Nation Ford girls, Rock Hill boys take home cross country Region 3-4A titles

The Nation Ford girls and the Rock Hill boys won the Region 3-4A cross country meet Thursday afternoon at Northwestern High School.

The Nation Ford girls won with a team score of 43. Four Falcons runners finished in the top 10. Marlena Schwinhorst was the top runner for Nation Ford. She finished second overall in a time of 19 minutes, 44.35 seconds.

Rock Hill finished second with 48 points. Fort Mill (64), Northwestern (96), Clover (135), Gaffney (160) and York (180) completed the field.

“Our kids have really worked hard all year,” said first-year Nation Ford coach Jason Byrne. “We did not do well here last year, and to win it this year is very exciting.”

Byrne said he hopes the hard work his team has put in and the consistent improvement during the year will continue.

“We are hoping that we can do well at the state meet,” he said. “If we can run together like we did today, then we can be very competitive.

Rock Hill sophomore Lanie Jo Knight was the individual girls’ winner for the second year in a row. She ran the course in a time of 19:29.81.

“This is great for me to repeat as the champion in the region,” said Knight, who won last year on a cold afternoon in Clover. “I knew that all of the runners would be after me because I won last year.”

The Rock Hill boys claimed the region title for the third consecutive year. They had a team score of 38. Joey Teachout led Rock Hill with a time of 16:18.34, good enough for second place. Other Rock Hill runners finished fourth, eighth, 11th and 13th.

Gaffney was second with 53 points. Clover (83), Nation Ford (86), Northwestern (115), Fort Mill (129) and York (181) completed the field.

“This is always a tough region, and winning today was very exciting because it was our third straight,” said Rock Hill coach Dan Johnston. “Our hallmark all year has been consistency, and we showed that once again today.”

Johnston said he hopes the strong showing Thursday will carry over into the state meet.

“There are going to be some very good teams at state, but we feel like we can be very competitive there,” he said. “Running against strong competition all year long will certainly help us.”

Clover junior Ben Clark won the boys’ individual title. He passed Teachout in the final 100 yards to win by just over two seconds (16:16.74).

“Winning today feels great,” Clark said. “I saved everything I had until the end, and I was able to pull ahead late in the race.”

Clark, who won the York County Meet last Saturday, felt confident going into the region meet.

“This is a difference type of course that we ran last Saturday,” he said. “However, it is not the course, it is the effort you put in the race.”

This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 8:36 PM with the headline "Nation Ford girls, Rock Hill boys take home cross country Region 3-4A titles."