COLUMBIA (Nov. 7, 2016) – Blythewood’s cross country team wanted to follow up on last year’s fifth-place finish with a strong performance at Saturday’s state championship race at Clemson extension.
Head coach Matt Owings acknowledged that the competition was fierce in this year’s race, but otherwise all the Bengals made good runs.
“Unfortunately competition is what it is,” Owings said. “I was hoping that our guys would finish higher than 15th, but the guys worked really hard. It’s been a great season and we had an all-state guy.”
Riverside’s boys and girls won the 5A portion of the meet, with the boys coming in ahead of runner-up Wando and Blythewood’s Region V-5A rival Lexington, which finished third.
The Bengals’ “all-state guy,” Joshua Bowers, set the tone for the team. From the start, Bowers pushed himself toward the front of the pack and finished with a time of 16 minutes, 22 seconds, good for 13th place and a spot on the All-State team.
“I think we ran a great race today,” Owings said. “I’m pretty sure all of our top five guys finished under 18 minutes. That was our goal because we hadn’t done that all year. That was a milestone for us.”
Behind Bowers was Alan Deogracias (17:21), a sophomore who finished 69th. Connor Dobson (17:52) at 100th, Deonte Moore (17:59) at 110th and William Beachem (18:00) at 112th rounded out the top five finishers for the Bengals.
“It was a really fun time,” Deogracias said. “The first mile was blazing fast. I lost track of my guys after about the first 100 meters. I saw Josh leave us, and then I was by myself pretty much for the whole race. There were a few guys from Wando and Riverside all around me the whole time.”
Deogracias said his team has a lot to build on for next year’s runs, and he looks to lead the pack.
“I’m really proud of our guys, the pack, for coming in under 18,” he said. “I improved by about two seconds, and I’m excited to be taking over next year as the fastest guy.”
5A Boys
Teams
- Riverside (93), 2. Wando (110), 3. Lexington (131), 4. Boiling Springs (138), 5. Dorman (169), 6. Hillcrest (171), 7. Woodmont (232), 8. Mauldin (258), 9. Summerville (269), 10. Spring Valley (277).
Top 10 Finishers
- John Ward (Wade Hampton) 15:40, 2. Patrick Spychalski (Wando) 15:40, 3. Dolan Owens (James Island) 15:49, 4. Jackson Ellenburg (Summerville) 15:57, 5. Ben Cignarale (Riverside) 15:59, 6. Colt Griffith (Woodmont) 16;02, 7. Ben Clark (Clover) 16:08, 8. Andrew Castano (Riverside) 16:09, 9. Kade Gosnell (Boiling Springs) 16:09. 10. Weston Hutto (Lexington) 16:14.
5A Girls
Teams
- Riverside (26), 2. Dorman (85), 3. Dutch Fork (153), 4. Wando (161), 5. Wade Hampton (G) 179, 6. James Island (197), 7. Mauldin (225), 8. Lexington (243), 9. J.L.Mann (245), 10. Fort Mill (275).
Top 10 Finishers
- Cate Ambrose (Riverside) 18:35, 2. Morgan Moseley (J.L. Mann) 18:46, 3. Abigail Smith (Riverside) 18:46, 4. Kate Hamilton (Dorman) 18:50, 5. Jessie Crowley (Riverside) 18:59, 6. Melea Sangl (T.L. Hanna) 19:11, 7. Mikie Harris (Riverside) 19:12, 8. Riley Stewart (River Bluff) 19:12, 9. Katerina Hendrix (Dorman) 19:13, 10. Carter Marchbanks (Riverside) 19:15.
4A Boys
Teams
- Hilton Head (51), 2. Eastside (63), 3. Blue Ridge (93), 4. Aiken (137), 5. Wren (141), 6. Travelers Rest (171), 7. Chapin (211), 8. Greer (211), 9. Airport (314), 10. A.C. Flora (317)
Top 10 Finishers
- Ben Gilman (Hilton Head) 15:49, 2. Sam Gilman (Hilton Head) 15:54, 3. Noah White (Eastside) 15:55, 4. Cameron Owens-Hunter (Wren) 16:16, 5. Michael Cook (Airport) 16:25, 6. Austin Terault (Blue Ridge) 16:34, 7. Jaden Kingsley (Chapin) 16:37, 8. Coen Roberts (Greer) 16:41, 9. Layton Gwinn (Aiken) 16:42, 10. Bruce Nation (Aiken) 16:42.
4A Girls
Teams
- Eastside (63), 2. Daniel (65), 3. Hilton Head (69), 4. Wren (162), 5. Dreher (175), 6. A.C. Flora (179), 7. Travelers Rest (180), 8. Blue Ridge (198) 9. Aiken (214), 10. North Myrtle Beach (248).
Top 10 Finishers
- Mari Cagle Lockhart (Daniel) 18:40, 2. Ally Wilson (Daniel) 18:45, 3. Olivia Henn (Eastside) 18:52, 4. Hannah Twine (A.C. Flora) 18:56, 5. Madison Ellis (Eastside) 19:27, 6. Kathleen Allden (Dreher) 19:32, 7. Eliza Sorber (Daniel) 19:34, 8. Isabel Muehleman (Hilton Head) 19:34, 9. Taylor Houston (Greer) 19:34, 10. Maren Sorber (Daniel) 19:35.
