COLUMBIA – The Blythewood boys’ cross country team recorded their highest finish ever in the 4A Region IV meet last week, finishing a close second to Spring Valley on Oct. 24. Spring Valley finished the meet with a score of 26 points, but the Bengals were right on their heels with 36 points, finishing in front of Ridge View (81 points), Lugoff-Elgin (127 points), Irmo (127) and RNE (173). The boys were led by senior Mike Lantz, who earned All-Region honors by finishing second overall in a time of 16 minutes and 8 seconds. Other Blythewood runners earning All-Region honors were TJ Kirby (sixth, 16:59) and Hunter Jarvis (seventh, 17:02), and the team got strong performances from Brandon Hardwick (10th in 17:11) and James Palmer (11th in 17:25). The JV team also finished second overall, led by Ben Connor, who placed second in 18:23.
The Bengals now move on to the Midstate qualifying meet Saturday at Sandhills.
