COLUMBIA – “Wow! What a great day to be an Eagle!” read Richard Winn’s Facebook post on Saturday as the girls’ cross country program officially claimed their first state title. The Eagles cemented themselves in program history on Saturday, Oct. 26 at Heathwood Hall in Columbia with three finishers in the top 10.
The win has been years in the making for the young Eagle squad. In 2022, the team claimed their first State Runner Up title. Last year the finished in third place.
Eagle standout Hayden Branham, an eighth grader who has finished in first place in each of the last three state meets, once again took the top spot. Branham crossed the finish line first out of 25 runners with a 20:59.63 time, just over two minutes faster than the second place finisher from Mead Hall, who finished at 23:01.15. While she dominated the field, her time was not Branham’s fastest. She clocked a personal-best of 19:32.12 earlier this month at the Heathwood Hall Invitational.
Seventh grader Ada Bass finished in fourth place with a time of 24:42.04. Bass set her personal record in September at the Lake Murray Invitational when she finished with a time of 23:48.31.
Eighth grader Lillian Trapp finished at 25:58.44 for fifth place. Freshman Addison Trapp finished in 16th place at 30:35.44, and Harper Branham, also a freshman, followed at 30:38.21. Ninth grader Meghan Guzzi rounded out the Eagles’ score at 36:25.36 for 21st place finish.
The trophy is the second piece of hardware the Eagles have picked up this season. They claimed the SCISA 1A Region III Championship title on Oct. 16 in Newberry.
Hayden Branham, Lillian Trapp and Ada Bass claimed the top three spots out of the 14 runners competing.
Branham finished at the 20:31.20 mark; Trapp finished at 23:32.50; Bass clocked in at 23:54.20.
Harper Branham and Addison Trapp also finished in the top 10. Hayden had a time of 27:52.00 and Addison finished at 27:54.90. Meghan Guzzi came in at 35:39.60.