Local cross country high schools perform well at SC qualifiers, look to title meets

The cross country state championships will unfold this Thursday and Friday, and eight area teams will be in action.

In 4A, the Catawba Ridge boys’ and girls’ teams will run for the state title on Thursday. In 5A, both the girls’ and boys’ teams from Fort Mill and Nation Ford, in addition to the boys team from Northwestern will vie for the state championship on Friday. In 2A, the Andrew Jackson boys will also compete on Friday.

Both events will be held at the Sandhills Research Center in Columbia.

Nation Ford’s Katie Pou will be vying for her fourth individual title in the girls’ event. She won her qualifying race this past weekend in a time of 18:31.06.

Two runners in the boys’ division also won their qualifying races. Catawba Ridge’s Sam Rich finished in a time of 15:10.60, while Northwestern’s Mason Thomas finished with a time of 15:55.48.

Numerous area runners in both divisions finished in the top 20 in their qualifying races.

In addition to Pou, Nation Ford’s Ansley Archuletta (8th - 19:35.35) and Mia Royall (14th - 20:03.23) had top 20 performances. Fort Mill had four in that group. They were Alivia Cleveland (7th - 19:34.023), Elise Barradale (9th - 19:37.90), Avery Moriarity (13th - 19:56.09) and Angel Kravitz (18th - 20:15.40).

Catawba Ridge’s Maddy Mack joined them with a sixth place finish in a time of 19:53.00.

Andrew Jackson did not advance as a team, but Emma Estridge qualified as an individual. She was 17th in her race in a time of 21:23.00.

In the boys’ division two area runners finished third in their races. Connor O’Flynn of Nation Ford turned in a time of 15:51.69, while Catawba Ridge’s Caden Westover ran the course in a time of 16:08.70.

Catawba Ridge’s Joshua Silverman (9th - 16:37.40) and Spencer Pridemore (17:13.40) also finished in the top 20. Fort Mill had four complete the course in that group. They were Alec Lootens (9th - 16:15.58), Devon Sibley (13th - 16:27.59), Jackson Dawson (16:34.22), and Evan Wey (20th - 16:44.00). Nation Ford’s Alan Dayrit (14th - 16:28.64), Northwestern’s Gryffin Slater (19th - 16:48.91) as well as Andrew Jackson’s Gavin Barfield (6th -16:51.40) and Alex Martin (16th - 17:41.70) were also on that list.

In 4A, the Catawba Ridge boys’ team won its qualifying race with 62 points. In 5A, Fort Mill was third with 80 points, followed by Nation Ford (5th - 133 points), and Northwestern (6th - 154 points). In 2A, Andrew Jackson was third with 98 points.

In 5A, the Fort Mill girls were second with 75 points. Nation Ford finished fourth with 104 points. In 4A, Catawba Ridge was sixth with 163 points.

This story was originally published November 4, 2020 at 11:44 AM.