AIKEN – Gold medals rattled in Fort Mill cross-country head coach Lee Whitaker’s hand as he made the long walk back to the team’s tent after the 5A Division II state cross-country championship contemplating what his team had just accomplished.
The Fort Mill cross-country program again made history on Saturday, Nov. 15 at the Aiken Steeplechase as the boys’ team repeated as state champions and the girls’ three-peated as state champions giving them a sweep of both state titles for the second consecutive year. The girls’ cross-country program is just the third program in school history to win three consecutive state titles behind boys’ tennis (1995-99) and girls swimming (2022-24). It is only the third time in Fort Mill High history that a team has pulled off a sweep of both state championships in the male and female divisions. The cross-country program has now done it twice. It was only before by the boys and girls swim program for the Jackets.
Whitaker stopped short of calling what his teams accomplished in recent years as a dynasty.
“I don’t know if I would call it that,” he said. “I am appreciative of what we have. I tell the kids all the time, it’s a team sport. We have seven(runners) out there for a reason. They never let me down when I need them to perform. Whatever it is, someone comes through. That is the beauty to have a deep team.”
For Whitaker, it also makes him a six-time cross-country state champion coach breaking a tie with former boys’ tennis coach Willie Ware, who won five state titles. Whitaker had led the boys’ team to three-state titles (2021, 2024, 2025) and the girls’ team to three-state titles (2023-25). The wins on Saturday also gave him a total of seven state championships as he guided the girls’ track team to a state title this past spring in his first season leading the program.
Whitaker had a hard time reflecting on his accomplishment.
“I can’t believe that,” he said. “It doesn’t seem real at all. Fort Mill has such a long legacy of great athletic programs. When I first started between being an assistant and head coach now, I would have never ever in a million years thought this. I didn’t think about winning one state championship and now this is seven (between cross-country and track) total. Even individual wise, we have put a lot of people on the podium. It is surreal.”
In Saturday’s race, Fort Mill didn’t have an individual winner, but it was the total team effort that gave the school’s athletic department their 41st and 42nd state team championships. In the girls’ race Fort Mill scored 38 points and had three finishers in the top 10. Greenville was second with 74 points.
Marlee Cook led the Lady Jackets with a second-place finish in 19:07 behind West Florence’s Susana Martinez, who won the girls’ race in 18:20. Lauren Allen was fourth overall for Fort Mill in 19:13 and Alivia Cleveland was sixth in 19:17. Bailey Nolin was 12th in 19:46 and Kaylee Rovenstine was 18th in 20:03 for the Jackets.
For Cleveland, between track and cross-country, she now has four team state titles between the two sports and five individual state titles (two in cross-country and three in track) and one-track relay state title for a total of 10, making her the most decorated female athlete in Fort Mill High School history. It also ties her with former Fort Mill swimmer Zach Piedt with 10 total state titles as he won five individuals state swimming titles and five relay state swimming titles in different events during his time at the school between 2011-14. Cleveland still has her senior season of track to compete in during the spring of 2026, where she could break that tie.
The Nation Ford girls finished fourth with 168 points and was led by Addison Eastley in seventh in 19:22.
Haley Garcia was 14th for Nation Ford in 19:49 and Karson Woodring was 47th in 21:14 for the Falcons. Sofia Gibbs finished 50th in 21:25 and Annabelle Clement finished in 66th in 22:05 to round out the scoring for Nation Ford.
The Catawba Ridge girls finished 11th overall with 273 points and were led by an eighth-place finish from Isabella Cardozo in 19:23. Alaina Kilpatrick was 52nd in 21:28 and Maeve Beard was 72nd in 22:19. Olivia Gillespie finished in 22:32 in 78th and Hadley Cordes finished in 22:52 in 86th.
The Fort Mill boys’ team scored 48 points in beating Chapin, which finished second with 85 points. Fort Mill was led by second place finisher Finn Leckrone with a time of 15:51. Connor Demmerle was fourth in 16:05 and Owen Ware was fifth in 16:10. Hudson Haley was seventh in 16:17 and Ben Madej finished 33rd in 17:20 to round out the scoring for the Jackets.
Catawba Ridge boys’ finished third with 92 points and Nation Ford boys’ were fourth with 110 points.
The Copperheads were led by a third-place finish from Ryan Pierson in 15:57 and a ninth-place finish from Lincoln Smith in 16:26. Aidan Rogers was 15th in 16:38 and Tyler Merrigan was 31st in 17:19. William Kowalski finished the scoring for Catawba Ridge in 17:32 with a 42nd place finish.
For Nation Ford, Robert Saddler led with a 12th place finish in 16:31. Sparsh Vaghani was 20th in 16:59 and Alex Royall was 25th in 17:05 for the Falcons. Nick LaSala was 30th overall for Nation Ford in 17:18 and Aiden Moysaenko was 34th in 17:20 to finish the scoring for the Falcons.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
