Rock Hill sprinter, Fort Mill girls are big winners at state track championships

Rock Hill’s Khamoni Rockeymore-Crews and the Fort Mill girls’ team emerged as big winners at the weekend’s S.C. High School League Track and Field Championships.

Rockeymore-Crews topped the field in two sprints and led her Bearcat team to a first-place relay finish.

And the Fort Mill girls captured the team championship in the Class 5A/Division 2 state meet.

Here are highlights from the weekend’s finals. All competition took place at Spring Valley High near Columbia.

5A / Division 1

Boys’ team leaders: Ridge View (91 points), Spartanburg (82.5), Blythewood (75). 14th, Rock Hill.

Area boys pace-setters: Rock Hill’s Aidan Graham took second in the shot put and discus. He finished second to James Island’s Hendrix Beran in the shot put and to Santana Wright of Blythewood in the discus.

Girls’ team leaders: Blythewood (107), Spartanburg (54), Wando (51.3). 9th, Clover. 12th, Rock Hill.

Rockeymore-Crews stars: The Rock Hill senior sprinting star took the 100 meters in 11.74 seconds and then doubled by taking the 200 meters in 24.20. She later ran anchor leg of Rock Hill’s first-place 4x100 relay team.

Other area pace-setters: Clover’s Ella Nighbor won the 1,600 meters in 5:02.78. And teammate MacKenzie Boggess finished third in the long jump.

5A / Division 2

Boys’ team leaders: West Florence (75), Northwestern (61(, Nation Ford (58). 5th, Fort Mill. 10th, Catawba Ridge. 17th, Indian Land.

Neal Johnson stars: Nation Ford senior Neale Johnson won two events, taking the 400-meter hurdles (52.41) and the long jump (7.7 meters).

Other boys’ area standouts: Northwestern’s Austin Smith won the 400 meters (47.23, more than a second ahead of the next-best finisher). and he ran second in the 200 meters. Nation Ford paced a Rock Hill-area 1-2-3 finish in the 4-by-400 relay, finishing first. Northwestern was second and Indian Land third.

Catawba Ridge’s Brady Mack ran third in the 400 meters. Fort Mill’s Isaac Campbell was third in the 1,600 meters, and the Yellow Jackets had four of the top nine finishers. Campbell also ran second in the 3,200 meters, with Fort Mill placing three in the top five.

Fort Mill also had a second-place finish from its 4x800 relay team.

Nation Ford’s Patrick McLeod was second in the discus and the shot put, and Lucas Barz was third in the javelin.

Northwestern’s Malachi McCray finished third in the triple jump.

Girls’ team leaders: Fort Mill won the team championship with 100 points. Nation Ford (70) was second, with Greenville (58) third.

How Fort Mill did it: The Yellow Jackets won the title with distance runners. Alivia Cleveland won the 1,600 meters in 5:07.82, and Kaylee Rovenstine outdistanced the field in the 3,200 meters. Ravenstine finished in 11:11.98, which was 7.5 seconds ahead of the runner-up. Fort Mill placed three runners in the top four.

The Yellow Jackets also took the 4x800 relay.

In addition, Mia Williams was second in the 100 meters, Marisa Jones was second in the high jump, Bela Grupp was runner-up in the pole vault, and Fort Mill took thirds in the long jump (Williams) and discus (Addison Feinour).

Other girls’ pace-setters: Nation Ford’s Gabriella Brailsford had a huge day, winning both the 100 and 200 meters. The Falcons was were second in the 4x100 relay, third in the high jump (Katelyn McFadden), second in the triple jump (Addison Pollock), and third in the shot put (Aniah Randolph).

Northwestern’s Irie Morton was third in the javelin.

Class 4A

Boys’ team leaders: Seneca (54), Wren (53), South Pointe (40).

South Pointe standouts: Junior Evan Rybacki got the Stallions a championship,. winning the 1,600 meters. Teammate Keller Brown was second in the 3,200 meters, while Victor Gorge was third in the shot put, and the Stallions took third in the 4x800 relay.

Girls’ team leaders: Gray Collegiate (61), Daniel (58), Seneca (55). 5th, South Pointe. 9th, York.

Area pacesetters: York’s Ava Shook won the 800 meters in 2:14.01.

South Pointe won the 4x100 relay, and the Stallions’ Azyah Adams took second in the 200 meters and third in the 100 meters.

Kaleigh Lucas, standout of South Pointe’s powerhouse basketball team, was third in the 800 meters.