COLUMBIA – The last week was a big one for both the Blythewood and Westwood cross country teams. Both programs competed in the Lugoff-Elgin Invitational on Oct. 10. The Blythewood boys finished second overall, while the Redhawks boys came in at third. The Lady Bengals took home fifth place, and the Lady Redhawks had a solid ninth place finish.
Madison Wakefield, the top runner for the Blythewood girls, finished at 11th overall. Fellow Bengal Madison Mullins’s time of 25:08.17 was good enough for the 19th place finish. Alanie Foster’s time of 23:57.82 put her in the top of the Westwood girls’ team and a 12th place overall finish.
Daniel Turnipseed finished third overall with his time of 17:47.43 and was the top runner for the Bengals. Zachary Smith finished ninth and Christistian Pearson came in at 12th. Andrew Sullivan and William Lenker also had top 25 finishes.
Westwood senior Paul McCants ran a time of 17:41.72 and finished second overall and was the top finisher for the Redhawks. Jordan Alexander-Cole and Alebrani Patterson came in at 10th and 11th respectively. Eight grader William Tyndall was the only other Redhawk boy with a top-30 finish, and he came in at 26th.
At the Sandhills Invitational on Oct. 13, Paul McCants topped all Westwood and Blythewood runners with his 12th place time of 16:26.37. Daniel Turnipseed turned in the best time for the Blythewood boys with his 20th place finish.
Blythewood will compete in the Region 5-4A Championship on Oct. 20 and then the Mid-State Qualifier on Oct. 27 at Sandhills Research Center. The top 7 teams and top 20 individuals will advance to the State Meet on Nov. 3 in Boiling Springs.
The Redhawks will compete in Mid State Qualifiers on Oct. 27 at Darlington Middle School. The top 9 teams and top 40 individuals not on a qualifying team will advance to the state meet on Nov. 3 at Sandhills.
