ROCK HILL – Fort Mill hosted the SCHSL Region 3-5A Championship meet on Oct. 25. Despite both Blythewood teams finishing in third place, the Bengals had multiple top-10 finishers.
Anna Kelly led the Bengal girls with a fifth place finish out of 40 runners. She crossed the finish line at the 19:56.00 mark. Fort Mill’s Alivia Cleveland finished first at 18:48.00.
Mallorie Hogue finished next for Blythewood in eighth place at 20:25.00. Jurnee Warren placed 14th at 21:37.00. Kaitlyn McFadden ran a 21:40.00 time for 16th place. Judeah Warren finished in 27th place at 23:05.00 to round out the Bengals’ score. Blythewood’s Paige Kelly ran a 23:30 time.
Jacob Powell again led the Blythewood boys with a fourth place finish out of 42 runners. His 16:14.00 time was just five seconds shy of first place’s Isaac Campbell’s 16:09.00 finish. Spencer Shealy came in eighth place at 16:36.00. Graysen Manning finished at 17:00.00 for 14th place, and Dillan Boyer finished at the 17:10.00 mark for 17th place. Eureka Washington had a 17:24.00 time for 19th place. Jackson Smith finished at 18:52.00, and Karlin Hogue finished at 19:04.00.
Kelly, Hogue, Powell and Shealy’s times qualified them for the All Region team.
The Bengals now look to the post season. First they will run at the State Qualifier, held on Nov. 4 at Newberry College’s cross country course. Thirty-six teams will run in the 5A qualifiers, which begin at 9 a.m.
The top 16 teams and top 20 individual runners will qualify for the Championship meet, also held at Newberry College’s course. The 5A state meet will be Saturday, Nov. 11. The girls will run at 9 a.m., and the boys will follow at 9:30.
