. Finishing second for Clover was Ann Marie White at 24:11. Riley Moss came in third for Clover with a time of 24:58. Next was Trinity Moore for Clover finishing in 25:23. Jax Hendrickson completed the race in 26:27. Jewel McBee had a time of 26:41 and McKenzie Thompson finished in 27:52.

The varsity team competed Sept. 12 at the Coaches Classic at Sandhills Park, Columbia.

This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 10:50 AM with the headline "Clover High School runners bring home medals."