BLYTHEWOOD – Highlighted by individual region titles from seniors Anna Kelly and Jacob Powell, Blythewood High School’s cross country teams have blazed their trail through the postseason. Both the boys and girls teams earned strong finishes at the Region V 5A meet and the 5A Division 1 State Qualifiers, securing spots in the SCHSL 5A Division 1 State Championship.
At the region meet on Oct. 28 at West Florence High School, the Blythewood girls captured first place with 33 points, ahead of West Florence (59) and Ridge View (87). Anna Kelly led the girls with a first-place finish in 19:13.10, claiming the individual region championship. She was joined by Paige Kelly – 21:02.70 (5th place), Scarlett Baker – 21:10.10 (6th place), Madeline Lowery – 21:25.90 (8th place), and Lauren Benson – 22:23.50 (13th place).
The Blythewood boys finished second at the region meet with 48 points, trailing Spring Valley’s 27 point win. Powell claimed an individual region championship with a 16:15.50 finish. Dillan Boyer finished in 10th place at 17:46.70; Anthony Knight came in 11th at 17:48.20; Johnathon Lenker clocked in at 17:52.70 for 12th place; and Austin Dwiggins rounded out the Bengals’ times at 18:22.80 for 14th place.
Both Bengal teams moved on to the 5A State Qualifiers on Nov. 8 at The Farm XC Course in Newberry.
The boys finished fourth out of 12 teams at their Division 1 Qualifiers with 100 points. Summeville came in first at 40 points.
Out of 85 runners competing, Powell finished in first place at 16:02.30. Boyer came in eighth at 17:26.70; Lenker crossed the finish line at 17:36.00 in 21st place; Knight finished in the 22 spot at 17:38.20; and Rodney Johnson – came in 38th place at 18:08.20.
The Bengal girls finished in fifth place out of 12 teams competing. Clover came in first place with 55 points; Blythewood had 112 points.
Anna Kelly came in second out of 86 runners with a time of 18:57.20. Clover’s Ella Nighbor finished first at 18:30.
Aside from Anna, Blythewood’s top-five were rounded out by Paige Kelly in 15th place at 20:35.60; Baker, who came in 19th at 20:57.10; Lowery, who finished at 21:29.80 in 28th place; and Benson, who clocked in at 22:45.10 for 48th place.
Both Bengal teams advance to the SCHSL 5A Division 1 State Championship, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 15 at Aiken Steeplechase.
